Lysergic Acid Diethylamide Essay

LSD has many effects on the body moreover the mind for example “An hour later Stanley thought he had gone insane. His head was filled with terrifying visions and his body seemed to tumble through time and space. Then his mind snapped and sent him into a frenzy of rage. According to Linda Hunt, "They told me the next day that I broke down the door and ran down the hall screaming," Stanley

Into the 2nd half of the decade came the arrival of The Rolling Stones and The Who. These continued along the Blues Rock path pioneered by Cream and Zeppelin, and both had great success. It was these acts that led to the nickname, ‘the swinging 60’s’. 1966 saw the beginning of psychedelic music. It was The Beatles who first began to experiment like this. Adding new

The Beatles were a very well-known and popular band in the sixties. The use of LSD and other drugs heavily influenced two of their albums, Revolver and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Their first experience with the drug within the band was when John Lennon and George Harrison accidentally took acid in 1965. After their eye opening incident, Lennon and Harrison decided that Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr needed to try it as well because they found that “[they] couldn't relate to them any more. Not just on the one

The Beatles are one of the most innovative rock bands of all time. They have not only changed the way rock and roll is looked at, but also the way that the music is recorded. They have influenced the artists of the 60s and the 70s, and also many generations later and to come. Originating from Liverpool, England, the Beatles, or the Fab Four, consists of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Topping the charts in ’63 with “Love Me Do,” and bringing in the highest rated viewing in history while performing on the Ed Sullivan Show, the Beatles are definitely a band that broke the sound barrier of rock

Lysergic Acid Diethylamide or LSD is a hallucinogenic drug that can be taken orally, injected or even absorbed through the skin. Once LSD has entered the body, it starts to take effects on the levels of serotonin in the brain which can cause; hallucinations, mood change, and even sensory distortion. After taking LSD, the effects on the brain usually last from 6 to 9 hours depending on multiple factors; the dosage of LSD taken, the subject taking LSD, and even the user 's mood can affect the duration of LSD use. LSD is a non-lethal, non-addictive, and a non-habit forming drug that has little to no effect on the long-term health of an individual. However, LSD has been illegal since the 1960 's. Not only did availability of LSD become scarce with the criminalization of the substance, but the legislation also put a halt on the research of the chemical as well. Much of the way LSD interacts with the brain has been left unknown. This derivative from the rye fungus Ergot has been the source of controversy that has left many people wondering why LSD has been classified as a drug that is just as dangerous to use as heroin. It becomes difficult for an individual to understand how legislation could criminalize a chemical without completely understanding how it functions and affects people. LSD should be legalized for scientific, medical and recreational usage.

The abuse of methamphetamine is a very serious problem in the United States. According to one national survey, approximately 10 million people in the United States have tried methamphetamine at least once (Meth Abuse and Addiction, 2010). Methamphetamine is a highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system. Although most of the methamphetamine used in this country comes from foreign or domestic super labs, the drug is also easily made in small clandestine laboratories, with inexpensive over the counter ingredients. Methamphetamine is commonly known as “speed,” “meth,” and “chalk.” In its smoked form it is often referred to as “ice,” “crystal,” “crank,” and “glass.” It is a

Psychedelics, and drugs in general became such an important part of life during the 60’s that it’s influence was inescapable. Nowhere can this fact be seen more clearly than in the music of the time. The most obvious influence drugs had on music can bee seen in the lyrics. Drug references abound, be it Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze” of marijuana smoke, or the Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”, obviously referring to LSD. Even the names of the bands were drug inspired, as Garofalo points out in reference to the Doors: “The group took it’s name from Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception, a book about the liberating aspects of drug use.” Even the music itself was influenced by drugs. Take for example much of the music by the Doors. Their song “the End” is a psychedelic journey in to the world of LSD. The slow beat and “trippy” music in the song was probably created with the use of drugs and hence is better appreciated when heard while on drugs. This is also true of the music of the Grateful Dead, although this can be much more clearly seen in their live performances as opposed to their studio work. Much of their music is geared specifically toward those in the audience who are on drugs. Hearing one of their 30 minute jams is a much different experience on drugs, and that is the experience that they intended the audience to have. While drugs were very much connected to the music of the sixties,

Let It Be, Strawberry Fields Forever, Revolution, and many other songs by the British rock band, The Beatles, helped shape the counterculture movement. Many songs by The Beatles supported the ideas of rebellion, freedom and drug use. The Beatles were the most popular musical group in the 1960s, and they were loved and idolized by many. They are still considered to be one of the greatest, if not the, greatest musical group ever. Although the Beatles were the most popular and influential rock group of the time, eclectic groups and singers of all different genres helped shape the music scene in the 1960s, such as: Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and the Who. Music by all of these artists “reflected the new sexual permissiveness and drug trends” (The American Experience 2). In 1969, a music festival called “Woodstock” was put together. It lasted for over three days and around 500,000 people came to listen to the music. Artists like the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin. The majority of the people that attended the festival were hippies. Hippies wore loose clothing, for the most part advocated drug use, and promoted peace and love. Woodstock showcased a moment in time where an entire generation became empowered and realized that they needed to break away from the status quo. Music had a huge influence on the baby-boomer generation and the counterculture of the 1960s as a whole.

