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At Maryland Student Convention

Tim Leary Warns Of Drug Dangers

By Chuck Hite

Recently Cavalier Daily staff writer
Chuck Hite attended a student drug
convention in Maryland as representative
of Student Council. In his first
of a series of articles on the convention
Mr. Hite gives special attention
to a guest speaker at the convention,
Mr. Timothy Leery of the League for
Spiritual Discovery.

Imagine several hundred students
sitting in an open field,
waiting. In front of the crowd two
large speakers blare, "I get high
with a little help from my friends."
Everyone's attention is
focused on small wooden platform,
fitted only with a small
oriental rug, a funeral basket of
flowers, a radio microphone and

a glass of water. As the music
stops, a slight man, clothed only
in a thin, white garment and guru
beads, steps up to the platform, sits down, and says "You've got
to turn on, tune in, and drop
out."

The scene is a student drug
conference at Frostburg State College,
Maryland. Participating in
the conference were student representatives
from 28 colleges along
the cast coast, Frostburg College
students and faculty, and several
"experts" on drugs, the most
famous being the beaded guru
above, Timothy Leery.

No one could really say just
what goals had been accomplished
after it was all over. Certainly
there was enough talk about the
conference's general theme
"Drug Use and Abuse." But the
fact is that no one is really certain
about what constitutes drug
abuse, or for that matter, what
exactly is a drug? One psychiatrist
viewed the taking of LSD as
a clear indication that a person
needed psychiatric treatment,
while a noted psychologist stated
it may only show an individual's
desire to take a more meaningful
look at his inner self.

The conference itself seemed to
center around Mr. Leary's keynote
talk and the individual and group
discussion about Leary's views
after his address. The noted leader
of the League For Spiritual Discovery
expressed views entirely
different than one might expect
him to advocate.

Leery Anti—LSD

Perhaps one of the most unexpected
was, "Stay away from
LSD." Mr. Leary emphasized that
LSD was the "graduate school of
psychedelic drugs" and that
"getting high" by use of any
agent required disciplined training.
He also suggested that an
individual should smoke marijuana
for at least two years before attempting
LSD.

As the "guru" continued speaking,
a new opinion of the man
himself began to take form.
Timothy Leary, recipient of a
Ph.D. in psychology from Berkley,
was not some crazy nut who ran
around telling people to get their
kicks from taking drugs. Nor did
he want everyone to become another
Tim Leary, claiming himself
that "that would be a
bore and a drag."

Rather, the man on the platform
was a very able and convincingly
sincere speaker who had
come to speak about the "social,
political, and religious revolution
in this country." His sermon, he
claimed, had already been given
over the loudspeaker system by
Saints George, Paul, John, and
Ringo. His message was the same
handed down over the centuries
in every religion: "Turn on, tune
in, drop out." He then went on to
clarify this message.

Viewing his beliefs as a religion
of sorts, Mr. Leery looks upon
psychedelic drugs as a sacrament.
"The key to every religion is to
get high," he explains, a type of
"ecstatic union" with a supreme
being.

He finds that marijuana, for
instance, makes him "feel good...
and do good things," and claims
that he will "continue to use every
psychedelic sacrament that will
broaden my senses."

But why the need of artificial
drugs to "turn on?" Mr. Leery
contends that it is the result of a
monolithic society which has
"brainwashed" everyone into forgetting
how to "do your own
thing." By "do your own thing"
he means the finding of individual
essence and doing it, something
which the "robots" of modern
society are unable to do. "In
order to find your own essence
you have to turn on."

Essence Of Turning On

"The essence of turning on is
an internal proposition," the self-styled
guru continues, in which
one "turns off the external chessboard,
the game." Just as the
chanting, incense and dancing of
other religions seek to bring about
a physiological change, so do the
psychedelic sacraments. This
change cannot be brought about
by the mind alone, because it is
external. But he again warned that
his sacrament is dangerous.

Doing your own thing also
means dropping out. "By dropping
out, I mean dropping out
of the American robot game," said
Mr. Leery. He went on to say
that the young people of today
are the victims of "the most insane
society of human history."

Two reasons were given as the
cause of this insanity. The first
was the American depression which
"blew the cool and stole the soul
of your parents," making them
materialistic monsters. The second
was prohibition which forced
alcohol to become regarded as
precious.

The result is a materialistic,
alcoholic society in which "groovy
clothes and convertible cars" are
exchanged for souls.

Mr. Leery stated that dropping
out involved obtaining more education
but not by our present system
in which one learns the "simplicity
of the American TV chessboard."
What is needed is intimate
learning in small groups with individual
gurus.

During his talk someone asked
Mr. Leery to rebut the fact
that LSD can have harmful effects.
He replied that not enough
research has been done to prove
that LSD can actually harm the
body. But even if it was proved
harmful, the government "cannot
pass a law telling me what I can
do inside my own body," he
asserted.

Label Drugs

His solution would be to put
a warning on the label and then
letting the people decide whether
they want to take drugs.

But the government doesn't want
people to get high, maintained Mr.
Leery. The reason is that people
turned on will not compete, fight,
or make good social robots. Alcohol
is "Big Brother's" favorite
drug.

Before the discussion groups,
Leery answered several questions
very quickly. He called methedrine
"one of the most dangerous drugs
ever invented," one which doesn't
expand consciousness but only
speeds up the chess game of life.
He asserted that 99 per cent of
all LSD freak outs were caused
by the confusion of the people
around the user.

When asked to define love, he
stated that it was very complex
and made of many things some of
which are "space and time
shared," a "contact at many levels
of consciousness," or simply "allowing
the other person to do his
own thing."

Questions in the discussion
groups centered around Mr.
Leary's belief that there should be
no control for LSD or other conscious-expanding
drugs because he
had ultimate faith in the nervous
system. He stated that his personal
unwillingness to give LSD to someone
whom he thought might have
a bad trip was a failing in himself.
It showed he lacked enough
trust and love to see them
through the trip.

The beaded guru was gone as
quickly as he arrived eager to talk
to the next group of students.
As he left he turned around, hands
clasped together, and bowed,
saying. "Namasthe." ("I salute
the God within you.")

Next: What other experts had
to say at the conference.