The Substance: Albert Hofmann's LSD

The creator of LSD, Dr. Albert Hofmann, lived to be 102. Filmmaker Martin Witz's documentary The Substance is centered around interviews with Hofmann just before he turned 100. Using Hofmann's terse commentary as a jumping-off point, the film looks at the mind-altering drug and its unintended consequences in society, drawing on some fascinating archival footage to trace LSD's journey from its initial use as a potential consciousness-altering treatment for patients with schizophrenia, to its being co-opted by the military for testing as a viable weapon in combat, and finally looking at its most popular and infamous use as the recreational drug of choice by hippies in the 1960s. Not surprisingly, once the drug made its way onto the street and into the hands of revelers and anti-war protestors, California's conservative government under Ronald Reagan began to demonize and eventually criminalize LSD. Hofmann and others speaking for the medical establishment argue that the recreational use of the drug killed any sort of chance it might have had for medicinal purposes; yet the film also makes it clear that LSD would likely never have been a reliable mainstream treatment precisely because its perception-altering effects on subjects were so varied and unpredictable. DVD extras include an interview with Witz. An interesting film about a controversial drug that came to symbolize an era, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (M. Sandlin)