ush rooms ▁than ▁... ▁in ▁the ▁preceding ▁ 1 5 ▁years ▁of ▁studying ▁and ▁doing ▁research ." ▁ ▁Back ▁at ▁Harvard , ▁Le ary ▁and ▁his ▁associ ates ▁( not ably ▁Richard ▁Al pert , ▁later ▁known ▁as ▁Ram ▁D ass ) ▁began ▁a ▁research ▁program ▁known ▁as ▁the ▁Harvard ▁Ps il ocy bin ▁Project . ▁The ▁goal ▁was ▁to ▁analyze ▁the ▁effects ▁of ▁ps il ocy bin ▁on ▁human ▁subjects ▁( first ▁prisoners , ▁and ▁later ▁And over ▁Newton ▁The ological ▁Sem inary ▁students ) ▁from ▁a ▁synth es ized ▁version ▁of ▁the ▁drug ▁( which ▁was ▁legal ▁at ▁the ▁time ), ▁one ▁of ▁two ▁active ▁comp ounds ▁found ▁in ▁a ▁wide ▁variety ▁of ▁hall uc in ogen ic ▁m ush rooms , ▁including ▁Ps il ocy be ▁mex icana . ▁Ps il ocy bin ▁was ▁produced ▁in ▁a ▁process ▁developed ▁by ▁Albert ▁Hof mann ▁of ▁S ando z ▁Ph arma ce ut ical s , ▁who ▁was ▁famous ▁for ▁synth es izing ▁L SD . ▁ ▁Beat ▁poet ▁Allen ▁G ins berg ▁heard ▁about ▁the ▁Harvard ▁research ▁project ▁and ▁asked ▁to ▁join . ▁Le ary ▁was ▁inspired ▁by ▁G ins berg ' s ▁enthus ias m , ▁and ▁the ▁two ▁shared ▁an ▁optim ism ▁that ▁psych ed el ics ▁could ▁help ▁people ▁discover ▁a ▁higher ▁level ▁of ▁conscious ness . ▁They ▁began ▁introdu cing ▁psych ed el ics ▁to ▁intellect uals ▁and ▁artists ▁including ▁Jack ▁Ker ou ac , ▁May n ard ▁Fer g us on , ▁Charles ▁M ing us