Drugs played a role in the recording of Sgt. Pepper's. The group was notoriously known to experiment with the drugs LSD and Marijuana. The entire album has debatable drug references, but the one thing that can not be argued is that the entire group was high on these drugs throughout the recording process. The record has many sounds that will be used later in the psychedelic

In an interview hosted by CNN, author Ken Johnson stated: “I think any work of art encourages you to imagine your way into a state of consciousness that may not be your normal state, so you kind of suspend disbelief and allow yourself to be imaginatively seduced into a different way of relating to the world so that you study things more carefully, you think about how things are affecting you.” Johnson also stated, “but they start thinking about how our perceptions work and how interesting it is the way we think about the world, so we think about our thinking.” This proves that in the 60’s many people discovered that drugs, such as LSD, were a way to see the deeper meaning behind things because it rearranged the whole way your brain may have thought. Another reason that psychedelic art was so popular in the 60’s was because all of the art pieces, more specifically rock concert posters, they “tried to visually express the feeling of tripping out.” (visualartsdepartment.wordpress.com) An article on arthistory.net titled “Psychedelic Art,” says that many of these art pieces were also popular because of their “visually captivating styles.” Obviously, many people enjoyed these feelings because they could avoid mainstream thinking without having to actually use said drugs. The 60’s were a period of experimenting, not only with art, but with things like fashion to music

The Beatles often hold the title of the “greatest band of all time”, and many legendary musicians that surfaced after the Beatles cite the Beatles as a large influence in regard to the fashion and sound they adopted from the band. Songs recorded over fifty years ago still receive wide amounts of listens, and the Beatles are credited with popularizing psychedelic rock. The Velvet Underground initially struggled to receive attention, but they gained a large following in the years following their 1973 break up. Over time, critics and audiences warmed up to the Velvet’s sound, and they were eventually seen as pioneers of the art rock, avant-garde, and proto-punk sub genres of rock music. Musician and producer Brian Eno stated, “The Velvet Underground didn’t sell many records, but everyone who bought one went out and started a band.” (Billboard, “What If Everyone Who Bought…”) Despite coming from two different backgrounds and making music from different sub genres, both the Beatles and the Velvet Underground both created a long lasting impact on rock music.

This was a big thing – it was a fairly new drugs in UK and American culture, before the sixties tobacco and alcohol were the only widespread drugs. Although their plea didn’t work, the advertisement still created higher awareness of the hallucinogenic drug, which encouraged more people to try or use it. In 2004, Paul McCartney admitted they used drugs as an influence to most of their music – including “Got to Get You in my Life” which was about cannabis and confessed the infamous suspicion that “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” was about LSD. By the late sixties the band had managed to change how the youth spent their time – the younger generations now started to hang out in private open areas, listening to their psychedelic rock, growing their hair long, dressing in colourful clothes and taking mind-altering drugs – the hippie era had begun.

Hallucinogens can alter the mind; it cause changes in mood and cause the user to have unusual thoughts. Hallucinogens do not always cause hallucinations, despite of the name; the user feels false sensations that they only experience. Hallucinogens induce the user to act and say things that they would normally not do.

They wanted to expand their music by experimenting on drugs to create exotic and abstract music. (www.lifetimetv.co.uk) The group took the initiative to experiment on these drugs as the textbook states, “Ultimately, the choice to use substances is up to the person making the decision,” (Tanner et al. 2015, p. 290). Unfortunately, the manager of The Beatles, Epstein, died of an accidental overdose of sleeping pills on August 27, 1967. His death shocked The Beatles, but they continued with their ‘Magical Mystery Tour.’ (www.lifetimetv.co.uk) Their grief was “an intense emotional response to loss. People can grieve for the loss of a family member, a pet, or even a job. The key factor in the grief response is the perception of loss of contact and interaction,” (Tanner et al. 2015, p. 509). In this case, Epstein was the person who helped them become famous as a group. Losing him was like losing a big part of themselves. Their Magical Mystery Tour film was not well received by critics. However, Lennon’s ‘I Am The Walrus’, the soundtrack album was seen as one of their most cryptic work. (www.lifetimetv.co.uk) According to the textbook, “Midlife personality traits tell us something about other aspects of an adult’s life,” (Tanner et al. 2015, p. 421). Lennon’s drug-induced mental states may have contributed to the abstract thought of ‘I Am The Walrus’, and may have also influenced his personality traits as

"Yellow Submarine" one of John Lennon's attempts to have his voice recorded underwater and have it in the song was one of the best things that ever happened. After sugar cubes infused with LSD were secretly put into John Lennon's coffee by a dentist John Riley, John started hallucinating and imagining a submarine. The drug made the group have disagreements and they went their separate ways for a while, but the drug also made a special connection with all four when they got back