List of notable people who have taken psychedelic drugs

(Redirected from List of notable psychedelic self-experimenters)

Notable people who have taken psychedelic drugs are individuals who have publicly reported on their personal experiences with psychedelic drugs like LSD, "magic mushrooms" and mescaline. Some of these comments date from the era when LSD was legally used in psychotherapy and experiments. Still others describe experiences with illegal LSD, obtained for philosophic, artistic, therapeutic, spiritual, or recreational purposes. This list consists of the names of individuals mentioned in the media, together with the instance in which their experience was discussed.

Actors

• Bill Bailey, in his standup show, Part Troll.
• Lewis Black, has said in his comedic routines, that "just in case it's not obvious to you people, I've done some LSD in my life. And I did it because I thought at the time that it allowed me to think every thought that was possible."
• Comedian Jim Breuer, in his stage act, talks about trying mescaline once as a teenager, in a bit called "The Wizard".
• David Carradine discusses his uses of LSD in his autobiography Endless Highway along with descriptions of his use of peyote and psychedelic mushrooms, as well as discussing his use of non-hallucinogenic drugs such as cannabis and cocaine.
• Cary Grant, in the September, 1959 Look Magazine, relates how LSD treatment has brought him inner peace. He used LSD more than sixty times under therapeutic auspices. [1]
• Larry Hagman, in his autobiography, Hello Darlin'
• Anne Heche, in her book Call Me Crazy
• Mitch Hedberg, in his comedy act, states that "My favorite drug is acid because it expanded my mind. Because of acid, I now know that butter is better than margarine. I saw through the bullshit."
• Bill Hicks, in his comedy albums Dangerous and Relentless, among others
• Margot Kidder, actress in the documentary Easy Riders, Raging Bulls
• William H. Macy, in the July 2001 issue of Maxim
• Ralphie Mae, in his standup routine.
• Richard Pryor, in his comedy act
• Doug Stanhope, in his standup routine.
• Steven Wright, in his standup routine.

Artists

• Alex Grey, in an interview with the Online Noetic Network and in numerous other interviews and personal writings
• Leo Kenney [2]
• Henri Michaux, poet, writer and painter [3]
• Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Polish writer, dramatist, photographer, philosopher and painter.

Authors

• Susan Blackmore, British writer [4]
• Stewart Brand, in John Markoff's book, What the Dormouse Said. The idea of promoting the image of the whole earth from space came during an LSD trip [5].
• William Burroughs, article in Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
• Carlos Castaneda, author of The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge
• Franz Corvus, in the book Generation of Zombies[6]
• Adelle Davis [7]
• Philip K. Dick, in the book Valis
• Jack Defessus, in the book Generation of Zombies[8]
• Bruce Eisner, Journalist^{[citation needed]}
• Allen Ginsberg
• Sam Harris, an American author with an interest in neuroscience, reason, and religion. [9]
• Aldous Huxley, author of The Doors of Perception
• Ken Kesey, author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
• Ernst Jünger, modern German author [10]
• Robert M. Pirsig in his book Lila: An Inquiry into Morals
• Dr. Huston Smith, interviewed in Nov/Dec 1997, MotherJones
• Tom Robbins, throughout his writing, interviewed in 6/02 [11]
• Hunter S. Thompson, throughout his writings, most notably in his novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
• Mark Vonnegut, in The Eden Express, Bantam Books, 1975 ISBN 0-553-02755-7
• Alan Watts, a philosopher, writer, speaker, and expert in comparative religion. The Joyous Cosmology - Adventures in the Chemistry of Consciousness (1962)
• Robert Anton Wilson, in his autobiographical Cosmic Trigger series.

