The Brotherhood of Eternal Love
Founded by | John Griggs |
---|---|
Founding location | Orange County, California, United States |
Criminal activities | Drug use, manufacturing and distribution |
The Brotherhood of Eternal Love was an organization of drug users and distributors that operated from the mid-1960s through the late 1970s in Orange County, California; they were dubbed the Hippie Mafia.[1] They produced and distributed drugs in hopes of starting a "psychedelic revolution" in the United States.[2]
The organization was started by John Griggs as a commune, but by 1969, had turned to the manufacture of LSD and the importing of hashish.
In 1970, The Brotherhood of Eternal Love hired the radical left organization Weather Underground for a fee of $25,000 to help Timothy Leary make his way to Algeria after he escaped from prison, while serving a ten-year sentence for possession of marijuana.[3][4]
Their activities came to an end on August 5, 1972, when a drug raid was executed on the group where dozens of group members in California, Oregon and Maui were arrested. Some who had escaped the raid continued underground or fled abroad.[2] More members were arrested in 1994 and 1996, and the last of them in 2009;[1] Brenice Lee Smith served two months in jail before pleading guilty to a single charge of smuggling hashish, and then was released after being sentenced to time served.[5]
In 2010, Nicholas Schou published a book called Orange Sunshine on the brotherhood.[6] In 2016, a documentary directed by William Kirkley also named Orange Sunshine (named after the LSD they distributed) was released.[2]
References
- ^ a b Schou, Nick (Nov 12, 2009). ""Hippie Mafia" Hash Smuggler Arrested". Archived from the original on 23 November 2010. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
- ^ a b c Schou, Nick (7 June 2007). "Eternal Sunshine". OC Weekly. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ^ Brian Flanagan (2002). The Weather Underground (mp4). The Free History Project. Event occurs at 0:59:00. Retrieved March 2, 2012.
- ^ Rudd, Mark (2009). Underground: My Life with SDS and the Weathermen. New York City: William Morrow and Company. pp. 225–7. ISBN 978-0061472756.
- ^ Schou, Nick (Dec 3, 2009). "Case Closed on "Hippie Mafia" Smugglers". Archived from the original on 23 November 2010. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
- ^ Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love and Its Quest to Spread Peace, Love, and Acid to the World, Nicholas Schou (Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Press, 2010), ISBN 9780312551834.
External links
- Lords of Acid: How the Brotherhood of Eternal Love Became OCs Hippie Mafia Nick Schou, OC Weekly, Jul 7 2005.