Nicholas Sand
Encyclopedia
Nick Sand is a low-profile hero in the psychedelic community for his work as a clandestine chemist
from 1966-1996. Sand was also Chief Alchemist for the League for Spiritual Discovery
at the Millbrook estate in New York.
scene developing around Greenwich Village. While attending Brooklyn College, Sand became interested in the teachings of Gurdjieff, the study of different cultures, and various Eastern philosophers. Graduating in 1966 with a degree in Anthropology and Sociology, Sand followed Leary
and Alpert
to Millbrook and became a guide to the psychedelic realm. In this role he initiated many people who came to Millbrook in a relaxed and sacred set and setting. He also began extracting DMT.
Sand started a company with his friend disguised as a perfume company - the real intent of the company was to manufacture Mescaline and DMT. Sand was starting to attract the attention of police because of his lengthy visits to Milbrook and when Owsley
visited Milbrook in April 1967 Sand was inspired to head to San Francisco.
Sand's San Francisco Lab was operational by July 1967. Sand wanted to make LSD but was lacking the necessary precursors. Owsley had given him a formula for STP and would tablet Sand's product from his own lab in Orinda.
In December 1968 Sand purchased a farmhouse in Windsor, California
, at that time a small town in rural Sonoma County. There he and Tim Scully
, another psychedelic chemist, set up a large LSD lab. Scully and Sand produced over 3.6 million tablets of LSD, which was distributed under the name "Orange Sunshine".
Sand was prosecuted for LSD manufacture following a lengthy investigation by federal narcotics agents in the early 1970s. He was found guilty and sentenced, in 1976, to 15 years in a federal penitentiary.
Sand's attorney appealed his conviction and Sand was released on $50,000 bail. While out of custody he went underground in 1976 and remained a fugitive from federal agents for two decades.
The RCMP says Sand was one of seven people who were operating one of the largest LSD labs in North American history, a facility near Port Coquitlam, British Columbia
, that produced enough acid to dose every man, woman and child in Canada 1.5 times.
Sand served prison time in Canada and the United States from 1996 to 2000 for the manufacture of psychedelic drugs including, but not limited to, MDMA, MDA, DMT, LSD, and mescaline. He also produced an analog of LSD known as lysergic acid sec-butylamide. Sand was sentenced to nine years in Canada but was returned to the United States as he was still living underground due to charges of LSD production from the early 70's. Nicholas Sand is credited with the largest poly-drug clandestine laboratory to be encountered in Canada. His laboratory was secreted in an industrial complex in a suburb of Vancouver, British Columbia. His lab was of a level of sophistication never encountered before by police investigators or clandestine lab specialists from Health Canada. Sand worked diligently in his lab several months each summer and resided in Mexico for the rest of the year. For 1995, he estimated a net income of 1.8 million dollars for three months of work. The substances produced in his lab were destined for a worldwide market, and also included MDP-2-P or piperonyl methyl ketone (an MDMA precursor), which was quite rare in Canada at the time.
As of 2001, Sand is on a monitored release program and resides in San Francisco, California
. He is writing a book and practicing Buddhism
.
Clandestine chemistry
Clandestine chemistry is chemistry carried out in secret, and particularly in illegal drug laboratories. Larger labs are usually run by gangs or organized crime intending to produce for distribution on the black market...
from 1966-1996. Sand was also Chief Alchemist for the League for Spiritual Discovery
League for Spiritual Discovery
The League For Spiritual Discovery was a religious organization based around the works of Timothy Leary, and strove for legal use of lysergic acid diethylamide for religious purposes. It was in existence until the end of the 1960s, and eventually closed by Leary...
at the Millbrook estate in New York.
History
Sand grew up in Brooklyn, New York and by his late teens he was already aware of the LSDLSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
scene developing around Greenwich Village. While attending Brooklyn College, Sand became interested in the teachings of Gurdjieff, the study of different cultures, and various Eastern philosophers. Graduating in 1966 with a degree in Anthropology and Sociology, Sand followed Leary
Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
and Alpert
Ram Dass
Ram Dass is an American contemporary spiritual teacher and the author of the seminal 1971 book Be Here Now. He is known for his personal and professional associations with Timothy Leary at Harvard University in the early 1960s, for his travels to India and his relationship with the Hindu guru Neem...
to Millbrook and became a guide to the psychedelic realm. In this role he initiated many people who came to Millbrook in a relaxed and sacred set and setting. He also began extracting DMT.
