- Several of these urban legends have been traced to their source and discredited. For example, a
1967 Newsweek story about six college students tripping on LSD who went blind after staring into
the sun turned out to be a hoax concocted by Pennsylvania’s state commissioner for the blind, Dr.
Norman Yoder. According to the governor, who disclosed the hoax, Yoder had “attended a lecture
on the use of LSD by children and became concerned and emotionally involved.” Yet once
introduced into the culture, these urban legends survive and, on occasion, go on to become “true”
when people tripping on LSD are inspired to imitate them, as has happened in the case of the
staring-into-the-sun story. See David Presti and Jerome Beck, “Strychnine and Other Enduring
Myths: Expert and User Folklore Surrounding LSD,” in Psychoactive Sacramentals: Essays on
Entheogens and Religion, ed. Thomas B. Roberts (San Francisco: Council on Spiritual Practices,
2001).
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(Frankie)
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