Psychedelic Salon 253
Whatever Happened to Timothy Leary?

This is an audio collage of three talks. The first is by Dr. Leary in 1966. That is followed by a 1973 interview with Ram Das on his current feelings about Leary. The final segment is a 1986 appearance by Dr. Timothy Leary on the Larry King show.

[NOTE: The following quotations are by Dr. Timothy Leary.]

âPsychedelic art is the public face, a communication device, of our new religion.â

âPsychedelic drugs, which include marijuana, should be totally supervised by the state. That is, quality should be established, and you should have to be trained in how to use them, and they should be prescribed, and if you screwed up theyâll take your license away. Youâd have to show that you knew how to use them like [you do] an automobile.â

âI would say 90% of the kids who are under the age of 40 who are in computers now, ninety percent of them, have had some kind of experience in brain-change, or neurotransmission. Thatâs why I may be misunderstood or not liked among certain segments of the country. But computer people really understand where Iâm coming from and they welcome me.â

âThe only defense against totalitarianism has always been, Jefferson said it too, constant vigilance on the part of the individual. There ainât no one going to protect us against Big Brother and Big Sister except ourselves linked up as free agents.â

âSo go over there [India]. Try it all. Donât get hooked. Donât follow leaders. Watch your parkinâ meters, and stay away from gurus. But try it all out!â

âThe basic trajectory of my life, no matter whether you agree with me (you donât have to agree with this) is to free yourself, to think for yourself, to question authority.â

âI love institutions. Theyâre intelligence tests. Institutions are prisons that you have to escape from. . . . The only thing is donât get trapped in them. The most addictive, dangerous, mind-screwing thing in the world is conformity to an organization.â

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