LSD - Nectar of The Gods

The Creators of Orange Sunshine Acid
A Look Into the Legal Case and the Personal Activities of the 1960's Greatest LSD Chemists
By Punkerslut

Image: By Punkerslut, Made with Graphics by robpatrick and Ben Mills,
Released Under the Creative Commons
"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic" License

An Introduction to the Defendants Tim Scully and Nick Sand

"The multitude was gazing silently;
And as the culprit passed with dauntless mien,
Tempered disdain in his unaltering eye,
Mixed with a quiet smile, shone calmly forth;" 
          --Percy Shelley, 1813
          "Queen Mab," Book VII

     On, September 13, 1976, two individuals stood before Judge Benjamin C. Duniway, both charged with "manufacture and distribution of LSD." They were also charged with tax evasion, based on "the nonreporting of income derived from this activity." [*1] It was not simply LSD that they were responsible for creating -- it was the legendary, underground "Orange Sunshine" acid. The trial itself became as amazing as the two people involved. They deserve a brief introduction.
     Nick Sand was an Anthropology and Sociology student in Brooklyn, New York City, when he took Mescaline in 1961. He also often visited Millbrook, the communal home of Timothy Leary's League for Spiritual Discovery. According to an Erowid article providing a summary of this chemist, "during a vision quest on DMT, Sand came to believe that he should devote his life entirely to manufacturing entheogens. He became a criminal as a matter of principle and as an act of civil disobedience, because he believed he was working for a higher good." [*2] In 1967, he left New York and moved to San Francisco, where he produced DOM ("STP") and MDA (an analogue of MDMA, or "ecstasy").
     In 1969, Nick Sand worked with Tim Scully in Windsor, California, producing millions of doses of the Orange Sunshine LSD. Sand was also the first chemist to synthesize DMT and to suggest smoking as a method, which "came about by serendipity, when some crumbs of DMT fell onto a hotplate and vaporized, inspiring Sand to try smoking it." [*3] This is an impressive accomplishment, because DMT is often considered among the few psychedelics exceeding LSD in the raw intensity of its experience.


Image: Photograph of Nick Sand as a young Anthropology Student,
by Gene Bernofsky, 1967,
From Erowid.org

     Robert Timothy Scully, or more commonly just Tim Scully, was a co-worker with Nick Sand in the Orange Sunshine laboratory. When only 13 years old, Scully designed and built a computer in 1958 that received honorable mention at a San Francisco Bay Area science fair. [*4] A few years later, at another science fair, he attempted "to make gold from mercury by use of thermal neutrons," whereby he would create "a neutron flux by a deuteron-deuteron interaction." [*5]


Image: Photograph of Tim Scully (Top-Right),
from the Oakland Tribune, 1961,
From Erowid.org

     From the early 1960's to about 1966, he did work in electrical engineering, designing detection and measurement systems for radiation and the nuclear content of soil. And after that, he spent a few months on the road with the Grateful Dead, "doing electronic design of custom audio systems including direct electrical recording of their instruments." [*6] [*7]
     While touring the country with the Dead, Scully met Augustus Owsley Stanley III, another famous LSD chemist of the 1960's -- nicknamed "Bear." For the most part, Stanley relied on storebought LSD manufactured by Sandoz, then marketed as a psychiatric tool for psychoanalysis. However, by the middle 1960's, this wasn't an option anymore, so he, "unable to obtain any pharmaceutical LSD, began to manufacture his own - first in Los Angeles in '65, then in nearby Point Richmond in '66." The 1965 batch was impure, but when Scully and Stanley teamed up, Scully claimed that they perfected a pure process...

"Many who used both Sandoz and Owsley - the latter came in tablets of purple (Purple Haze) and white (White Lightning) of 270 micrograms - say that Owsley acid was less mystical and had more stimulant side reactions than the Sandoz product." [*8]

     In 1967, Tim Scully set up a lab for Augustus Owsley Stanley III in Denver, Colorado. [*9] However, Stanley's work was short-lived, as he "was arrested in 1967 at his tabbing facility at Orinda, California." [*10] From his time between 1965 and 1967, though, Stanley produced 1.25 million doses of LSD, while at the same time being an enthusiast, financier, and sound engineer for the Grateful Dead; Bob Weir from the Dead said of him, "He's good for a different point of view at about any given time. He's brilliant. He knows everything." [*11]
     In fact, in 1966, Stanley was raided by police for producing Methamphetamine, which turned out to be incorrect -- so Stanley successfully sued the police. After his trial in 1967, he was let out on bail, until he was arrested again in 1970 for possession of Marijuana. His bail was revoked and he served two years at Terminal Island. When asked about his experiences in a 2007 interview, Stanley said...

