Society and the media did not react to LSD so kindly as it became more popularized in both America and Britain in the mid 60’s, the mass majority of media portrayed it as a danger to individuals and to society, they ignored the beneficial effects and instead of looking at the successes it had in the psychotherapy world, they focused on the “bad trips,” the small number of disaster stories from personal user experiences, and over dramatized the possible and actual dangers of the drug. [8] Moreover, social tension was in the air everywhere, there was a clear divided, with the far left liberals and subcultures involving psychedelics on one side and the American and British government on the other. Writing in The New York Times on April 22, 1966, staff reporter Benard Weinraub interviewed people on both views of the controversy of LSD and psychedelic drug use, and reported several cases in which people committed violent and self harming actions while on the drug, and some people reported trips were “frightening and, to use the most repeated word, ‘dangerous.’” [9] Hospitals were being flooded with LSD users, who were showing up with ‘“uncontrolled violent urges, homicidal urges,’ or ‘overwhelming fear.’’’ [10] This negative portrayal of LSD in the media was also happening in Britain too but with also the focus of how it can damage society.
…show more content…
Print media, like newspapers and magazines, planted the seed of fear in the public’s mind about LSD. People had the belief that LSD was going to make you insane after one dose of
Print media, like newspapers and magazines, planted the seed of fear in the public’s mind about LSD. People had the belief that LSD was going to make you insane after one dose of