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1961-1962Experiments withConvicts and ChristiansIn tandem with his activities with Allen Ginsberg and the experimentswith grad students, Leary’s group conducted two experiments thatare legendary in the annals of psychedelic history. The first was theConcord Prison project.Searching for a way to perform an experiment with measurableresults, they came upon the idea of giving psilocybin to prisoners.They could then measure the recidivism rate and, hopefully, havesome statistical proof of the positive therapeutic effects of the drug.When the Harvard administrators refused to approve the plan, Learydid the Learyesque thing — striking out on his own, meeting withprison administrators and gaining their approval to share psilocybinwith five volunteer prisoners. Leary, Metzner and Weil wouldconduct the session and, in keeping with Leary’s egalitarian views,they would dose with the prisoners.When the Harvard guys and the prison guys came on to the effectsof the psilocybin, Tim found himself feeling ill at ease. Even withthe provision of some art books and jazz records, the prisonenvironment couldn’t have been more oppressive… and they werehanging with “criminals.” The set and setting was, to say the least,not optimal. When Tim said what he was feeling aloud, one of theconvicts asked him why? Tim told the prisoner that he was afraid ofhim. The prisoner then told Tim that he was afraid of him. “Why?”asked the prisoner. “Because you’re a criminal,” Tim replied. Theprisoner then told Tim that he was afraid of him “because you’re amad scientist.” They both started laughing. From that point on, theprisoners and the psychology professor and students had good trips.Another convict, in prison on a morphine charge, simply couldn’tbelieve his good fortune. He started laughing about being allowed toget so high in jail.Timothy Leary’s Trip Thru Time31