LSD: The 60's landscape was forever altered! Part 3: The Scare Films
Interesting fact: as the government claimed LSD altered chromosomes, caused flashbacks, people who sued over being dosed were told these stories weren't true.
“ FOCUS ON LSD / PSYCHEDELICS ” 1971 ANTI-DRUG FILM LYSERGIC ACID DIETHYLAMIDE
This anti-drug film from 1971 attempts to debunk anecdotal arguments made in support of the drug LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide) and other psychedelic drugs. Hosted by singer-songwriter Tommy Roe (best known for his hits “Sheila” and “Dizzy”), the film features teens having scripted conversations about their opinions and experiences with psychedelic drugs. The conversations are first shown truncated, leaving the viewer to believe that what is being said is declarative or empirical, but then the same footage is later shown in its entirety, revealing that the opinions beings expressed are unfounded or incomplete. Based on the locations seen and referenced, and the accents of the teens speaking, this film was shot in and around New York City.
As the government spread stories of deformed babies and LSD flashbacks people who had been dosed with the drug without their knowledge or permission started suing the government that dosed them over this practice. Only to have the government respond by saying these stories they were spreading, were untrue.
Dragnet: Blue Boy
I worked the LSD tent at the first Atlanta Pop Festival on a Saturday night. I was the high school correspondent for THE GREAT SPECKLED BIRD newspaper and we had no medications to give people. So, we improvised. People would walk in saying UFO’s were going to take them away, that the music was getting them in touch with ghosts, etc. I would give them an aspirin and start talking to them by asking questions like, what did their parents think of them having long hair? How easy was it to get a job with long hair? They came down very fast.
The Atlanta press reported we had no doctors working the tent, and the next year Emory University provided the people for the tent. I walked by and looked in. As each person entered they were given a shot of thorazine and tied to a cot and placed in an ambulance.
Which way was better?
LSD: INSIGHT OR INSANITY
The life of the typical teen in the late 1960s is presented, with rebellion and experimentation in clothes, hair, and extracurricular activities discussed, along with peer pressure and the effect it can have on teens. The dangers of drugs, and LSD in particular, are described, with doctors, scientists, and geneticists discussing the possible effects of LSD on the body, including chromosomal damage that can affect future generations.
Of course today now that millions take LSD worldwide prescribed by doctors, one never hears about chromosomal damage or flashbacks.
In this educational short "Mr.LSD" explains what horrible things he can do to the human mind
U.S. NAVY HALLUCINOGENIC DRUG SCARE FILM LSD TRIP TO WHERE?
Sailors on a nuclear submarine take LSD.. and then the flashbacks begin!
Electric kool-aid: lsd and the 60s psychedelic revolution
BEYOND LSD [1967] (Psychedelic Scare Film from the '60s)
A pretty trippy ride into the dangers of psychedelic drug use, with some fairly accurate visual depictions, and wildly inaccurate claims about the experience itself.
1950's housewife on LSD
Rare real footage about 8 minutes of a 1950's housewife on LSD.
Talking LSD with Film Director James Cameron
Cameron who directed AVATAR discusses tripping.
Behind the paywall: Ken Kesey Live at University of Virginia
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