"I wound up doing time for something I should have been rewarded for. What I did was a community service, the way I look at it. I was punished for political reasons. Absolutely meaningless. Was I a criminal? No. I was a good member of society - only my society and the one making the laws are different." [*12]

     After the arrest of his partner, Tim Scully set up another LSD laboratory in Denver in 1968. Only one year later, in 1969, it was raided by the police, though the search was eventually ruled illegal. It was here that Nick Sand was taught the pure method for LSD production. [*13] Besides synthesizing psychedelic drugs, Scully also did some work on "the design of high vacuum flash evaporators and systems for preparative column chromatography." That very year, he founded his own electronics company in California, Aquarius Electronics. [*14] But, his activity was interrupted with the 1969 raid, and the case that delayed for years before reaching court.
     During this time, Scully was also accepting funding from William Hitchcock, the son of a wealthy family, for the laboratory. To quote Scully on his activity during this period before the '69 raid...

"Many people shared the goal of turning on the world in the '60s. There wasn't nearly as formal an organization as the government seemed to believe. Nick [Sand] and I cooperated in obtaining raw materials, for example, but were in many ways working completely independently. Nick, Bear and I all got some help from Billy Hitchcock, but again, this was a very loose arrangement and not at all the kind of organization that most folks imagine. Perhaps it would be more accurate to describe it as a community of common interests or a network." [*15]

     Nick Sand was a member of "a secretive group of hippie acid dealers and hashish smugglers known as the Brotherhood of Eternal Love." [*16] It was through this organization, active until just a few years ago (2009), that Sand was able to widely distribute his products. [*17] The purpose of the group was "the aim of transforming the world into a peaceful utopia by promoting consciousness-expanding drug experimentation through LSD, including their famous homemade acid, Orange Sunshine." [*18] At his trial, Tim Scully said that his intention was to "turn on the world" and as far as LSD chemists go, "we were doing a public service." [*19]


Image: Painting of Galileo Galilei Facing the Inquisition.
The accused is charged with studying the forbidden sciences of Mathematics and Physics.
Painting by Cristiano Banti, 1857.

Just What Is ALD-52?

"Nicholas Sand was charged in two counts with income tax evasion, in one count with conspiracy to violate federal drug laws relating to lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), in one count with conspiracy to defraud the United States in the collection of taxes, and in two counts with substantive drug violations, the manufacture and distribution of LSD. Robert Timothy Scully was charged in one count with income tax evasion, in the same two conspiracy counts as Sand, and in three drug related counts, one charging the manufacture and two the sale of LSD." 
          --Judge Benjamin C. Duniway, 1976
          United States of America v. Nicholas Sand and Robert Timothy Scully

     The case against these two began in 1973, and they were both convicted in 1974, where Tim Scully was sentenced to 20 years and Nick Sand was sentenced to 15 years. [*20] On September 13th, 1976, the United States Federal Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, reviewed and ruled on the final appeal of the two defendants. [*21] The charges were the manufacture and distribution of LSD "during 1968, 1969, and 1970."
     However, there was no LSD. The chemical that Sand and Scully were producing was ALD-52. It is "a psychotropic organic compound, which the defendants claim was the licit chemical N-acetyl lysergic acid diethylamide (ALD-52)." [*22] When water is added to it, ALD-52 undergoes Hydrolysis, [*23] [*24] which turns it into LSD -- but ALD-52 itself is not illegal.
     However, the government tampered with the ALD-52 and exposed it to moist atmospheres, turning it into LSD. Judge Duniway admitted this and claimed that it was a completely legitimate form of preserving evidence, as well as using it in court. To quote him in the case...

"If they [the defendants] were manufacturing a legal but perfect substitute for LSD, it was their obligation, not that of the government, to preserve evidence of that accomplishment. Having failed to do so, they cannot now complain because the ALD-52 might have been better preserved had the government indicted earlier." [*25]

     The defendants are going to be tried for evidence that was admittedly tampered with by the United States government. As Duniway remarked, "Whatever prejudice defendants suffered was a product of their own negligence." [*26] It's not certain if Judge Duniway was expecting that the suspects would go to the police department and regularly maintain the chemistry work in the evidence locker. The judge doesn't really go so far as to say exactly what kind of obligation their "negligence" was from.
     Since it required at least four years for this type of decomposition to occur, the attorneys for Sand and Scully argued that the case violated their right to a speedy and public trial. (The Sixth Amendment.) However, according to Judge Duniway, this rule only applies where the delay has some effect on the trial. Later, he does admit that the delay caused the Hydrolysis of the ADL-52 into LSD, but this isn't considered as effecting the trial. As Duniway stated at the trial...

