Luce, Leary, and LSD, 1963–1965
University of Illinois Press – April 20, 2017
Source: CrossRef
Summary
In the mid-1960s, *Time* and *Life* magazines, influenced by publisher Henry Luce, surprisingly viewed LSD as a promising "technology." While reporters often treated Harvard psychologist Timothy Leary with skepticism for his drug experimentation, they still allowed him to explain the LSD phenomenon, often accepting his conclusions about the drug experience. Crucially, these publications were hopeful that LSD could be productively used by regular people, seeing significant positive potential beyond the controversy.
Abstract
This chapter details the celebrity coverage of Timothy Leary in the early 1960s and interest in LSD at Time and Life, where the publisher Henry Luce was becoming increasingly outspoken about his interest in the drug. Reporters often treated Leary—a Harvard psychologist removed from his job as a result of drug experimentation—with skepticism while still permitting him to explain the LSD phenomenon and relying on his scholarship and wit. Journalists were often surprisingly accepting of Leary's conclusions about the drug experience, even while condemning his encouragement of drug use. Among the many magazines focusing attention on LSD, Time and Life were particularly protective of the technology and hopeful that it could be productively used by regular people.