Businessmen

• Bill Gates, interview in the December 1994 Playboy:[12]
• Sir Richard Branson,Virgin Group in his Autobiography Losing My Virginity
• Steve Jobs of Apple Computer describes taking LSD as "one of the two or three most important things he has done in his life" in John Markoff's 2005 book, What the Dormouse Said; also in an interview in Time Magazine
• Henry Luce Founder of Time/Life [13]
• Richard Gordon Wasson Banker who introduced Mexican psychedelic mushrooms into the modern world

Environmentalists

• John Robbins, Founder of EarthSave, interviewed in Mavericks of the Mind

Musicians

• Syd Barrett founding member of the rock band Pink Floyd
• Mike Dirnt, bassist for Green Day
• Jerry Garcia, foreword "On the Wheel with Neal" to On The Bus, pp. xvii-xviii.
• Peter Green founding member of the rock band Fleetwood Mac
• George Harrison, in his book I, Me, Mine and in the television/home video production The Beatles Anthology.
• Jimi Hendrix, excerpt from Room Full of Mirrors in Jimi's First Experience
• Robert Hunter "6th" member of the Grateful Dead said to have ingested 2500 doses of LSD. He was quoted as saying "I died a thousand deaths."
• Anthony Kiedis from the band Red Hot Chilli Peppers in his autobiography Scar Tissue
• Lemmy Kilmister, quoted in a June 2005 article on contactmusic.com (UK) [14]
• John Lennon, in interviews collected in The Beatles Anthology
• Shane MacGowan, singer for The Pogues, interviewed in "A Drink With Shane MacGowan"
• Matisyahu, Hasidic Jewish reggae singer, in the 11 May 2006 The Guardian
• Dave Matthews, in the VH1 Storytellers documentary
• Marilyn Manson, in "The Long Hard Road Out of Hell"
• Paul McCartney, in interviews collected within The Beatles Anthology
• Jim Morrison, much of the Doors work was inspired by his experiences with hallucinogens.
• Jason Mraz, interviewed in High Times December 2005
• Mike Oldfield, interviewed in The Daily Mail, August 31, 1998
• Keith Richards, interviewed in Rolling Stone, October 17, 2002
• Carlos Santana, reported by Blender and also in an interview
• Ringo Starr, in interviews collected within The Beatles Anthology
• Joe Strummer front-man for punk rock band The Clash
• Hank Williams III, in the song "Crazed Country Rebel", interviewed in Creative Loafing
• Brian Wilson, in many interviews, and masters for the SMiLE sessions.
• Nick "Guitar God" O'Malley
• James "Nick's apprentice" Tipper

People in sports

• Doc Ellis, in Doc Ellis in the Country of Basketball (co-written with Donald Hall), describes pitching a no-hitter while on LSD
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in his 1984 autobiography Giant Steps
• Phil Jackson, in his 1975 book on coaching, Maverick

Philosophers

• Michel Foucault French philosopher
• Alex Hixon, in his interview with Playboy
• Aldous Huxley experimented with LSD and other hallucinogenic drugs.
• Terence McKenna, interviewed in Psychedelic Island Views
• Anais Nin, in The Diary Of Anais Nin, Volume 5 (1947-1955)

Scientists

• Dr. Richard Alpert (now Ram Dass), in his book, Be Here Now
• Francis Crick, co-discoverer of the DNA double helix, alleged to have used small doses of LSD in the early 1950s [15]
• Dr. Douglas Engelbart, in John Markoff's 2005 book, What the Dormouse Said
• Richard Feynman, notable physicist claimed (in James Gleick's biography Genius) to have experimented with LSD during professorship at Caltech
• Dr. Stanislav Grof, Czech researcher
• Albert Hofmann, the first person to "trip" on LSD after discovering it in 1943, in LSD: My Problem Child
• Michael Hollingshead. Introduced Tim Leary to LSD
• Dr. Timothy Leary in many writings, such as The Psychedelic Experience
• Dr. John C. Lilly in his book Centre of the Cyclone and other works
• Dr. Ralph Metzner
• Nobel-Prize winner and inventor of PCR, Dr. Kary Mullis, in his essay collection Dancing Naked in the Mind Field
• Dr. Humphry Osmond

Others

• Christopher Mayhew, Labour MP and BBC television personality, who took Mescaline Hydrochloride in 1955 for an unbroadcast episode of Panorama [16]
• Mark McCloud, the "Father of LSD blotter acid art collecting"
• Owsley Stanley Famous LSD chemist of the 1960's
• William Griffith Wilson, in the Alcoholics Anonymous book, Pass It On

External link

• Ann Harrison, "LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug?". Wired News January 2006.

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