"­...the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment may require dismissal of the indictment if the defendant is able to demonstrate either that the delay was the product of deliberate action by law enforcement officials to gain a tactical advantage over the defendant, or that it resulted in such substantial prejudice to the accused that a fair trial is no longer possible." [*27]

     The defendants were expected to prove that the tampering of evidence by government officials was done intentionally by them. "...allegation that the delay was wilful was 'implicit' in their moving papers. In general we require that a party do more than suggest or imply an objection in order to preserve it on appeal." [*28] There would be no case against the defendants for possession of LSD without such tampering. But this alone does not prove that it was done maliciously, and therefore, the fixed evidence cannot be barred from court. So rules the judge on behalf of the law.
     Another difficulty in the delay is that many of the friends of Nick Sand and Tim Scully, during that period, were no longer around. Yet, the judge makes an assumption about why kinds of "acquaintances" these defendants would have: "...it is not clear that their testimony would more likely have been helpful than harmful to Sand and Scully." [*29]
     In the end, though, Duniway relied on the court's chemistry-knowledge: "The government maintained below, and argues here, that ALD-52 cannot be produced without first manufacturing LSD." [*30] The defendants, on the other hand, one of them being an exceptionally brilliant chemist, "had devised a method of producing ALD-52 without passing through an intermediate stage in which LSD was produced." [*31] The judge claimed this was impossible, though it is definitely possible to produce chemicals by using alternative, intermediate stages. [*32] [*33] [*34] In fact, when Sand was arrested, he was found with papers that included the synthesis instructions for more than one hundred, different psychedelic drugs that were publicly unknown. [*35]

It All Goes Back to Billy Hitchcock

"A substantial fraction, perhaps one third, of the acid I made was given away." 
          --Tim Scully, 2003
          The Oak Tree Review [*36]

     The "LSD" found on Nick Sand and Tim Scully was not LSD. But, the court ordered itself to imagine this to be the case. Even with that, there was still some lurking doubt in its mind, so it had to prop up a witness. This is where Billy Hitchcock, the international multimillionaire and financier of Timothy Leary, comes into play.
     It turns out that Hitchcock had been lying for years to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The authorities were not concerned at all about this activity, until they knew they could use Hitchcock as a material witness against Sand and Scully. Someone who had just pled guilty to lying multiple times in court now became the cornerstone of the entire case for the prosecution. To quote LSD historians Martin A. Lee and Bruce Shlain...

"Hitchcock was not a particularly strong witness at the San Francisco trial. He acknowledged that his own drug usage had been extensive, and he listed all the substances he had experimented with over the years, including LSD and heroin. Mr. Billy had already pleaded guilty to income tax evasion and violation of SEC regulations, but he had not yet been sentenced for these charges. The defense contended that Hitchcock had been promised leniency in his other cases if he lied in this one. Although he admitted that he had perjured himself four times during Internal Revenue and SEC investigations and before a federal grand jury, his testimony was deemed reliable enough to send both of the defendants to the pen." [*37]

     Even the judge claimed that Hitchcock's testimony was essential to the prosecution of the two LSD chemists. "The government argues that it did not have sufficient evidence to indict until Hitchcock agreed to testify against Sand and Scully," [*38] Judge Duniway said. And why should the government believe the defendants? "...the defendants offer only their unsupported conclusory allegations," [*39] Duniway concluded.
     Maybe someone who has perjured themselves and is being given leniency in other crimes might only offer "unsupported conclusory" allegations. In the end, the judge looked at two professional and trained chemists, and disregarded their testimony in favor of the testimony of a heroin-using, tax-evading millionaire. There is much to suggest that Hitchcock did not even believe in the testimony he gave -- behind the court's back, he put up money for Tim Scully's legal fees. [*40]
     There was actually much more to it than that. Hitchcock was being charged with using a Swiss bank to move millions of dollars from the drug trade into legal channels, what the IRS had declared "the biggest tax evasion caper in U.S. history." The same bank involved had worked with the CIA previously in hiring terrorist groups in underdeveloped countries, for example, the "secret war against Fidel Castro." [*41] When the IRS moved in, the CIA intervened and prohibited it from carrying out its full investigation of Hitchcock. The amount of money involved in Hitchcock's Swiss bank scandal, from 1965 to 1971, amounted to forty million dollars. [*42]
     The government gave up a multimillionaire involved with banks financing CIA-sponsored terrorists -- in favor of prosecuting two LSD chemists. For his cooperation, Billy Hitchcock received a five-year reduced sentence and a $20,000 fine. [*43] There is also the difficulty that Hitchcock was no chemist, and his testimony amounted to hearsay, since he had only been told by Sand or Scully that they were making or using "acid." However, the hearsay exception was allowed only for accusations against Sand and Scully, with Duniway prohibiting cross-examination: "...a co-conspirator's declaration can be introduced by either party and may be used to exculpate as well as inculpate the accused. We rejected this argument..." [*44]

Timothy Leary: "What knowledge do you wish?"
Billy Hitchcock: "...(hesitant pause)... How can I make more money on the stock market?" [*45]

Did Someone Say "Legality"?

