Historically, LSD was distributed not for profit, but because those who made and distributed it truly believed that the psychedelic experience could be beneficial for humanity. A limited number of chemists, probably fewer than a dozen, are believed to have manufactured nearly all of the illicit LSD available in the United States. The best known of these is undoubtedly Augustus Owsley Stanley III, usually known simply as Owsley or Bear.
The former chemistry student set up a private LSD lab in the mid-60s in San Francisco and supplied the LSD consumed at the famous Acid Test parties held by Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters, as well as the Human Be-In in San Francisco in January 1967 and the Monterey International Pop Festival in June 1967. He also had close social connections with the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Big Brother and The Holding Company, regularly supplying them with LSD and working as their live sound engineer, creating many tapes of these groups in concert. Owsleys LSD activities—immortalized by Steely Dan in their song "Kid Charlemagne"—ended with his arrest at the end of 1967, but some other manufacturers most likely operated continuously for 30 years or more. Announcing Owsleys first bust in 1966, The San Francisco Chronicle headline "LSD Millionaire Arrested" inspired the rare Grateful Dead song "Alice D. Millionaire".
Owsley associated with other early LSD producers, Tim Scully and Nicholas Sand.