What would rock and roll be without drugs?  Tomorrow is the first anniversary of  the death of Albert Hoffman, the Swiss chemist who first synthesized LSD-25.  Hoffman’s tale is one of the most celebrated stories of chemical discovery; he discovered the compound in 1938 but shelved it after preliminary tests on animals showed no particular pharmacological benefits (aside from “restlessness”).  A “peculiar presentiment” prompted Hoffman to revisit the substance five years later, and during the synthesis process he found himself sufficiently disoriented to discontinue work.  Three days later, on April 29, 1943, he intentionally subjected himself to what he thought would be a threshold dose of 250 µg (which is actually from two to five times the typical recreational dose), and the well-chronicled adventures that followed have been subsequently celebrated as  “Bicycle Day” amongst the psychonaut community.

The Film: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

The Song: “Jumping Jack Flash”

The Artist: The Rolling Stones (more…)