I saw Timothy Leary speak in 1967. A creepy egotist. He was later fingered as a CIA asset by Hunter Thompson. True? Who knows? He betrayed anyone if it could gain him an advantage.
Let his pretty wife take a rap for his crime once and she did prison time so he could stay out for the “Movement.” Helped black supremacists who were murderers to gain their help for his own court case.
Fascinating nonfiction book The Most Dangerous Man in America by Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis has the narrative of Nixon versus Leary. I doubt Leary would have any supporter left after reading it. At one point he made a prison break by moving across a high cable hand over hand between buildings to get to a place past the guards. He had to train for weeks to get in shape but did it. Incredible.
While Leary is who he was...not a hero in any respect...The basic question of humans being allowed to expand their minds through other substances remains to be answered.
Pretty much all societies from antiquity to modern day have their shamans, seers and medicine men that dabble in mind altering substances to see to the other side. In my opinion, all humans that wish to do so in a “religious” setting should be allowed to do so. Not on a daily basis...but in a yearly or some such regime.
There is an interesting theory that man evolved by taking psychedelic mushrooms. I don’t know how much stock I put in the theory, but it is interesting. I understand that great work is being done with small amounts of DMT with soldiers to help them get over PSTD with success as I understand.
I don’t think psychedelics should be sold on every street corner, but I do believe that it is a basic human right to consume most any substance they wish, with the obvious caveats.
Marijuana is now legal in many states and I have no interest in partaking. I did those things in my youth, like many...but being in my 60s, I would still be interested in venturing into a psychedelic state in a controlled situation with a guide. Maybe we all need a Don Juan to guide us through our Casteneda adventures. Terrance McKenna. Now that was a cat that was interesting. He could give hours long lectures on a variety of subjects. His talks on hermetic alchemy are fascinating.
Anyway, those are my thoughts.