"It is now no longer a question of accumulating scientific truths and discoveries. We need above everything to spread the truths already mastered by science, to make them part of our daily life, to render them common property. We have to order things so that all, so that the mass of mankind, may be capable of understanding and applying them; we have to make science no longer a luxury but the foundation of every man's life. This is what justice demands." 
          --Peter Kropotkin, 1880
          "An Appeal to the Young"

     The investigation that led to the arrest of Nick Sand and Timothy Scully resulted from information gained by three illegal search and seizures by the police. The legal phrase for describing this evidence is "tainted," since even if it was obtained legitimately, knowledge about it only came about illegitimately. To quote Judge Duniway on this matter...

"...they contend that they were not given the opportunity, guaranteed them by Alderman v. United States, 1969, 394 U.S. 165, 89 S.Ct. 961, 22 L.Ed.2d 176, to demonstrate that evidence that the government used against them, not itself illegally obtained, was discovered through the exploitation of an illegal search." [*46]

     The judge ruled against the defendants on this matter, though, "the defendants had not demonstrated a sufficient connection between a prior illegal search and the evidence sought to be suppressed..." [*47] Or, to quote Duniway fully...

"The defendants did not at trial, and do not on this appeal, identify particular items which should have been analyzed for taint. Rather, they argued that 'there has been so much illegality that the presumption of regularity of the Government should lapse; (it) should have the burden of going forward and justifying (its) sources.' We cannot agree." [*48]

     The evidence obtained from the illegal searches in the Denver and Missouri raids led to the legal searches that resulted in the current prosecution. Government surveillance, when it was wide enough, might be considered illegal, Duniway argued. However, "In the case at bar there were three illegal seizures, but there was no wiretapping." [*49] If the government had gone so far in its criminality as to do some wiretapping, on top of three illegal search-and-seizures, then the state is infringing on your right to privacy. Even if wiretapping was used, it's not likely that the state, or the financial supporters of terrorism, are going to hand it over.
     The defense argued rather rationally, "illegally secured information [led] the government to substantially intensify an investigation [making] all evidence subsequently uncovered (a product) '. . . of that illegality.'" [*50] A trial based on illegal evidence, then, might seem itself somewhat illegal. Even though the legal raid did use information from the illegal raids, the judge asked them to prove "that the government utilized illegally secured information to obtain more than defendants' identities." [*51] Illegally obtained evidence is admissible when it relates to someone's "identity," for example, proving that someone committed a crime, and this is decidedly convenient for the prosecution.
     In fact, Judge Duniway admitted that the prosecution's main case was the "...mention of a prior prosecution based on illegally seized evidence..." There was some admission of a mistake, though, "...we must conclude that in this circumstance any error was harmless." [*52] The defendants have to prove that the evidence used against them came illegally. Except, of course, evidence that proves that they were directly responsible for the crimes involved. And, when that comes out, even then, they are responsible for proving that it was not harmless.
     Throughout the trial, both Sand and Scully wanted to testify on their own behalf. However, when they stated this, the prosecution threatened in court to ask them about evidence that had been obtained illegally from their searches. This kept them from testifying on their own behalf, the threat of presenting even more illegal evidence against them. Such a procedure is completely legal, however. According to Judge Duniway, "The prosecution's threat to use illegally seized evidence to impeach defendants' testimony was not an impermissible restraint on their constitutional right to testify on their own behalf." [*53]

Topping off the Trial with a Banker's Testimony

"I felt the work I was doing was so important for humanity that I was willing to take the risks of being the alchemist, hiding away in his laboratory, making chemicals." 
          --Nick Sand, 2009
          "Inside LSD" by National Geographic [*54] [*55] [*56]

