Download Otto Snow's Free Books

Dr. Albert Hofmann’s Library.

Photo by Jon Hanna

Dr. Albert Hofmann, Discover of LSD and Psilocybin

Jonathan Ott, ethnobotanist, author, natural products chemist and botanical researcher.

Open Now

People ask, ‘why do you study drugs?’ An analogy. My father worked in a defense intelligence facility. Sanders, now BAE Systems. It was founded by Royden C. Sanders, Jr. and 10 other associates. Nashua became the fastest growing city in the nation. My father used to say, “I hate war. This is why I work on weapons systems to prevent this.”

When I developed the migraines at 15, I was drugged with all sorts of medications that did not work, made me sick and I could not do anything, school, play, or sports. The area had many dynamic thinkers, not the cut and paste mentality. LSD had long been used by those in high tech, the arts, psychologists, inventors, academic and progressive communities, the brainiacs. The LSD sessions kept the migraines at bay. I was able to survive. I had studied medicinal botanicals and nutrition since I was a child when around my grandmother. She always bought me books on these subjects. The migraines opened me up to the psychedelics and psychotomimetics. I still liked the study of botanicals and nutrition-based medicine.

I developed bronchitis in my junior year in high school. The physician I was seeing would not prescribe an antibiotic, saying that there was no infection. So my mother and I went to St. Joseph’s Hospital ER. DB Hughes MD was there and prescribed an antibiotic. He mentioned that he had just opened a new family practice in the city. So we began to see him, and the house soon filled with drugs. The kitchen table was half-covered in prescription bottles, and most of the drawers were also full of drug samples and prescriptions.

Years later, while talking with Paul Goodman MD, I asked, “why would I study psychoactives vs other molecules?” He replied, “look at the environment that you came from. It was either sink or swim. What else would you study?”

I had been working on a book on the creation of phenylisopropylamine based psychotropics by the barrel from scratch to lower production costs. They still would have to be created in a large facility but could be produced at very high yields in hundreds of millions of doses per synthesis. It was two weeks after my mother had passed away, I asked myself, “why am I studying these molecules?” I had no more interest in them. I wanted to focus on health-based medicine, nutrition, and botanicals. I had always wanted to devote most of studies on this vs disease-based and petroleum-based medicines which are highly toxic. I took the two-foot thick stack of journal articles and patents, put them into the recycling containers, dumped the folder on my computer, and clicked the trash button.

Open Now

I wrote Amphetamine Syntheses for individuals mapping out the structural-activity relationships. For individuals who are attacked for scientific inquiry and their journal articles are withheld from them so as not to be able to defend themselves. As the late Marshall Stern told me. This area makes money by generating paper/jobs, wear a person down to force them to take a guilty plea. It is also written for legislation, to understand that psych drugs are killing this nation, and we need patient rights! Scientists need rights! And we need rights that are defended, to protect us from police brutality, indiscretions, and acts that destroy lives, and then we have no rights? Then America is headed for anarchy and revolution. We are looking for solutions, patient rights, outside of having to bring guns into hospitals to defend ourselves. It is love, kindness, taking an active role in helping others, standing up for others that saves lives, and makes life worth living.

I spoke with Sasha about my concerns of neurotoxicity with these molecules. He mentioned that there were none that were found to be active that were not neurotoxic. I know that they have been reported to work for PTSD when Maslow’s is complete. Yet choices have to made by the individual. If taking a medication can save a marriage… and prevent a disconnect that is breaking people apart, isn’t that important? Maybe we need more work done on entactogens to make them safe, effective… and protections for the patient, a greater support system, and networking…

I wrote OXY after my father had cancer which came back after the home invasion. I had to care for him. Taking care of the trach, washing the wounds, cleaning him, cooking as my mother was shattered from the shakedown followed by the removal of 98% of his vocal cords. Feeding him by hand. Walking in front of him as he went downstairs, incase that he fell, I would take his weight, so he would not be harmed. But the cancer cells had spread. His physician, John Batista MD, had been giving him hundreds of oxy’s and hydrocodone. Then telling me to have him transported to a hospital across county lines, to a hospital that he wasn’t on staff at. It’s called, ‘patient dumping.’ The US needs to pick up the tab on US students majoring in the sciences, and going into medicine. They are our future. Not some ‘hack’ medical trained in the West Indies or the 3rd world. Although have met some very good physicians from all countries.

