To anyone interested in this era and the role psychedelics played in it, I'd highly recommend a book called Acid Dreams.[1]

The writings of many of the personages mentioned in this article are also well worth reading: Richard Alpert (aka Ram Das), Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner. Also, not mentioned but on the same wavelength: Robert Anton Wilson, John Lilly, and Terrence McKenna.

[1] - https://www.amazon.com/Acid-Dreams-Complete-History-Sixties/...

Because the U.S. government secretly loves to profit off of both the direct selling/transportation/etc of drugs and the prison industrial complex.

I recommend you read the following for more details and proof:

The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade

http://www.amazon.com/The-Politics-Heroin-Complicity-Global/...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Politics_of_Heroin_in_South...

Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond

http://www.amazon.com/Acid-Dreams-Complete-History-Sixties/d...

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/1595586431

This may sound farfetched, but it's not. If you're interested in learning more about the CIA and drugs, I recommend the following:

- The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade by Alfred W. McCoy [1]

- Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press by Alexander Cockburn [2]

- Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond by Martin A. Lee [3]

[1] http://www.amazon.com/The-Politics-Heroin-Complicity-Global/...

[2] http://www.amazon.com/Whiteout-The-CIA-Drugs-Press/dp/185984...

[3] http://www.amazon.com/Acid-Dreams-Complete-History-Sixties/d...