Owsley Stanley, a.k.a. Bear, was an American chemist and counterculture icon who is best known for supplying the band the Grateful Dead with their LSD in their famous Acid Tests of 1966-1967. Owsley was born on March 19, 1935 in Lexington, Kentucky, to a middle-class family that originally came from England in the 17th century. His grandfather had been governor of Kentucky and his father was a successful lawyer. Bear grew up with a passion for chemistry from an early age and after finishing school he went on to study at the University of Chicago where he graduated with a degree in biochemistry in 1956. He did not stay long after this but instead decided to move to Berkeley, California where he established himself as one of their most prominent drug dealers selling marijuana under the name “Bear’s Angels” . After being released from prison for possession of Marijuana with Intent to Sell in 1959, Owsley began working as a janitor at the UC Berkeley Chemistry department which enabled him access to chemicals like Nitrous Oxide and Ethyl Ether which are both used for making LSD. In 1962 he relocated again and settled down in Menlo Park California where he opened up his own private laboratory dedicated to producing LSD under the pseudonym “Owsley” .
The Grateful Dead and the Acid Tests
The Grateful Dead was originally formed in Palo Alto, California in 1965 by a small group of musicians who had all attended the same high school together. They originally played a mix of bluegrass, blues, and folk but after meeting Bear and taking LSD they quickly transformed their music into a more psychedelic sound. Bear first met the Dead in 1965 when they were performing at a club in Menlo Park called the Acid Tests and was the first person to give them LSD. He then and there decided that the band had potential and invited them to join his group. The Red Acid Tests were a series of impromptu parties thrown by the Merry Pranksters, a group of psychedelic enthusiasts also from Menlo Park, and the Grateful Dead during the summers of 1966 and 1967 that involved the distribution of LSD, music, light shows, and psychedelic imagery.
Shulgin and Owsley: Brothers in Psychedelic Science?
The relationship between these two men is definitely worth discussing and provides more reasons as to why Owsley is considered a legend. Noah Shulgin is the other most influential figure in the history of psychedelic use and was also once a student of the University of Berkeley who like Owsley, seemed to have turned to making psychedelics instead of chemistry. Both of these men have greatly contributed to our knowledge of psychedelics and have spent their careers exploring their effects both in scientific and recreational settings. As two men who clearly understand the power of psychedelics, they have different views on their correct use. Shulgin is a firm believer in controlling the dosage of chemicals and believes that psychedelics should not be used with children. He also believes that people should take psychedelics in a safe environment and not use them to escape from everyday life.
The Bear’s Dark Days — 8 Years in Prison!
Despite the large contribution that Owsley had made to the psychedelic movement and the fact that he was a trendsetter in the world of LSD, he did not spend his whole life in the laboratory but was in fact imprisoned for eight years between 1968-1976. When the DEA was first established in the late 1960s they targeted chemists like Bear and in his case, he was arrested after being caught at the Mexico/California border with ten grams of pure LSD. Owsley was subsequently charged with 3 felonies - Conspiracy to violate the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the Federal Narcotics laws and the California law on possession of a restricted dangerous substance.
The Rebirth of Bear: Aftermath of Prison
After being released from prison, Owsley went on to continue his work in chemistry but was now determined to clean up his act and settle down with a wife and child. He had met his future wife Melissa in 1972 and the two had gone on to have a daughter together before getting married in 1981. Owsley had also been able to mend some of his relationship with the Grateful Dead who had cut all ties with him during his time in prison. The band had been thrown in jail for a series of really bad drug-related mishaps in the 1970s and as a result, Owsley was called in to help them get out of the situation. He helped them to get off the drugs and alcohol that they had been abusing and the band consequently re-established a relationship with the Bear and in 1988 he was even inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The Bear’s Legacy
Owsley spent the rest of his life dedicated to his two passions, chemistry and music. He continued producing LSD and managed to evade the law by moving his lab to Australia where he also managed to earn a living by producing music. He also got to be in a band himself and formed a rhythm and blues group called the Bears. Bear sadly passed away in 2011 at the age of 75 but his legacy will live on through the psychedelic movement.
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