     The prosecution was building up an interesting case. The evidence presented against the defendants was either admittedly tampered with or obtained illegally. The prize witness against the two defendants had lied five times in an SEC and IRS scandal involving $40 million and was only testifying to get a reduced sentence. This case wouldn't be complete, though, unless a mouthpiece was brought before the court who spoke on behalf of the Swiss bank; that is, an attorney represented the financial interests funding terrorism.
     According to Duniway, "The district court admitted a large volume of business records from the Paravicini Bank of Berne, Switzerland. These records, introduced by the government, were authenticated by Eugene Patry, a bank vice-chairman." [*57] Patry was the sole witness representing the Paravicini Bank. The prosecution presented some bank documents before Patry and asked him to authenticate them, which he did. "The government made a sufficient showing of the authenticity of the records through Patry's testimony." [*58] The records alleged that the defendants were guilty of that accompanying charge of LSD production: tax evasion.
     The defense asked a question of Patry in cross-examination about the bank documents, and Patry responded that he had no idea what those documents were about that he had just authenticated. All that he could say was that they were authentic, whereas the defense wanted to know why they were "so inherently unreliable and so incomplete." [*59] This defense felt this was unfair, since this was "amounted to an abridgement of appellant's Sixth Amendment rights to confront the witnesses against them." [*60] The judge, however, ruled that the testimony of Patry was reliable and shouldn't be questioned. To quote Duniway again...

"As we have held, the person testifying need not have personal knowledge of the contents of the document. United States v. Saputski, 9 Cir., 1974, 496 F.2d 140, 142. Neither is it necessary that the witness personally know the time, place, and manner in which the record was made." [*61]

     The documents of a corporate bank are accepted without any way to cross-examine them. Documents can't answer questions, and the person authenticating and verifying the document doesn't know what the document is. At the same time, the defense wasn't able to call any of its actual human witnesses, because of the undue delay in starting the trial. Written, legal papers hold more sway than the opinions of actual living beings. With this added to their heroin-using tax evader and their illegal evidence, the prosecution felt that it's case was complete.
     Judge Duniway affirmed the decision of the lower courts in convicting Tim Scully and Nick Sand. [*62] Scully was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment, Sand received fifteen. [*63] In the words of Duniway, "While harsh, the sentences meted out to Sand and Scully were less than the maximum; hence, the scope of our review is limited almost to the vanishing point." [*64] The judge's concluding statements were indicative of his overall attitude...

"The defendants' statement of facts is incorrect. Hence, we need not consider whether a district judge must consider the possibility of rehabilitation in passing sentence. The judge did consider, albeit disparagingly, the rehabilitative role of the criminal law, but concluded that these defendants were unrehabilitatable." [*65]

     Did the government ever really believe that these two individuals actually possessed LSD, the offense that they were charged with? They are charged with "manufacture and distribution of LSD," but never does the judge point to the accused, and say, "I accuse you of manufacturing and distributing LSD." With all of the evidence, such a statement would have been ridiculous. The two defendants were found guilty, anyway.

"The laws only can determine the punishment of crimes; and the authority of making penal laws can only reside with the legislator, who represents the whole society united by the social compact. No magistrate then, (as he is one of the society) can, with justice, inflict on any other member of the same society punishment that is not ordained by the laws." 
          --Cesare Beccaria, 1764
          "Of Crimes and Punishments," Chapter 3

Whatever Happened to the Chemists?

"But how can the one liberate the many? By first liberating his own being. He does this not by elevating himself, but by lowering himself. He lowers himself to that which is simple, modest, true; integrating it into himself, he becomes a master of simplicity, modesty, truth. Completely emancipated from his former false life, he discovers his original pure nature, which is the pure nature of the universe. Freely and spontaneously releasing his divine energy, he constantly transcends complicated situations and draws everything around him back into an integral oneness. Because he is a living divinity, when he acts, the universe acts." 
          --Lao Tzu, c. 600 BC
          "Hua Hu Ching," Part 77

     For Nick Sand, there was only one option. As a member of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, he had a duty. While out on $50,000 bail, Nick Sand left the country. [*66] It would be a very long time before he returned. During the trial, Tim Scully had been working on his own creations, which he had to end now with the upholding of his conviction. But from 1971 to 1976, Scully was working on...

"...innovative biofeedback and physiological monitoring instruments and systems, including microcomputer based systems for educational, medical and process control. This work involved analog and digital circuit design, using discrete components and integrated circuits. I learned assembly language programming techniques and high level languages." [*67]

     Tim Scully sold the stock in his company and retired to life in prison at McNeil Island Penitentiary. During his time here, he was allowed to enroll in a Ph.D. program at the Humanistic Psychology Institute. Here, he developed...

"...biofeedback systems and techniques for use in drug rehabilitation programs. I eventually built an 8080A microcomputer physiological monitoring system for analyzing EEG, EMG, GSR/BSR and skin temperature and did some basic research on the identification of specific patterns of physiological response associated with specific emotional states." [*68]

     Much of Scully's time was spent working with drug rehabilitation programs that integrated his biofeedback systems. He even made a twelve hour video seminar to train facilitators of these systems for the Federal Prison Industries. On the side, he also taught Tai-Chi. [*69] This biofeedback system did not make much headlines. This was until Robin, a young woman with cerebral palsy, was able to use these systems to allow her to speak with the rest of the world. Scully was named Man of the Year by the Washington State Jaycees. To quote The Hour, a Connecticut newspaper...

