LSD Counterculture

There was a clear generation gap that lead to the misunderstanding and division between the older generations and the younger ones. The older generations wanted to know why these youths wanted to take LSD, venture out, try new things, and change the culture and society that they were or are growing up in. They also focused on the negative aspects on it, but could not help because that was all that was presented in the media, all the negative aspects of LSD and minimization of the benefits of it.

Youths of LSD counterculture took their criticism and disapproval and turned it into a positive experience. Ignoring the backlash, they continued to voice their opinion and use LSD to enhance new ways of expressing themselves and their spirituality.

The youths of the LSD counterculture also used LSD to escape the problems of society, their own personal problems, and open up their minds to new possibilities to bring about change. There were many LSD pioneers in the LSD counterculture movement that pushed for people to accept LSD and accept the changes in culture and society. Timothy Leary was a leading figure in the hippie LSD counterculture movement along with others like Kent Kesey. Leary, though predominant advocate for LSD usage in the spiritual sense and self-exploration and connecting with others on a deeper level. He spoke against the government and their authority, which made him more appealing the youths of the counterculture. Sarah Shortall states, “Leary thus drew upon a common countercultural trope when he argued that America’s institutions of authority had corrupted the natural state of the human mind, conditioning consciousness into ‘artificial, receptive sequences’

Leary also preached and encourage the youth to take LSD to help them explore a more accepting and aware state of mind that transcended the conventional mindset of thought and locked people to their traditional conservative lifestyles. [17] This reawakened the hippies of America and the world. The hippie LSD movement in America influenced the western world with their openness to new ideas and self-expression, exploration, and sexuality. LSD was also a catalyst for new ideas and acceptances that helped support other movements and helped carve a path for the conversations and awareness of what use to be taboo subjects. They lived off the ideology of free love, music, peace, and mind opening drugs. The movement was all about discovering new things, exploring new ideas, and rebelling against society. In America, the Vietnam war had a toll on the youth and the hippies. They were sick and disgusted of the constant fighting between the U.S. and other countries and between people within the U.S., such as discrimination. They wanted peace, love, an equality among each other which they helped contribute to the Civil Rights Movement. With their explorations with sex, they used LSD