Deadheads Fight Stigma as Arrests Rise

Federal arrests in LSD cases have skyrocketed during the past two years as drug enforcement agents aggressively attempt to thwart the drug’s apparent resurgent popularity.

During the late 1980s, the Drug Enforcement Administration typically arrested about 100 LSD offenders a year. Last year, that number shot up to 243. This year, it is on track to hit 300.

“My objective is to try to get ahead of the curve on this,” said DEA Administrator Robert C. Bonner, citing studies that show modestly increasing LSD use at a time when most drugs appear to be on the decline. “We recognize that LSD is a potential problem drug of the future.”

As the DEA steps up its enforcement efforts against LSD users, one group is on the spot: fans of the Grateful Dead, a popular rock band whose history is intertwined with LSD. Grateful Dead concerts have created fertile areas for agents looking to make LSD arrests, and the rising number of arrests has convinced many members of the band’s entourage that the federal government has routinely inserted agents into concert crowds.

Rumors of DEA surveillance are so detailed that many Grateful Dead fans even profess to know the federal code name: Operation Dead End.

In an interview last week, Bonner denied that such an operation exists, and others inside the agency back him up. The code name of the LSD attack is Operation Looking Glass, agents say, and it does not target the band or its fans, known as Deadheads.

“We don’t have any specific intent or operation that is targeted at the followers of the Grateful Dead,” Bonner said. “It is true that we have had some investigations that have led us to some Grateful Dead concerts.”

That alone stirs considerable anxiety in the band’s inner circle.

“It’s very troubling,” said Dennis McNally, the group’s publicist. “The notion of serving as a lure for the DEA to arrest members of our audience is awful.”

McNally said the Grateful Dead has tried to remind its fans that “the scene around our shows is part of the real world, and the laws apply.”

But, he said, “that’s an education process,” and not all members of the caravan that follows the group from city to city have learned the lesson. In fact, Deadheads figure prominently in the LSD cases that have ended up in the U.S. Supreme Court or other federal courts.

By the time some Deadheads get out of prison, members of the band they worship will be eligible to draw Social Security.

For its part, the Grateful Dead--through the Rex Foundation, a philanthropic organization that it funds and whose board includes members of the band--has fought back.

Families Against Mandatory Minimums, a Washington-based group lobbying for changes in sentencing laws, has received scores of modest contributions from people across the country, many of whom have family members in prison. But the second-biggest check to date arrived last month: It was a $10,000 donation from the Rex Foundation.

What is LSD?

LSD, short for lysergic acid diethylamide, is a powerful hallucinogen developed in a Swiss laboratory in 1938 and popularized in the 1960s. * Production: The complex chemical structure of the drug makes it difficult to produce, and manufacturers have to work carefully to keep from ingesting it by mistake.

* Use: Tiny amounts of the drug are enough to produce intense reactions in users. A typical dosage is 0.05 of a milligram, and the drug usually is distributed on small squares of blotter paper, which are licked or chewed and swallowed.

* Effect: LSD is not considered physically addictive, but it can be highly dangerous for some users because it can produce intense hallucinations. There are some cases in which people under the influence of LSD have become extremely violent.

SOURCE: Drug Enforcement Administration