"Scully first met Robin, the cerebral palsy victim, in California when he was free on bond awaiting sentencing for conspiracy to possess, manufacture, sell and distribute narcotics.
"Robin was able to control only side movement of one knee. Scully worked up a computer device that allows her to use movement to select words to appear on a television screen. She therefore is able to 'speak' sentences in rapid fashion." [*70]

     In 1977, Scully's sentenced was reduced to ten years, with parole most likely available in 1980. In 1979, Scully graduated with a Ph.D. in psychology, his dissertation titled: "Physiological Pattern Analysis: A Key to Improved Biofeedback Systems for the Voluntary Control of Events in Consciousness." Scully was transferred out of McNeil Island before 1980, though, being moved to a half-way house in San Francisco in August, two must after obtaining his Ph.D. [*71] For a twenty year sentence, Scully was imprisoned for only three and a half years, and when he finished, he came out with a doctorate. So much for "unrehabilitatable."
     Throughout the 1980's to the early 2000's, Scully has been working on biofeedback and computer systems. [*72] In 2005, Tim Scully retired, though he's doing some minor consulting work and writing a book "on the underground history of LSD." [*73]

Image: Tim Scully and his cat Merlin, at work in Albion, California,
Photograph from Little River Airport

     Nicholas Sand relocated to Canada. He was set up on an international blind date with another chemist by one of his friends. It wasn't long after meeting Usha that the two began making LSD together. [*74] For roughly twenty years, Nick Sand formed the core of international LSD manufacturing, producing about 250 million doses. [*75]

     In 1996, he was arrested in Vancouver, Canada, [*76] where his laboratory was found with 42 grams of LSD, or roughly 200,000 moderate doses. Samples of the LSD tested above 100% pure by the government's chemists, which is impossible. Psychedelic guru and chemist Alexander Shulgin suggested that the government must have degraded standards. The lab was considered so well managed and built, that "the Royal Canadian Mounted Police used it to stage a training video." [*77]

     In San Francisco, Nick Sand was found guilty of jumping bail, which added five years imprisonment to his previous sentence of fifteen years -- and this is besides the charges in Canada. [*78] He was 55 years-old. While imprisoned in Canada, Sand wrote a 600-paged book titled Psychedelic Secrets, which contained guidelines for those wishing to maximize their psychedelic experience. In a letter, he wrote concerning the awful conditions...

"Meanwhile overcrowding intensifies in here and the authorities attempt to squeeze everything out of their slaves that they can. Many things are not provided, like soap and toothpaste and all articles of toiletry and snacks, etc. They even sell fruit here." [*79]

     By late 2000, Nicholas Sand was given an early release from prison, serving just under four years. As early as 2001, he gave a speech at the Mind States II conference, titled "Reflections on Imprisonment and Liberation as Aspects of Consciousness." In 2006, he gave a speech at Burning Man, "Synergistic Combinations in the Future," where he talked about "some of his favorite ways to combine two or more drugs to produce uniquely beneficial effects." He has also written a second book containing his syntheses techniques for producing psychedelics, though both are still unpublished. [*80]


Image: Nick Sand, Photograph by Jon Hanna, Nov, 2009
Photograph from Erowid.org

"The judge is lost when he ceases to be mechanical, when he 'is forsaken by the rules of evidence.' Then he no longer has anything but an opinion like everybody else; and, if he decides according to this opinion, his action is no longer an official action....
"What do your laws amount to if no one obeys them? What your orders, if nobody lets himself be ordered? The state cannot forbear the claim to determine the individual's will, to speculate and count on this. For the state it is indispensable that nobody have an own will; if one had, the state would have to exclude (lock up, banish, etc.) this one; if all had, they would do away with the state. The state is not thinkable without lordship and servitude; for the state must will to be the lord of all that it embraces, and this will is called the 'will of the state.'" 
          --Max Stirner, 1845
          "The Ego and Its Own," Part 2, Chapter II, Section 1

