A Timeline of Drugs in the USA

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(Copyright © 2014 Piero Scaruffi)


1924: Heroin is banned in the USA
1937: Marijuana is banned in the USA
1943: Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann discovers the hallucinogenic effects of LSD
1953: The CIA finances a proejct named "MkUltra" to study the effects of psychoactive drugs
1953: USA psychiatrist Humphry Osmond introduces British write Aldous Huxley to mescaline
1954: Aldous Huxley publishes "The Doors of Perception", a book on hallucinogenic drugs
1959: Several Stanford students volunteer to take part in the CIA project "MkUltra" to study the effects of psychoactive drugs
1960: Timothy Leary begins a research program at Harvard Univ to study hallucinogenic drugs, and poet Allen Ginsberg is one of his first volunteers
1963: Albert Hofmann presents LSD at the World Academy of Arts and Sciences in Stockholm
1964: The Holy Modal Rounders are the first musicians to use the term "psychedelic" in a song
1964: MkUltra's alumnus Ken Kesey organizes the "Merry Pranksters" who travel around the country in a "Magic Bus", live in a commune in La Honda and experiment with "acid tests" (LSD)
1964: Timothy Leary co-authors "The Psychedelic Experience"
1965: Owsley "Bear" Stanley synthesizes crystalline LSD
1966: Timothy Leary founds the League of Spiritual Development, an LSD-based religion
1966: The 13th Floor Elevators are the first band to use the term "psychedelic" in an album title, and the Velvet Underground record an album that deals with drug abuse
1966: A three-day "Acid Test" is held in San Francisco with the Grateful Dead performing
1967: The Pink Floyd's psychedelic rock debuts
1966: LSD and marijuana are the drugs of choice at the first "Summer of Love" of the hippies in San Francisco
1967: A "Human Be-In" is held by the hippies of San Francisco
1968: LSD is banned in the USA
1970: Rock star Jimi Hendrix dies of a drug overdose
1973: The USA creates the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration)
1978: USA chemist Alexander Shulgin publishes a paper on the psychotropic effects of MDMA ("ecstasy")
1986: A study shows that 9% of USA adults has sniffed cocaine at least once
1986: Ecstasy becomes the drug of choice for the "rave" culture
1988: president Reagan creates the office of "Drug Czar" to fight the traffic of illicit drugs
1989: the USA fights the drug cartels of Colombian
1990: There are more than 14 million drug addicts in the USA
2006: Marijuana is the largest cash crop in the USA ($35 billion)
Dec 2012: Possession of marijuana becomes legal in the states of Washington (Seattle) and Colorado
Dec 2013: Colorado becomes the first state in the USA to open recreational pot stores and regulate marijuana from seed to sale