In the early 1990s, the United States experienced a resurgence of interest in psychoactive drugs. While this had been seen before in other points in history, the 1990s brought with it a resurgence of scientific research into these drugs and their effects on the human mind and body. In response to this new wave of attention and research, many private companies began manufacturing new substances that could be labeled as psychoactive drugs. One such company was Pickard and Apperson's manufacturer of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) under the brand names ALD-52 and Orange Sunshine. Working with his partner Clyde Apperson and others, Pickard became one of the most prolific LSD manufacturers in history through innovations in manufacturing techniques and quality control procedures.
Who is William Leonard Pickard?
Pickard was born in 1951, the same decade as LSD. He attended Harvard University until his junior year, when he was expelled for reasons that remain unknown to this day. Shortly after his expulsion, Pickard partially completed a degree at Stanford University and obtained a job as a research fellow in biology at Harvard. Pickard’s research at Harvard focused on the relationship between human lysosomes and the immune and central nervous systems. In 1983, Pickard left Harvard to work at the Stanford Research Institute before moving to the Aspen Institute in 1985. In 1990, Pickard obtained a position as a senior researcher at the Southwest Medical Institute in the fields of immunology and cancer research.
The Road to Manufacturing Synthetic LSD
In the mid-1990s, Pickard and Apperson began manufacturing synthetic LSD in a rented lab in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This lab had been designed for the production of synthetic opiates, but Pickard and Apperson retrofitted it for the production of LSD. Pickard and Apperson had several advantages over other LSD manufacturers of the time. One of the major issues that plagued other LSD manufacturers at the time was the purity of their LSD. Because of the difficulty involved in synthesizing LSD, manufacturers would often cut their product with other chemicals, such as ephedrine, to increase profits. Unfortunately for these manufacturers, their customers soon discovered that their product was impure and began telling their friends. As word spread, these manufacturers’ sales plummeted. Pickard and Apperson, however, solved this problem with the use of high-quality chromatography and gas chromatography to ensure the purity of their product. Pickard and Apperson also made extensive use of bulk drug manufacturing, a practice wherein manufacturers produce large quantities of one chemical at once.
Operation Web Tryp: Manufacturing Millions of Hits of LSD
In 1996, law enforcement raided Pickard’s laboratory in Santa Fe, New Mexico, discovering what they believed to be the largest LSD lab in history. Pickard had been producing LSD at a rapid rate, but his most impressive feat was his use of what is known as a “broad-scale” or “continuous” production method that allowed him to produce millions of hits of LSD at a time. Pickard and Apperson accomplished this using a large, custom-built rotary evaporator to separate the chemicals in their lab. Pickard’s rotary evaporator was not only larger than those used in other labs but also featured a unique helix-shaped design.
Consequences
Pickard was convicted of manufacturing and distributing LSD, conspiracy to distribute LSD, and money laundering. He was sentenced to two life terms in prison, at the time the harshest punishment ever given for manufacturing LSD. Pickard and Apperson were also involved in smuggling drugs, including marijuana, MDMA, and other psychedelics, into the United States from countries in Asia and Europe, including the Czech Republic and Mexico. Devoted to his research into psychedelics, Pickard used the profits from his drug smuggling to fund his research. Pickard’s research into psychedelics was controversial but was consistent with the resurgence of scientific interest in these drugs at the time, including their therapeutic potential and physiological effects.
Conclusion
While Pickard was most notorious for his production of LSD and smuggling of illegal drugs, his true legacy lies in his research and publications on the biological effects of psychedelics. Pickard’s work on hallucinogens, such as his research on the physiological effects of 5-MeO-DMT, helped to further the discussion of the potential benefits of psychedelic drugs, including their use in treating mental illness. Pickard’s life and research in the 1990s helped to kick-start this new era of scientific interest in hallucinogens. As society continues to become more open-minded to psychedelics and their potential benefits, we owe a lot to the work of William Leonard Pickard.
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