Resources
*1. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. OpenJurist.org .
*2. Erowid Character Vaults: Nick Sand (May 10, 1941 - ), published by Erowid, Erowid.org .
*3. Erowid Character Vaults: Nick Sand (Extended Biography), by Jon Hanna, v. 1.0, Nov. 5, 2009, published by Erowid, Erowid.org .
*4. Robert Timothy Scully, Ph. D., Curriculum Vitae, from the Little River Airport Pilot's Association. Jefro.net .
*5. Photograph of Tim Scully with his Linear Accelerator, published by the Tribune, 1961, republished by Erowid, Erowid.org .
*6. Robert Timothy Scully, Ph. D., Curriculum Vitae, from the Little River Airport Pilot's Association. Jefro.net .
*7. "A correspondence with Tim Scully," published by the Oax Tree Review, 2003, TheOakTreeReview.com .
*8. "LSD Purity," by Bruce Eisner, published in High Times, January 1977 Issue, published online at Bruce Eisner's Writings 2004, BruceEisner.com .
*9. Erowid Character Vaults: Tim Scully (August 27, 1944 - ), published by Erowid, 2005, Erowid.org .
*10. "LSD Purity," by Bruce Eisner, published in High Times, January 1977 Issue, published online at Bruce Eisner's Writings 2004, BruceEisner.com .
*11. "For the unrepentant patriarch of LSD, long, strange trip winds back to Bay Area," by Joel Selvin, Thursday, July 12, 2007, published by the San Francisco Chronicle, SFGate.com .
*12. "Owsley Stanley - '60s counterculture icon - dies: 'Bear' helped Grateful Dead, made LSD (Owsley Stanley 1935-2011), March 14, 2011, By Aidin Vaziri, SFGate.com .
*13. Erowid Character Vaults: Tim Scully (August 27, 1944 - ), published by Erowid, 2005, Erowid.org .
*14. Robert Timothy Scully, Ph. D., Curriculum Vitae, from the Little River Airport Pilot's Association. Jefro.net .
*15. "A correspondence with Tim Scully," published by the Oax Tree Review, 2003, TheOakTreeReview .
*16. "'Hippie Mafia' Hash Smuggler Arrested," by Nick Schou, Thursday, November 12, 2009, published by the High Times, HighTimes.com .
*17. "ALD-52 Info," published by Lycaeum.org, September 15, 2000, Lycaeum.org.
*18. "Case Closed on 'Hippie Mafia' Smugglers," by Nick Schou, Thursday, December 3, 2009, HighTimes.com .
*19. "William Pickard's long, strange trip / Suspected LSD trail leads from the Bay Area's psychedelics era to a missile silo in Kansas," by Seth Rosenfeld, June 10, 2001, SFGate.com .
*20. Robert Timothy Scully, Ph. D., Curriculum Vitae, from the Little River Airport Pilot's Association. Jefro.net .
*21. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. OpenJurist.org .
*22. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 3. OpenJurist.org .
*23. "IUPAC -- Gold Book -- alphabetical index -- S -- solvolysis," IUPAC, Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"), Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997),IUPAC.org .
*24. "IUPAC -- Gold Book -- alphabetical index -- H -- hydrolysis," IUPAC, Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"), Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997),IUPAC.org .
*25. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 11. OpenJurist.org .
*26. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 11. OpenJurist.org .
*27. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 6. OpenJurist.org .
*28. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 8. OpenJurist.org .
*29. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 24. OpenJurist.org .
*30. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 12. OpenJurist.org .
*31. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. The Honorable James M. Burns, United States District Judge for the District of Oregon, sitting by designation, Section 1. OpenJurist.org .
*32. Counter example: "Structural Comparison of the Two Alternative Transition States for Folding of TI I27," by Christian D. Geierhaas, Robert B. Best, Emanuele Paci, Michele Vendruscolo, and Jane Clarke, published by Biophysical Journal, Volume 91, Issue 1, 263-275, 1 July 2006, Cell.com .
*33. "IUPAC -- Gold Book -- alphabetical index -- T -- transition state," IUPAC, Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"), Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997),IUPAC.org .
*34. "IUPAC -- Gold Book -- alphabetical index -- T -- transition structure," IUPAC, Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"), Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997),IUPAC.org .
*35. "Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond," by Martin A. Lee and Bruce Shlain, Jan 21, 1994, ISBN-10: 9780802130624, ISBN-13: 978-0802130624, Publisher: Grove Press, page 278.Books.Google.com .
*36. "A correspondence with Tim Scully," published by the Oax Tree Review, 2003, TheOakTreeReview.com .
*37. "Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond," by Martin A. Lee and Bruce Shlain, Jan 21, 1994, ISBN-10: 9780802130624, ISBN-13: 978-0802130624, Publisher: Grove Press, page 278.Books.Google.com
*38. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 12. OpenJurist.org .
*39. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 12. OpenJurist.org .
