Alfred Matthew Hubbard (July 24, 1901 – August 31, 1982), was an early proponent for the drug
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...
during the 1950s. He is reputed to have been the "
Johnny Appleseed
John Chapman (September 26, 1774March 18, 1845), better known as Johnny Appleseed, was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Ontario, as well as the northern cou ...
of LSD" and the first person to emphasize LSD's potential as a visionary or transcendental drug.
Career
In 1920, Hubbard was publicized in
West Coast newspapers as having developed a
free energy motor, though a ''
Popular Science'' article published in 1928 referred to it as a hoax.
In 1929, he received for a radioactive "Internal Combustion Engine Spark Plug" device,
which was manufactured sparingly by at least one U.S. company. It used an electrode doped with
polonium 210, a radioactive isotope with a half-life of 138 days. The supposed "ionizing effect"
of polonium 210 upon the combustion gases in the spark gap was purported to "improve engine efficiency".
Motion was said to be among Hubbard's passions. His identity as "Captain" came from his Master of Sea Vessels certification and a stint in the
US Merchant Marine
United States Merchant Marines are United States civilian mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of the government and private sectors, an ...
.
According to some accounts, Hubbard worked at various times for the Canadian Special Services, the
United States Justice Department
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
, the United States
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the
Office of Strategic Services, or OSS (predecessor of the US
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
).
As Hubbard told the story to
Willis Harman
Willis W. Harman (August 16, 1918 – January 30, 1997) was an American engineer, futurist, and author associated with the human potential movement. He was convinced that late industrial civilization faced a period of major cultural crisis which ...
(and Harman told it to Todd Brendan Fahey, a reporter for ''
High Times
''High Times'' is an American monthly magazine (and cannabis brand) that advocates the legalization of cannabis as well as other counterculture ideas. The magazine was founded in 1974 by Tom Forcade.Danko, Danny"Norml Founder Retires – Exha ...
''), he was hiking in
Washington State
Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...
when an angel appeared to him in a clearing. "She told Al that something tremendously important to the future of mankind would be coming soon, and he could play a role in it if he wanted to. But he hasn't the faintest clue what he was supposed to be looking for."
Having read in a scientific journal about the then-obscure drug LSD-25, Hubbard felt this was something that he was destined to learn more about and to be involved with. Hubbard found a researcher who was conducting reported experiments on LSD with rats. He was able to obtain some LSD for himself. He believed in its utility for opening the human mind to deeper, broader vistas.
The confident and connected Al Hubbard invited Dr.
Humphry Osmond
Humphry Fortescue Osmond (1 July 1917 – 6 February 2004) was an English psychiatrist who expatriated to Canada, then moved to work in the United States. He is known for inventing the word ''psychedelic'' and for his research into interesting a ...
to join him for lunch at the Vancouver Yacht Club. Osmond and his colleagues were using the drug, as well as the similar substance,
mescaline, in psychiatric research and treatment at Weyburn,
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...
. Osmond later recalled that the Yacht Club "was a very dignified place, and I was rather awed by it.
ubbardwas a powerfully-built man...with a broad face and a firm hand-grip. He was also very genial, an excellent host."
"Captain Hubbard" was interested in acquiring some mescaline, which was
then still legal, and Dr. Osmond supplied him with some.
By the time
Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from bold oracle to publicity hound. He was "a her ...
and his colleagues were experimenting with psychedelic drugs in the psychology department of
Harvard in the early 1960s, Hubbard had obtained a supply of Sandoz LSD. Hubbard went there to meet Leary and wanted to swap some LSD for some
psilocybin
Psilocybin ( , ) is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug compound produced by more than 200 species of fungi. The most potent are members of the genus ''Psilocybe'', such as '' P. azurescens'', '' P. semilanceata'', and '' P.&nbs ...
, the synthesized constituent of
magic mushrooms identified, and then produced, by Switzerland's
Sandoz Laboratories
Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loca ...
.
The Central Intelligence Agency grew out of the post-World War II OSS, which was reputed to be one of Hubbard's employers. Under the auspices of
MK-ULTRA, the CIA regularly dosed its agents and associates with powerful hallucinogens as a preemptive measure against what was alleged to be the
Soviets
Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union.
Nationality policy in ...
' own chemical technology, sometimes with disastrous results. It is possible that Hubbard had some links with the CIA, but Humphry Osmond doubts that Hubbard would have been associated with a project like MK-ULTRA, "not particularly on humanitarian grounds, but on the grounds that it was ''bad technique''."
"I was convinced that he was the man to bring LSD to planet Earth,"
remarked
Myron Stolaroff
Myron J. Stolaroff (August 20, 1920 – January 6, 2013) was an author and researcher who is best known for his studies involving psychedelic psychotherapy. He also conducted clinical studies that attempted to measure the effects of LSD, mescali ...
, who was assistant to the president of long-range planning at electronics company
Ampex Corporation
Ampex is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff as a spin-off of Dalmo-Victor. The name AMPEX is a portmanteau, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excellence.AbramsoThe History ...
when he met the Captain. Stolaroff learned of Hubbard through a mentor, philosopher
Gerald Heard
Henry FitzGerald Heard (6 October 1889 – 14 August 1971), commonly called Gerald Heard, was a British-born American historian, science writer, public lecturer, educator, and philosopher. He wrote many articles and over 35 books.
Heard was a g ...
, a friend and spiritual mentor to
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems.
Born into the prominent Huxle ...
.
According to Todd Brendan Fahey, Hubbard introduced more than 6,000 people to LSD, including scientists, politicians, intelligence officials, diplomats, and church figures.
Works
*
References
External links
*, Documents on Al Hubbard The "Johnny Appleseed of LSD"
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hubbard, Alfred Matthew
1901 births
1982 deaths
People from Kentucky
American psychedelic drug advocates
Psychedelic drug researchers
Psychonautics researchers