Steve Jobs was Asked by Creator of LSD to Help Promote Therapeutic Uses of the Drug

Nov 16, 2011 - 9 Comments

Steve Jobs, LSD, and Albert Hoffman

The late Steve Jobs has always been unapologetic about his usage of LSD, openly proclaiming his experiences with the drug were some of the “most important things I have done in my life” and even criticizing Bill Gates for not indulging in the substance. Those statements didn’t go unnoticed by Albert Hofman, the man who created LSD in a Swiss lab in the 1930’s, who wrote Steve Jobs a letter in 2007 asking for help to promote the chemical for therapeutic studies. That letter was obtained by Yahoo News, and is repeated below:

Dear Mr. Steve Jobs,

Hello from Albert Hofmann. I understand from media accounts that you feel LSD helped you creatively in your development of Apple Computers and your personal spiritual quest. I’m interested in learning more about how LSD was useful to you.

I’m writing now, shortly after my 101st birthday, to request that you support Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Peter Gasser’s proposed study of LSD-assisted psychotherapy in subjects with anxiety associated with life-threatening illness. This will become the first LSD-assisted psychotherapy study in over 35 years, and will be sponsored by MAPS.

I hope you will help in the transformation of my problem child into a wonder child.

Sincerely
Albert Hofmann

The last line of the letter relates to Albert Hofmann’s famous book “My Problem Child“, which discusses his accidental discovery of LSD and how its misuse drove it to become illegal and eventually fuel the 1960’s counterculture movement.

There’s no word on if Steve Jobs responded to the request. Albert Hofman passed away a year after sending the letter in 2008, and Steve Jobs passed away on October 5, 2011.

.

Related articles:

Posted by: Paul Horowitz in Fun, News

9 Comments

» Comments RSS Feed

  1. karin Mail says:

    Here’s a painting of Steve Jobs on L.S.D.
    at:
    http://nutsilica.blogspot.com/2011/12/foolosophy_16.html

  2. […] [OS X Daily] You can follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, and also Subscribe to our RSS Feed to receive the latest updates. Thanks for reading PocketFullOfApps! […]

  3. […] za OS X Daily (skan oryginalnego listu znajdziecie w Yahoo News): Dear Mr. Steve […]

  4. Jesse Dodds says:

    You misspelled ‘Hofmann’ in the first paragraph (you’re missing the second n).

  5. Details Matter says:

    @kukhuvud:
    Actually, the capitalization in the title is grammatically correct.

  6. kukhuvud says:

    The odd placement of capital letters in the title here surely smacks of LSD usage ;)

  7. Josiah says:

    The early chapters of Steve Jobs bio covers this topic extensively. I have no interest in drugs or substance abuse, but it’s quite fascinating to see how it shaped the man and his creative process. An unusual character, indeed.

  8. Getti says:

    LOL nice graphic

Leave a Reply

 

Shop on Amazon.com and help support OSXDaily!

Subscribe to OSXDaily

Subscribe to RSS Subscribe to Twitter Feed Follow on Facebook Subscribe to eMail Updates

Tips & Tricks

News

iPhone / iPad

Mac

Troubleshooting

Shop on Amazon to help support this site