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Community Corner

Psychedelic Drug Research Supporter Larry Hagman Dies

Beloved actor Larry Hagman, well known as the television star of Dallas and I Dream of Jeannie, as well for for his support of psychedelic drug research, passed away.

On November 23rd actor Larry Hagman passed over the post-biological threshold into the mystery of whatever lies beyond life. He was 81 years old.

Hagman--who was well-known for his roles as befuddled astronaut Major Anthony Nelson in the 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie, and as the ruthless oil baron J. R. Ewing in the 1980s prime-time television soap opera Dallas--died of complications due to throat cancer.

In the psychedelic community, Hagman was well-known for his strong support of cannabis and psychedelic drug research. 

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When Hagman was a young actor in the 1960s, he experienced LSD on several occasions, as well as peyote and magic mushrooms. He said that he “found them of profound personal importance,” and he wrote about these experiences in his autobiography, Hello Darlin’

On CNN’s Joy Behar Show in 2010, Joy asked Hagman about his experiences with LSD. Hagman replied:

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“It took the fear of death away…I went into this place that was the white light, where everything is OK. And I think it ought to be mandatory that all our politicians should do it, at least once.”

Hagman was a supporter of the Santa Cruz-based Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), and he spoke about the value of psychedelic drugs, and how they changed his life, at a MAPS conference in 2010.

In an interview that Hagman did with Rick Doblin of MAPS, he said, “LSD was such a profound experience in my life that it changed my pattern of life and my way of thinking...my first acid trip was the most illuminating experience of my life...”

In describing his experience with LSD Hagman said, “...the experience was of ultimate love, of ultimate oneness, of ultimate understanding of nature. There was still a sense of discovery at the same time, but the love was so familiar.”

Hagman donated $11,000 to MAPS for psychedelic drug research in 2011, and he said that he wanted to donate a million dollars, but lost the legal settlement that would have allowed him to do this. 

In a 2011 public letter to MAPS supporters, Hagman wrote:

“The very first charity to which I wanted to give $1 million was MAPS. I think our society would be a lot healthier if psychedelics and marijuana were legally available for therapeutic purposes, spiritual uses, consciousness research, creativity, and just plain personal growth. It’s a Human Rights issue to me: Freedom of Thought and Freedom of Religion.”

Bless you for all your wonderful work, Larry. I hope that you’re enjoying the white light. You will be missed by many.

To read the complete MAPS interview with Larry Hagman see:

http://www.maps.org/news-letters/v13n1/13125hag.html

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