*40. "Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond," by Martin A. Lee and Bruce Shlain, Jan 21, 1994, ISBN-10: 9780802130624, ISBN-13: 978-0802130624, Publisher: Grove Press, page 278.Books.Google.com .
*41. "Wages Of Crime: Black Markets, Illegal Finance, And The Underworld Economy," R. T. Naylor, January 7, 2005, Cornell University Press; ISBN-10: 0801489601, ISBN-13: 978-0801489600, Books.Google.com .
*42. "Aquarius Revisited: Seven Who Created the Sixties Counterculture That Changed America," by Peter O. Whitmer, Publisher: Citadel (June 1, 2000), ISBN-10: 0806512229, ISBN-13: 978-0806512228, page 186, Books.Google.com .
*43. "Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond," by Martin A. Lee and Bruce Shlain, Jan 21, 1994, ISBN-10: 9780802130624, ISBN-13: 978-0802130624, Publisher: Grove Press, page 278.Books.Google.com
*44. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 34. OpenJurist.org .
*45. "Aquarius Revisited: Seven Who Created the Sixties Counterculture That Changed America," by Peter O. Whitmer, Publisher: Citadel (June 1, 2000), ISBN-10: 0806512229, ISBN-13: 978-0806512228, page 186, Books.Google.com .
*46. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 16. OpenJurist.org .
*47. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 17. OpenJurist.org .
*48. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 20. OpenJurist.org .
*49. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 21. OpenJurist.org .
*50. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 22. OpenJurist.org .
*51. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 23. OpenJurist.org .
*52. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 37. OpenJurist.org .
*53. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 36. OpenJurist.org .
*54. "Trippin Tuesday: Inside LSD (Updated)," by On The Bus, Tue Nov 03, 2009, published by Docudharma, video originally by National Geographic, DocuDharma.com .
*55. "The Man Who Manufactured 250,000,000 Hits of LSD," by Marc Campbell, October 18, 2010, published by DangerousMinds.net, video originally by National Geographic, DangerousMinds.net .
*56. "Nick Sand on National Geographic: Underground LSD Lab," published by dmtsite, video originally by National Geographic, DMTSite.com .
*57. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 25. OpenJurist.org .
*58. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 30. OpenJurist.org .
*59. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 31. OpenJurist.org .
*60. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 31. OpenJurist.org .
*61. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 30. OpenJurist.org .
*62. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 42. OpenJurist.org .
*63. "Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond," by Martin A. Lee and Bruce Shlain, Jan 21, 1994, ISBN-10: 9780802130624, ISBN-13: 978-0802130624, Publisher: Grove Press, page 278.Books.Google.com .
*64. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 39. OpenJurist.org .
*65. United States of America v. Nicholas Sand, United States of America v. Tim Scully, Sept. 13, 1976, Court Numbers: 541 F.2d 1370, 77-1 USTC P 9438, Nos. 74-2012, 74-2338. Section 41. OpenJurist.org .
*66. "SAN FRANCISCO / Elusive Maker Of LSD Guilty Of Skipping Bail," published by the San Francisco Chronicle, October 16, 1998, SFGate.com .
*67. Robert Timothy Scully, Ph. D., Curriculum Vitae, from the Little River Airport Pilot's Association. Jefro.net .
*68. Robert Timothy Scully, Ph. D., Curriculum Vitae, from the Little River Airport Pilot's Association. Jefro.net .
*69. Robert Timothy Scully, Ph. D., Curriculum Vitae, from the Little River Airport Pilot's Association. Jefro.net .
*70. "Inmate Named Man of Year," published by the Hour, Norwalk, Connecticut, Friday, Feb. 2, 1979, News.Google.com .
*71. Robert Timothy Scully, Ph. D., Curriculum Vitae, from the Little River Airport Pilot's Association. Jefro.net .
*72. Robert Timothy Scully, Ph. D., Curriculum Vitae, from the Little River Airport Pilot's Association. Jefro.net .
*73. Erowid Character Vaults: Tim Scully (August 27, 1944 - ), published by Erowid, 2005, Erowid.org .
*74. Erowid Character Vaults: Nick Sand (Extended Biography), by Jon Hanna, v. 1.0, Nov. 5, 2009, published by Erowid, Erowid.org .
*75. "Nick Sand on National Geographic: Underground LSD Lab," published by dmtsite, video originally by National Geographic, DMTSite.com .
*76. "SAN FRANCISCO / Elusive Maker Of LSD Guilty Of Skipping Bail," published by the San Francisco Chronicle, October 16, 1998, SFGate.com .
*77. Erowid Character Vaults: Nick Sand (Extended Biography), by Jon Hanna, v. 1.0, Nov. 5, 2009, published by Erowid, Erowid.org .
*78. "SAN FRANCISCO / Elusive Maker Of LSD Guilty Of Skipping Bail," published by the San Francisco Chronicle, October 16, 1998, SFGate.com .
*79. "First Letter from Nick Sand," by Nick sand, April 1999, published by Serendipity, Serendipity.li .
*80. Erowid Character Vaults: Nick Sand (Extended Biography), by Jon Hanna, v. 1.0, Nov. 5, 2009, published by Erowid, Erowid.org

Originally posted on: Punker Slut