Afghanistan, 1971 – left is the legendary Harvard ethnobotanist, Richard Evans Schultes; but who can name the gent pictured right?
Even Schultes’ most ardent acolyte is on record to avow that his guru acted in bad faith during those pivotal Nixon-era cannabis trials of the early 70s….
For very good reasons, Schultes did everything in his power to free his students and other young Americans from the cruel machinery of Nixon’s state….
Mostly he failed; but in a few cases his taxonomy ploy succeeded, earning him a legendary status on campuses and among the counterculture….
Schultes is tough to fathom. Like so much in American political life, he was a throwback to the politics of 17th Century England; in other words, to the politics of the English Civil War…
Each presidential election, Schultes wrote in a vote for Queen Elizabeth II….
At heart Schultes was a Tory anarchist, conservative to a point that could be called primordially conservative, so much so that he argued the American Revolution was a historic mistake; meanwhile on questions of personal liberty – whether use of cannabis or LSD or questions of sexual preference – he was profoundly libertarian….
Anyway – I’ve just finished listening to the latest episode of Curious About Cannabis. There’s a lot to disagree with!
More to follow…
