Man Of The Month....Albert Hofmann

Men come in all shapes and sizes. But to be recognized and appreciated for something that is considered, by most, to be taboo or even down right satanic is tough on a guy. So for a scientist that was just trying new ways to improve medicine and then accidently touched his work, many lives would be changed.

Back in 1938 a Swiss chemist by the name of Albert Hofmann was messin' with fungus from wheat and such. He then got a little on his finger resulting in a clash with reality as he thought it was. He discovered lysergic acid diethylamide-25. LSD. And the world changed drastically soon after.

Sadly on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 Albert Hofmann died of a heart attack. But at 102 years old. Holy crap. And so I thought it would be worth finding the true worth and greatness of this man by honoring him as the Man of the Month for April.

So what makes him honorable? What makes him such a worthy Man?

Possibly the fact that he changed so many lives. Yes, some for the worse. But think of the positives. How many soldiers were relieved of suffering (may be false) or how many terrorists gave up vital information under the influence (may be false). What about alcoholism treatment before it was illegal, said here by wikipedia,

"Studies in the 1950s that used LSD to treat alcoholism professed a 50% success rate,[39] five times higher than estimates near 10% for Alcoholics Anonymous."

These things are small reasons for appreciation and may not out weigh the ugly effects of LSD. But imagine life with out the creative minds of writers and artists around the world. Without Aldous Huxley we would have no Brave New World. Without Ken Kesey, we would be without Of Mice and Men. Or Hunter S. Thompson's detailed stories. A special thanks to a Mr. Steve Jobs for doing all that acid and help with the development of some of the most creative technologies all men should appreciate.

Okay, okay. I know. Acid is bad. But the man behind the curtain wasn't. He was quoted as saying, "I produced the substance as a medicine ... It's not my fault if people abused it." And it is true. He was only trying to help the intricate world of health and medicine. And along the way he discovered one of the most controversial substances in history.

For a man that was an active with the drug until his freakin nineties. I would say rest in peace. But I am thinking that he did enough of that through out his life after turning spiritual like most users seem to eventually do.

All I can say is. It takes a hell of a man to take that drug the first time. Let alone the first person ever to try it twice.