How much harm can drugs do? No seriously. Albert Hofmann the Swiss citizen and chemist extraordinaire passed away yesterday, the 29th of April 2008, in the village of Burg im Leimental near Basel having lived a fecund 102 years. He is the man who chemically synthesized LSD, to him in 1935 a lysergic acid derivative which he called LSD 25. No he did not follow the find with Lucy and the sky. Instead he set aside his discovery for five years. In 1943 when he returned to it he met with luck. Inspiration came to him one evening on his bike ride home. He had involuntarily/accidentally absorbed a quantity of the acid. Upon realization of its potential, he administered to himself deliberate quantities of the substance in a series of self-experiments conducted with his colleagues.
It was around this time, three days after he first discovered the effect of LSD, on April 22nd to be precise, that he started writing about these experiments.
His work met with approval and he was promoted to the directorship of the natural products department of Sandoz (now Novartis). His study on hallucinogenic substances continued and he turned his attention to Mexican mushrooms. This led to the synthesis of ‘psilocybin, the active agent in many magic mushrooms. His curiosity now attracted him towards the seeds of the Mexican morning glory species Rivea Corymbosa which are called ‘ololiuhqui’ by the indigenes.
In 1962 he undertook with his wife Anita a voyage to southern Mexico in search of the plant ‘Ska Maria Pastora’ which in English translates into the beautiful ‘Leaves of Maria the Shepherdess’ (Latin ‘Salvia Divinorum’). The discovery of its active chemicals however eluded him. (Science has identified it since as diterpenoid Salvinorin A).
Albert Hofmann was not just the accidental creator of LSD as chosen by providence. And even if that was true it has to be said for him that he was a lifelong champion of its use and application. He called LSD ‘medicine for the soul’ and questioned its worldwide prohibition. He accepted that maybe in the hands of the 60s youth movement it had found addicts who were taking its consumption to reckless limits. But he maintained that proscription of the drug was akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater. He remained a firm advocate of the therapeutic uses of LSD.
‘I think that in human evolution it has never been as necessary to have this substance LSD. It is just a tool to turn us into what we are supposed to be.’


For further reading—
The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries
Co- authors—R.G. Wasson, Carl Ruck and Blaise Staples
Wikipedia describes this book as that ‘…which reveals the secret mystic elixir that is at the heart of these mysteries, and therefore, fundamental to the development of Western civilization.’
Also
Entheogens and the future of Religion- essays
Outside Looking In- discussion of his relationship with ‘LSD provocateur’ Timothy Leary.
See also- wikipedia- albert hofmann