Sand started a company with his friend disguised as a perfume company - the real intent of the company was to manufacture Mescaline and DMT. Sand was starting to attract the attention of police because of his lengthy visits to Milbrook and when Owsley
Owsley Stanley
Owsley Stanley also known as Bear, was an essential and transitional personality in the development of the San Francisco Bay counter-culture. Spanning the Beat-era years of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters scenes, he was equally pivotal to the explosion of 1960's Psychedelia culture...
visited Milbrook in April 1967 Sand was inspired to head to San Francisco.
Sand's San Francisco Lab was operational by July 1967. Sand wanted to make LSD but was lacking the necessary precursors. Owsley had given him a formula for STP and would tablet Sand's product from his own lab in Orinda.
In December 1968 Sand purchased a farmhouse in Windsor, California
Windsor, California
Windsor is an incorporated town in Sonoma County, California, United States. The population was 26,801 as of the 2010 census.-Geography:Windsor is located on U.S. Route 101 in the Russian River valley, about southeast of Healdsburg, California....
, at that time a small town in rural Sonoma County. There he and Tim Scully
Tim Scully
Robert "Tim" Scully is best known in the psychedelic underground for his work in the production of LSD from 1966 to 1969, for which he was indicted in 1973 and convicted in 1974. His best known product, dubbed "Orange Sunshine", was considered the standard for quality LSD in 1969.Scully grew up in...
, another psychedelic chemist, set up a large LSD lab. Scully and Sand produced over 3.6 million tablets of LSD, which was distributed under the name "Orange Sunshine".
Sand was prosecuted for LSD manufacture following a lengthy investigation by federal narcotics agents in the early 1970s. He was found guilty and sentenced, in 1976, to 15 years in a federal penitentiary.
Sand's attorney appealed his conviction and Sand was released on $50,000 bail. While out of custody he went underground in 1976 and remained a fugitive from federal agents for two decades.
Resurfacing
In September 1996, Sand surfaced as a drug suspect in Vancouver, British Columbia. According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, he was living under the name David Roy Shepard, and his true identity was not discovered until his fingerprints were sent to the FBI lab in Washington, D.C., nearly two months after his arrest.The RCMP says Sand was one of seven people who were operating one of the largest LSD labs in North American history, a facility near Port Coquitlam, British Columbia
Port Coquitlam, British Columbia
Port Coquitlam is a city in British Columbia, Canada. Located 27 km east of Vancouver, it sits at the confluence of the Fraser River and the Pitt River. Coquitlam borders it on the north, the Coquitlam River borders it on the west, and the cities of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows lie across the Pitt...
, that produced enough acid to dose every man, woman and child in Canada 1.5 times.
Sand served prison time in Canada and the United States from 1996 to 2000 for the manufacture of psychedelic drugs including, but not limited to, MDMA, MDA, DMT, LSD, and mescaline. He also produced an analog of LSD known as lysergic acid sec-butylamide. Sand was sentenced to nine years in Canada but was returned to the United States as he was still living underground due to charges of LSD production from the early 70's. Nicholas Sand is credited with the largest poly-drug clandestine laboratory to be encountered in Canada. His laboratory was secreted in an industrial complex in a suburb of Vancouver, British Columbia. His lab was of a level of sophistication never encountered before by police investigators or clandestine lab specialists from Health Canada. Sand worked diligently in his lab several months each summer and resided in Mexico for the rest of the year. For 1995, he estimated a net income of 1.8 million dollars for three months of work. The substances produced in his lab were destined for a worldwide market, and also included MDP-2-P or piperonyl methyl ketone (an MDMA precursor), which was quite rare in Canada at the time.
As of 2001, Sand is on a monitored release program and resides in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. He is writing a book and practicing Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
.