Alfred "Al" Hubbard was one of the 20th century's most mysterious figures. He was a millionaire businessman, a secret agent, a clever inventor, and a former bootlegger who became the most important person in the early history of psychedelic drugs. Nicknamed the "Johnny Appleseed of LSD," he personally introduced the mind-altering substance to thousands of people, from Hollywood stars to the creators of Silicon Valley. He believed LSD was the key to unlocking humanity's highest potential. This is the strange and amazing story of the man who moved between the world's most powerful people and its hidden corners, forever changing our relationship with the human mind.
The Many Lives of Captain Al
Long before he ever heard of LSD, Al Hubbard had already lived a lifetime of adventure. Born into a poor family in Kentucky in 1901, he only finished the eighth grade but had a natural gift for science and a talent for bending the rules. As a teenager, he made newspaper headlines by claiming he had built a perpetual motion machine that could create limitless energy from the air. To prove it, he dramatically powered an 18-foot boat on Seattle's Lake Union, amazing everyone who watched. In reality, it was a clever hoax; he had secretly powered his invention with radioactive radium.
During the Prohibition era of the 1920s, he used his tech skills to build a radio system for bootleggers, helping them dodge the police. When he was arrested, he made a "unique offer" to the government: he would become a double agent, working as both a bootlegger and a federal Prohibition agent at the same time. For months, he was "a shadowy figure who works both sides of the street," collecting money from both the criminals and the government.
After a short time in prison, his life took another sharp turn. During World War II, he was hired by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the group that came before the CIA. He used his skills to secretly smuggle American ships and weapons to Great Britain. His service earned him a full presidential pardon for his past crimes. Because he had a license as a Master of Sea Vessels, he began calling himself "Captain" Hubbard, a title that stuck for the rest of his life.
After the war, he became a millionaire in the uranium business and bought a private 24-acre island off the coast of Vancouver. The island had its own airplane runway and a 100-foot yacht. But even with all his wealth, Hubbard felt that something was missing. He later told a friend that an angel had appeared to him during a hike, telling him that "something tremendously important to the future of mankind" was coming and he would play a part in it. He just didn't know what it was yet.
A Psychedelic Awakening
In 1950, Hubbard read a science article about a strange, little-known chemical: lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD. He was fascinated. He tracked down the researcher and got a sample for himself. Back on his island, he took the LSD. The experience completely shook him; he felt he had seen a higher reality and found a powerful tool to heal the human mind.
It was a life-changing moment. Hubbard decided right then to quit the uranium business and dedicate his entire life to promoting LSD. The angel's message finally made sense, LSD was the great revelation, and he was meant to be its messenger. His belief was absolute. He later said, "Anyone who'll try to tell me this has all been a big hallucination has got to be out of their mind... What I've seen with it has been the truth and nothing but the truth."
Armed with this new mission, Hubbard flew to Sandoz Laboratories in Switzerland, the only company making LSD, and bought a massive supply. Carrying the drugs in his famous leather satchel, he traveled the world, personally guiding an estimated 6,000 people through their first LSD sessions. His goal was to "turn on the best and brightest" people in society, hoping their newfound wisdom would spread to everyone else. A psychiatrist in Beverly Hills joked about how eagerly they awaited his visits, saying, "We waited for him like [little old ladies waiting for] the Sears-Roebuck catalog," ready for the fresh supply of what Hubbard called his "wampum."
His list of converts was amazing:
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Aldous Huxley: The famous author of Brave New World had a session with Hubbard that he said "put [his] 1953 mescaline trip in the shade." Huxley was so deeply moved that, years later, he had his wife inject him with LSD on his deathbed.
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Bill Wilson: The co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous was introduced to LSD by Hubbard and explored it as a way to help alcoholics have a spiritual awakening.
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Hollywood Stars: Hubbard supplied pure LSD to trusted doctors, who then gave it to stars like Cary Grant, Jack Nicholson, James Coburn, and the filmmaker Stanley Kubrick.
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Silicon Valley Pioneers: Hubbard introduced LSD to an engineer named Myron Stolaroff, who then shared it with his colleagues. Among those whose minds were opened was Douglas Engelbart, the man who later invented the computer mouse. Hubbard's influence reportedly helped plant the seeds for the creative, boundary-pushing thinking that would define the tech world.
The Art of the Trip
Hubbard's most important and lasting contribution was his method for guiding trips. He was one of the very first to understand the importance of "set and setting," that a person's mindset ("set") and their physical environment ("setting") are the most important factors in having a good psychedelic experience.
Instead of giving people LSD in cold, sterile hospital rooms, Hubbard created warm, comfortable spaces that felt like a living room. He would play classical music and put up inspiring art to help guide the mind toward positive thoughts. His guiding style was as unique as he was. He had a look that was both comforting and commanding: a military-style khaki jacket, short buzzed hair, and a Colt .45 pistol strapped to his side in case of "trouble."
His methods could be flamboyant. Aldous Huxley's wife, Laura, recalled a time Hubbard came to their house for lunch carrying a tank of carbogen gas (a mix of oxygen and carbon dioxide that creates intense feelings). He casually offered some to the guests, and when they declined, he cheerfully took a puff himself in the bathroom and came out claiming he'd had a vision of the Virgin Mary. To get around critics, he even bought a "Dr." title from a diploma mill, a fake degree that let him present himself as a professional.
A Foot in Two Worlds
Hubbard was a man of deep contradictions. As he was starting a spiritual revolution, he was rumored to have maintained connections to government agencies like the FBI. At the same time, as a lifelong Catholic, he claimed he had received special permission from the Vatican to use psychedelics for religious purposes (a story repeated in later accounts but never confirmed). One Catholic priest in Vancouver became a huge supporter, even writing to his church members in 1957 asking the Virgin Mary to help them "understand the true qualities of these psychedelics," according to reports.
However, he hated the CIA. When they asked him to join them, he refused, calling them "lousy deceivers, sons of the devils themselves." He was disgusted by their secret, unethical experiments and their goal of using LSD as a mind-control weapon. "The CIA work stinks," he said bluntly.
His secretive, insider approach was the total opposite of Timothy Leary, the Harvard professor who became the public face of LSD in the 1960s. While Leary was telling young people to "turn on, tune in, and drop out," Hubbard was working quietly with society's leaders. He blamed Leary's media circus for creating the public panic that led to LSD being banned. When the two men met, Leary was blown away, later saying Hubbard created an "incredible atmosphere of mystery and flamboyance, and really impressive bullshit!" Even Hubbard's friends and critics had a hard time figuring him out. In the middle of a serious discussion, he once laughed and yelled, "I'm just a born son of a bitch!"
The End of an Era and His Lasting Mark
The psychedelic golden age that Hubbard helped create fell apart in the mid-1960s. As LSD became a symbol of the counterculture, the government cracked down hard. By 1968, the drug was made illegal, and all legal research was shut down.
For Hubbard, it was a disaster. His life's work was now criminalized. He lost his fortune, which he had poured into the psychedelic cause, and was forced to sell his beloved island. He tried to convince the government to allow LSD to be used to help ease the anxiety of terminal cancer patients, an idea decades ahead of its time, but he failed.
The great Captain Al Hubbard faded from view. He spent his last years living quietly in a trailer park in Arizona, where he died in 1982 at the age of 81. For decades, his huge role in history was mostly forgotten. But today, as scientists and doctors are once again exploring the healing potential of psychedelics, his story has been rediscovered. He was the secret link connecting so many different worlds. He remains a mysterious figure, but his impact is undeniable. Every time a new study shows the promise of psychedelics, it's a new fruit grown from the seeds he planted so long ago.
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