The Brotherhood of Eternal Love was an organization of drug users and distributors that operated from the mid-1960s through the late 1970s in

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

. They were dubbed the Hippie Mafia by the police. They produced and distributed drugs in hopes of starting a "psychedelic revolution" in the United States.

History

Appearing in 1968 as an orange tablet measuring about 6 mm across, "Orange Sunshine" acid was the first largely available form of LSD after its possession was made illegal. The organization was started by John Griggs as a commune, but by 1969, had turned to the manufacture of

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 ...

and the importing of hashish. In 1970, ''The Brotherhood of Eternal Love'' hired the radical left organization

Weather Underground The Weather Underground was a far-left militant organization first active in 1969, founded on the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan. Originally known as the Weathermen, the group was organized as a faction of Students for a Democr ...

for a fee of $25,000 to help

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 ...

make his way to Algeria after he escaped from prison, while serving a ten-year sentence for possession of marijuana. Their activities came to an end on August 5, 1972, when a drug raid was executed on the group where dozens of group members in California, Oregon and Maui were arrested. Some who had escaped the raid continued underground or fled abroad. More members were arrested in 1994 and 1996, and the last of them in 2009; Brenice Lee Smith served two months in jail before pleading guilty to a single charge of smuggling hashish, and then was released after being sentenced to

time served In criminal law, time served is an informal term that describes the duration of pretrial detention (remand), the time period between when a defendant is arrested and when they are convicted. Time served does not include time served on bail bu ...

Film

* '' Rainbow Bridge'', 1971 film * * '' The Sunshine Makers'', 2015 film *

Books

* * * ::First released in 1984. "wider perspective on the history of LSD, ...extending the Brotherhood's story past the point where Schou stops it. Tendler and May also claim a closer relationship between the group and the Mellon heir Billy Hitchcock and the international smuggler (and suspected government provocateur) Ronald Stark " * ::" Schou keeps closer to the original Orange County gang, telling the story largely from their perspective." *

References

External links

Orange Sunshine Timeline – OSEL

Dion Wright - News
{{Authority control Drug rings 1960s establishments in California 1970s disestablishments in California Organizations based in California Drug cartels in the United States Cannabis trafficking Cannabis in California

History

Film

Books

See also

References

External links