LSD? JFK? CIA?

[Tim Strzechowski]

wood jim wrote:

> The use of LSD was not a secret in the 1950s or the
> 1960s.  Pynchon could have read about it in the press.

The LSD research community up until the early 1960's consisted mostly of
the CIA, some individual scientists with backgrounds in psychology and
chemistry (like Timothy Leary and Albert Hoffman, for starts), and a
network of state medical facilities that were granted funding for
conducting experiments on both volunteers (where Kesey got turned on to
LSD at Menlo Park) and, according to some documentation, unsuspecting
citizens (as in the case with narcotics official George Hunter White
who, in 1952, administered LSD to unwitting citizens as per the CIA's
instructions).  Although recreational LSD use was commonplace at the
time, much of the general American public wasn't fully aware of the
government's role in the examination of LSD during the Cold War (and the
public wasn't entirely aware that it was the Feds whose experimentation
led to increased LSD use).  Again, the two books I mentioned in my
previous post discuss the details and provide the
documentation.

> Also, the Beatles (Paranoids)  took it in 1964. Got it
> from their dentist.

Again, the medical community strikes!  I wish I had such a cool dentist!
(I'd even give him a plaque for his efforts.)

> Why the conspiracy reading of this
> book?  The CIA? The JFK? The LSD?

It may not be *the* reading, but given Pynchon's penchant for paranoia
and conspiracy, it certainly is a relevant reading.  Again, loads of
references in these first two chapters of CoL49 to "hidden meanings,"
paranoia, and "plots."

And let's not forget those enigmatic "ha-ha"s.    : )

Tim