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  • 1999-07-10 (xsd:date)
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  • Did Man Who Used LSD Believe Himself To Be a Glass of Orange Juice? (en)
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  • The orange juice man was one of the most ubiquitous pieces of LSD scarelore in the 1960s. As improbable and wacky as it may seem today, this tale was taken quite seriously by the anti-drug forces in the mid-1960s, when the long-term effects of LSD use were unknown. As Jay Stevens wrote a couple of decades later: The orange juice shocker was apparently well-known enough by 1966 to have achieved anecdotal status, as seen in this newspaper excerpt: Early versions of this legend attributed the patient's bizarre behavior to the damage caused by repeated LSD use, but later versions described the cause as a single accidental, massive dose of acid. In some versions, the victim believes himself to be an orange (rather than a glass of orange juice), although he may also harbor fears that he will turn into orange juice if anyone touches him. The patient is sometimes said to be afraid to lie down (lest he spill) go to sleep (because someone might drink him), or allow anyone to approach him (for fear he might be peeled). There's no scientific evidence, [Timothy] Leary says. I would be more concerned than anybody. I've taken LSD 311 times. Some, who consider Leary's remarks a shaky testimonial, point to specific examples of what could be the result of brain damage. One involves a heavy user who is convinced he is an orange. He won't allow anyone to touch him for fear he will turn into orange juice. The story was soon being repeatedly proffered as if it were a case study (minus any corroborative details, of course) by health care professionals. Consider this excerpt from a 1968 book about drug abuse, taken from a chapter about LSD written by one Duke D. Fisher, M.D., a neuropsychiatrist who is described as having had extensive experience with LSD users: Even more so than the usual horror tales of physical mutilation and death (e.g., drug users gouging out their eyes, staring at the sun until blind, stuffing babies in ovens, or jumping out windows thinking that they could fly), this legend served a chilling (albeit apocryphal) account of the damage LSD could wreak on a human being. Physical trauma may be terrible, but at least it's comprehensible. A bizarre and permanent insanity, however, is one of the most horrible fates we can contemplate. Other examples of this claim included the following: (en)
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