THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION by Aldous HuxleyHuxley's classic from 1954, which sparked the rediscovery of psychedelics by a wide and varied audience. "There is nothing the pen of Huxley touches which it does not illuminate, and as the record of a highly civilised, brilliantly articulate man under the influence of an astonishing drug, The Doors of Perception is a tour de force." — The Daily Telegraph, London. ©Mrs. Laura Huxley
THE JOYOUS COSMOLOGY by Alan W. Watts
One of the world's leading investigators of the psychology of religion evaluates the psychedelic experience both objectively and from the vantage of the author's own personal experiments. Foreword by Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert. HTML edition, table of contents and complete text, ©1962, 1970 by Pantheon Books.
LSD, MY PROBLEM CHILD by Albert Hofmann
Albert Hofmann, inventor of LSD and discoverer of psilocybin, the active principle of the "magic mushroom," recounts the history of his discoveries. HTML edition, table of contents and complete text, ©1980 McGraw-Hill Book Company. Translated by Jonathan Ott from the German, LSD—Mein Sorgenkind, 1979
THE ROAD TO ELEUSIS by Wasson, Hofmann, & Ruck
Acting on an insight into the true nature of the Mysteries of Eleusis, R. Gordon Wasson sought the collaboration of Albert Hofmann and Carl A.P. Ruck, a classical scholar specializing in Greek ethnobotany. Closely coordinating their research, the three scholar-scientists first offered documentation on the religious rites at an International Conference on Hallucinogenic Mushrooms in 1977. These astonishing findings, given here in a much expanded version, leave little doubt that the ancient secret of Eleusis has at last been unveiled. The HTML edition includes Table of Contents, Introduction and Chapter I. © 1978 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
THE SECRET CHIEF by Myron J. Stolaroff
"Conversations with a Pioneer of the Underground Psychedelic Therapy Movement" by Myron J. Stolaroff. The PROLOGUE to The Secret Chief by Stanislav Grof, M.D., is reproduced in The Psychedelic Library by permission of the publisher, The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. ©1997 by Myron J. Stolaroff.
THE NATURAL MIND by Andrew Weil
"The Natural Mind is one of the classics of consciousness investigation. Dr. Weil's emphasis that it is consciousness and intention that are primary in determining our response to drugs, rather than drug chemistry, is an insight we need today to determine a rational approach to drug use and abuse." —Charles T. Tart, Ph.D. Preface to the revised edition and Chapter 1 reproduced in The Psychedelic Library by permission of the author. ©1972, 1986 by Andrew Weil.
THE MARIJUANA SMOKERS by Erich Goode
"This timely and dispassionate book—based on a survey of 200 marijuana users and on thousands of man-hours spent in direct observation—portrays the marijuana phenomenon as it actually is. Dr. Goode convincingly shows how misconceptions and widespread fears over the morals and life styles of drug users have hindered an enlightened understanding of the use and effects of marijuana." Published in 1970, this book has withstood the test of time and remains one of the most important works on the subject. The complete text is available here by permission of the author.
HIGH CULTURE: MARIJUANA IN THE LIVES OF AMERICANS by William Novak
A classic text on marijuana and its effects on normal everyday Americans by a jouranlist and reviewer whose work has appeared in many well-known publications, and has been an editor and teacher of writing at Tufts University. The complete text available here by permission of the author.
ON BEING STONED by Charles T. Tart
"A Psychological Study of Marijuana Intoxication" was published in 1971 and remains a most important source of information for both professionals and the general public. With the recently escalating debate concerning government intransigence on the medical marijuana issue, On Being Stoned appears in The Psychedelic Library as a valuable antidote to misinformation and hysteria. The complete text is available here by permission of the author. ©1971 by Science and Behavior Books.
DRUG, SET, AND SETTING by Norman E. Zinberg
"This is a major work, by one of the world's leading experts on drug use and abuse. It is a book full of insights. Zinberg has provided us with a candid report on the reality of drug use in some of its most common features. By concentrating on the human dimensions of controlled use, he has etched in remarkably revealing detail the broad spectrum of use within which abuse may be better understood and more accurately defined." —Arnold S. Trebach. ©1984 Yale University
THE MYTH OF ADDICTION and DRUGSPEAK by John Booth Davies
"The Myth of Addiction is an immensely readable, provocative text which is fast becoming a classic. It is a book which anyone aspiring to present a new structure to explain drug use must take into account. As a result of the publication of The Myth of Addiciton, it is no longer possible to talk the language of addiction—disease, having to have, compulsion, loss of control, expurgation of guilt—without sensing the presence of John Davies looking on and forcing the question, 'what exactly do I think I am trying to explain?'" —Douglas Cameron, University of Leicester. Second edition, ©1997 by OPA, Harwood Academic Publishers.