I came to Bangor with a 20K lab to start production of a molecule that signals several types of cancers to shut off, and I can’t even find a chemist!

In Bangor, after the pit-bull removed an inch of my lip and muscles underneath, I was out of my mind. It opened up my face and my traumas, hence my expose’. And when I asked for a low dose long-acting benzodiazepine, was treated like a street junkie. I don’t abuse drugs. I hate drugs. I went to an expert outside of the area who knew what challenges are about. He had no problem. People in most parts of Maine are very hard working, and get some wicked injuries, and are being denied pain killers, because of politics, and physicians being threatened not to practice medicine for the patient, and in the patient’s interests. It has been found that people who really need pain killers rarely abuse, especially as they get older. Maybe we need to look at priorities and represent the patient and not the interests of corporate stockholders and the politics of big pharma. Maybe Bangor and the US need to look at Rat Park to get an understanding of addiction caused by lack of happiness, eg jobs, industry, opportunities for these people. They were so good to me as a child…

wrote Love Drugs just to fill in some space… the best drug, is not a drug, it is good nutrition, exercise, good friends, genuine people, rewards for work well done, opportunities, a teaching hand that does so with compassion, kindness, love, pure love. We are all different. Follow your dreams. Seek your bliss…

I wrote LSD when I was not sure what to write about. My mom was in her seventies and suggested I write the book as I was being drugged to oblivion as a ‘cure,’ for migraines as a teen. I could not do sports all drugged out. I could not study. I could not experience life. I took it for the migraines, and it worked. My body! My mind! I had a few good people who helped me. Migraines can also be caused by magnesium deficiencies but is not tested for in the ‘diseased based,’ model of ‘health care,’ for profit. Maybe we should be looking at empowering people, getting people healthy, and to stay healthy.

All the politicians in the world should take a dose together, and look at all the children, look at all the suffering and ask.

“How can I help you?” “How can I/we make a better world?” And do it. It’s about becoming one with everyone, we are a species that is killing the planet, life; my goddess. We are a species that is taking itself out. We need solutions, not pollution, for generations to come. We need non-oil based sources of energy, we need to limit populations. Invest in the planet, life.

“Stop drinking from the chalice of blood! Celebrate life!”

When I was in the hospital at 15, the guy next to me had a tumor in his wrist that had to be removed. His sweetheart came in and I melted like butter. She was doing things for him during the day, which is how I see that a woman loves a guy. I am high functioning autistic and don’t understand things like others. Affection is shown by doing things for others, like the birds. In Florida, I watched a pair of Red Cardinals bringing each other food. It was so romantic.

I close up at times, overload. The noise of the classrooms, taking a language class, a year ahead in chemistry, no girlfriends, no fun time, just studying, when I wanted to explore. And it is not that I don’t feel others’ emotions, it’s when I open my heart, it is all-consuming. And it took years to be able to look into people’s eyes, cause when I do, I see deeply into their souls… we are different! Not something to be processed!

So the patient next to me in the hospital knew that I was going to a gender segregationist school. He said, “what you need is to get laid”. So I asked him, “maybe your girlfriend would help me out with that.” He said, “she doesn’t do little boys.” I responded, “maybe she would make an exception.”

We need to take an active role in helping others. Connecting people in the ‘real world,’ not ‘avatar-like,’ phonies online, who play us, who deceive us, abandon us. Religions that lie to us, deceive us. We all need people who truly love us, empower us, genuine, who hold us up when we are weak, who breath life into us…