Psychotropic drugs of the 1960s

mccardey · Nov 6, 2014

I will be doing more specific research, but I was just wondering if there was someone here who knew about the use (either social or medically-prescibed) of psychotropic drugs in the 1960s.

My main character (in Australia - but that needn't matter) is remembering back some decades, and listing the names of her favourite drugs from that time. She moved from university to a hospital following a very severe breakdown that was possibly partly caused by party-drugs. In the hospital she was strongly medicated.

I've done some prelim research, but I'm not getting a clear idea of what drug-names an old woman could reel off to shock her old friends at the hospice...

If anyone could help or knows a resource that would be useful I'd shower you with reps. (Well - maybe two reps. I wouldn't want you to get the habit...)

jclarkdawe · Nov 6, 2014

Read THE ELECTRIC KOOL-AID ACID TEST. FEAR AND LOATHING IN LOS VEGAS is also a good source.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

Chris P · Nov 6, 2014

I just finished Electric Kool Aid Acid Test, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Er, the book, that is. I don't know how much LSD was going around in Australia at that time, but EKAAT describes the lifestyle pretty convincingly (although I can't vouch for it's accuracy, of course). Go Ask Alice might be a good book too, although I can't remember how much of the different drugs it talked about. Addiction recovery memoirs (think "Million Little Pieces" only without the made up stuff) are almost a genre in themselves, and you can probably find plenty of them describing that time period.

You might also ask around your community for someone in addiction recovery, like from Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous. They are usually pretty open about their experiences, especially in a one-on-one interview.

Gringa · Nov 6, 2014

window pane
black beauties
ludes
mushrooms
peyote

mccardey · Nov 6, 2014

Thank you - you're all very helpful, though of course, thoroughly appalling...

waylander · Nov 7, 2014

Mescaline

jclarkdawe · Nov 7, 2014

Both books I suggested are substantially nonfiction. Both are fairly accurate to the lifestyle, without the subsequent moralization. The ELECTRIC KOOL-AID ACID TEST was written leading into the peak of the Hippie drug culture. This is close to the Summer of Love, and just after the Monterey Pop Festival and before Woodstock.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

King Neptune · Nov 7, 2014

If your character had an undiagnosed mental illness that was made obvious from drug use, then Mescaline and acid are likely candidates. The Electrical Cool Aid Acid Test was a great read.

Monterey Pop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-E2tU4Mbxg
be sure to watch Janis Joplin.

Deb Kinnard · Nov 7, 2014

MDA was a "beginner" drug I remember from college. Those who took it said it was a milder trip than LSD and no flashbacks. I don't know how it was taken.

One of the biggest dealers on my campus wore bib overalls (they weren't worn that much in that area at that time), had cute pink cheeks and blue eyes, and looked like a farm boy. Goes to show ya.

akiwiguy · Nov 11, 2014

Quaaludes? Probably peaking more in the seventies, especially the glam/rock nightclub scene, but definitely used recreationally in the late sixties. Popular culture abounds with references to them. Andy Warhol's diaries apparently make frequent reference to them, and it was reputedly the drug that most accounted for Syd Barrett's (Pink Floyd) more bizarre behaviour. Also one of the drugs most heavily prescribed to Elvis Presley. A lot of songs/films/pop-culture books make reference to Quaaludes, most recently the Wolf of Wall Street, where the main character has sourced some very old "ludes" which seem to have become extremely powerful over time and account for the somewhat amusing scene where he is incapable of walking to his car but drives home anyway.

WeaselFire · Nov 11, 2014

mccardey said:
... I'm not getting a clear idea of what drug-names an old woman could reel off to shock her old friends at the hospice...

Acid, man. LSD. Tabs, Yellow Sunshine, Boomers, Purple Haze, Blotters, others in certain locations or countries. Mescaline was a different drug but also legal in the early 1960's. Peyote Buttons or Shrooms. Amphetamines as well, IT-290 or 3-IT.

Ken Kesey is the guru of this. Rumor is that One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was written on hallucinogenics. It was at least inspired by a government drug research program Kesey participated in. Tom Wolf was one of Kesey's Merry Pranksters and the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is a great reference for LSD. Timothy Leary is the other major figure, also read Alan Ginsberg. Beat poet turned hallucinogenic promoter. If you can find a copy of the movie Chappaqua, it's a great reference as well. It got released on DVD but it's expensive. Hunter S Thompson is an expert as well. Or ask anyone eligible for Social Security...

Jeff

King Neptune · Nov 11, 2014

WeaselFire said:
Acid, man...

Yes, Ken Keasy is the guru of this. Hunter S Thompson is an expert as well. Or ask anyone eligible for Social Security...

Jeff

Yes acid is it. I wrote a blog post that encouraged people to make their own.

GingerGunlock · Nov 11, 2014

I read a fantastic book a few years back on LSD, called Storming Heaven: LSD and the American Dream, by Jay Stevens. It discussed the making of the drug in the first place, social groups who used it, etc.

Psychotropic drugs of the 1960s

mccardey

jclarkdawe

Feeling lucky, Query?

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred

Gringa

mccardey

waylander

Who's going for a beer?

jclarkdawe

Feeling lucky, Query?

King Neptune

Deb Kinnard

akiwiguy

AW Inmate #90976

WeaselFire

Benefactor Member

King Neptune

GingerGunlock

paralibrarian