THE MEANING OF ADDICTION by Stanton Peele
The Meaning of Addiction presents an entire non-reductive, experiential model of addiction. It is the standard reference showing that addiction can never be resolved to its biochemical components, as the NIDA and NIMH are currently attempting to prove. "Stanton Peele writes so clearly and cogently that his scholarship and erudition remain continuously intriguing, adding to the readability of a volume that will become a classic contribution to the field." (Jules Masserman, Past President, American Psychiatric Association.) ©1985 by D.C. Heath and Company
DRUGS AND RIGHTS by Douglas N. Husak
"This timely and important book is the first serious work of philosophy to address the question: Do adults have a moral right to use drugs for recreational purposes? Many critics of the 'war on drugs' denounce law enforcement as counterproductive and ineffective. Douglas Husak argues that the 'war on drugs' violates the moral rights of adults who want to use drugs for pleasure and that criminal laws against such use are incompatible with moral rights." Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Public Policy, ©1992 by Cambridge University Press
RELIGIONS, VALUES, AND PEAK-EXPERIENCES by Abraham H. Maslow
"Traditionally, religion has been of the spirit; science, of the body; and there has been a wide philosophic gulf between the knowlege of the body and the knowledge of the spirit. The natural sciences and religion have generally been considered as natural and eternal opponents. Abraham H. Maslow here articulates one of his prominent theses: the "religious" experience is a rightful subject for scientific investigation and speculation and, conversely, the "scientific community" will see its work enhanced by acknowledging and studying the species-wide need for spiritual expression which, in so many forms, is at the heart of "peak-experiences" reached by healthy, fully functioning persons."
STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS by Charles T. Tart
Stanislav Grof said of this book, "A beautiful piece of work on the theory of Altered States of Consciousness that will become a classic in the field." First published in 1975, States of Consciousness appears in The Psychedelic Library by permission of the author. ©1975 by Charles T. Tart.
THE FORBIDDEN GAME by Brian Inglis
"A Social History of Drugs" by Brian Inglis. One of the book's recurring themes is that Prohibition has always led to an increase of drug consmption, coupled with an increase in corruption and crime. A classic of the Anti-Prohibition Literature, the author also wrote one of the best accounts of The Opium War.
THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE by William S. Moxley
"A Theory of Psychedelic Experience" by William S. Moxley. Drawing upon recent research in many fields of study, this work represents the first multi-disciplinary theory attempting to define the nature, cause, roots, and future of psychedelic experience. Published for the first time in the Drug Reform Coordination Network Internet Library. HTML edition, copyright 1996 WSM.
THE PRIVATE SEA: LSD AND THE SEARCH FOR GOD by William Braden
Published in 1967, Albert Hofmann wrote of this book, "...a true intellectual pleasure...you certainly penetrated deeply into the roots of the LSD problem and have presented its many-sided aspects and its relationship to present intellectual trends well and with a thorough knowledge of the subject."
LSD — THE PROBLEM-SOLVING PSYCHEDELIC by Peter Stafford & Bonnie Golightly
Published in 1967. "Unless I have completely misunderstood the message, this book must be looked upon as a manifesto from one generation to another—from the young to their elders. As I see it, the younger generation is telling us that it proposes to use psychedelics because it considers them appropriate instruments for living in the hurricane's eye of accelerating change. These young people consider that it is neither possible nor desirable to prevent them from employing these substances in this way, and in fact they are challenging lawmakers, law givers and law enforcers to stop them." —Humphrey Osmond, from the preface.
HIGH IN AMERICA by Patrick Anderson
"The True Story Behind NORML and the Politics of Marijuana". Published by The Viking Press, New York, ©1981 by Patrick Anderson. Reproduced in The Psychedelic Library with the permission of the author.
HENRY HYDE ON DRUGS by Dennis Bernstein and Leslie Kean
Chapter 5 of Henry Hyde's Moral Universe: Where More than Time and Space are Warped Common Courage Press, 1999. "Henry Hyde played a significant role in creating public confusion about Contra trafficking and ultimately steering the IranContra Committees away from a serious investigation of this highly volatile subject that goes right to the heart of U.S. national security."
THE MAN WHO TURNED ON THE WORLD by Michael Hollingshead
Published by Blond & Briggs, Ltd., 1973. The autobiography of one of the legendary figures in the history of the psychedelic rediscovery, who in 1962 introduced the Harvard researchers to LSD. An unaccountably scarce book.
THE BROTHERHOOD OF ETERNAL LOVE by Stewart Tendler & David May
"Born in the psychedelic Californian counter-culture of the 1960s, the Brotherhood and its allies were going to transform the world with LSD." And so they did, but not as originallty conceived... Although this study contains no small number of inaccuracies, and is unreferenced, it nevertheless provides valuable inside views of the 1960s not available elsewhere. A rare book.
THE SEARCH FOR THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE by John Marks
Published by Times Books in 1979. The extraordinary story, compiled from documents released under the Freedom of Information Act, of how the CIA conducted a series of secret programs to find ways to control human behavior. Marks' investigation reveals that the Agency was deeply involved in research with psychoactive drugs, psycho-surgery, electroshock, hypnosis and other methods on Agency operatives, students, mental patients, defectors, prisoners and prostitutes; many of these subjects were unwitting or involuntary collaborators.