Recent Developments

It has been some time since new information has been posted on this Website.  As editor, I had hoped by this time to present several new items, but a variety of circumstances have interfered with accomplishment.  I am particularly interested in Christopher Bache's book Dark NIght, Early Dawn, and am waiting for the approval of Suny Press to present Stanislav Grof''s very excellent Forward.  Another topic I wish to cover arises from the fact that for the most part, our current society has completely lost track of the outstanding wisdom and accomplishment of our Founding Fathers in creating the most successful  constitution of all time, a constitution that is being continually decimated by an uncaring and punitive Congress and Supreme Court.  I also hope to contribute to a deeper understanding of the enormous contribution that can be made through informed use of psychedelic substances by reviewing the contents of the recent book ZIG ZAG ZEN / Buddhism and Psychedelics, edited by Allan Hunt Badiner and Alex Grey.  Unfortunately, my immediate travel plans will postpone accomplishing these objectives for several weeks.

Report on Dr. Albert Hofmann:  Dr. Hofmann was 96 years old last January 12.  In the last few months he has experienced some serious injuries.  He unfortunately fell and disabled a hip replacement procedure he had done in the past.  A new surgery corrected this.  While he was recovering in the hospital, he was urged to exercise excessively, and the new surgery failed.  This left him in very considerable pain.  In time another surgery was performed which was successful.  For several weeks he has been been in what is called in Switzerland a Recreation Station.  Despite his complaints of pain and discomfort, his voice is strong and well.  He is delighted to be returning to his home tomorrow, and to the  beautiful grounds surrounding his very comfortable home.

The Canadian Film Board documetary on the history of LSD, Hofmann's Potion, is now completed and promises to be the best documentary on LSD yet produced.  Means of distribution are now under study.  Hopefully it will be available sometime this fall.  Dr. Hofmann recently viewed the documentary, and is quite pleased with the results.

In November, 1996, Ron Brettin and his close companion, Stacey Zee, and Myron Stolaroff traveled to Basel, Switzerland to take possession of one of the most important archives in the history of d-lysergic acid diethylamide, and to meet with Dr. Albert Hofmann.  Based on agreements worked out by Dr. Hofmann, we made arrangements to take possession of 93 volumes of invaluable psychedelic research, consisting of more than 3,500 papers.  These papers include all published scientific literature for the period 1947-1988.  The research was gathered and documented at Sandoz Pharma with close supervision by Dr. Hofmann.

Two to three years ago, Rick Doblin of MAPS arranged to have the summary headings of the above papers scanned and made made accessible on the Internet.  Since then, he has arranged to have the entire collection scanned to be placed on the Internet.  This work is being carried out under the supervision of Earth and Fire of the Erowid Website, and is very near completion.  This information should be available on the Internet no later then the end of the forthcoming September.

                                                                                                            Myron Stolaroff, Editor
 

October 30, 2000.

The editor was recently in touch with Dr. Hofmann by telephone on October 21. Dr. Hofmann, who will be 95 in January, 2001, had been feeling quite tired, and it was good to find him in much better spirits. He reported that his book, LSD, My Problem Child, is now being prepared for republication in both the hardback and paperback versions. After the release of the first hardcover version, the softcover version has been reprinted for eight separate releases. It was made available in eight separate languages. His more technical book, From Ergot to LSD, which covers the history of ergot and the basic chemistry in producing LSD, is also being prepared for republication. This is testimony to the widespread interest aroused by the remarkable properties of LSD.

Dr. Hofmann noted that despite extensive sales of his book in Europe and other countries, sales in the United States has been sparse. This can no doubt be attributed to the powerful political drive in America to demonize drugs and conceal the potential and benefits to be realized from appropriate use of LSD.