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Background: The Merry Pranksters started in 1959, when Ken Kesey signed up for the CIA project MK-ULTRA, which was testing the effect of psychedelic drugs, mainly LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, cocaine and DMT. The goals of MK-ULTRA were to (1.) make people better withstanding of torture techniques, (2.) safely knock out CIA targets, (3.) create amnesia, and (4.) to make it easier to conduct hypnosis. In 1962, Kesey used his experience from the CIA project to write his famed story, //One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,// which drew on his experiences as a medical guinea pig. In 1964, Ken Kesey started a famous bus trip, in his bus "Furthur" where he drove a painted school bus across the country, with his Merry Pranksters. The bus trip was originally intended to celebrate the release of Kesey's newest novel, //Sometimes a Great Notion,// and to visit the World's fair in New York City. The bus trip is mostly remembered for the use of many drugs, such as LSD and Marijuana, and exposing the rest of the world to these drugs. The Merry Pranksters are remembered for bridging the gap between Jack Kerouac's beatnik movement of the 1950s, and the hippie movement of the late 60s and 70s. While many believe Kesey fit into one of these movements, he has been quoted as saying that he was "too late to be a beatnik, but too early to be a hippie." Following the bus trip, Kesey conducted his famous "Acid Tests" where participants were given Acid/LSD (LSD was legal in the US up until 1966). While these test were conducted, the rock band, The Grateful Dead, would preform concerts during the "testing", which is believed to have set the stage for the idea of Woodstock, which in 1969, was visited by the Merry Pranksters (minus Kesey).

Goals: The main goal of the Merry Pranksters was to promote their new life style, one filled with psychedelic drugs. The Merry Pranksters believed they lived outside the "norms of society", and believed they could only find true happiness through the use of drugs.

Other info: -Ken Kesey used Jack Kerouac's book, //The Road,// to influence his life. -The Merry Pranksters would lead into the hippie movement. -The Merry Pranksters were indirectly responsible for many drugs to become illegal.

Citations:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/aug/06/lsd-ken-kesey-pranksters-film http://science.discovery.com/stories/mkultra.html https://www.univie.ac.at/Anglistik/easyrider/data/KeseyPrs.htm http://www.wisegeek.com/who-were-the-merry-pranksters.htm