What if Timothy Leary was never born or died from drugs before he did anything of significance?
Or, if Dr. Alpert is the drug man, psychedelics would be seen as more spiritual.Just off the top of my head, I can think of about a half-dozen or so medical drugs that crossed over into recreational usage(and that's not including the various permutations of opium). So we can probably assume that the same thing would have happened with LSD, with or without Dr. Leary's contribution. Though Leary might have had some effect on the particular way in which it snuck its way into the culture.
Maybe without Leary, acid is seen as less of a transcendental experience and more just something that people do for kicks. But with the hippie thing in full bloom by the time it gets into the youth culture, maybe it was inevitable that it would be associated with the pursuit of mystical experiences.
Or, if Dr. Alpert is the drug man, psychedelics would be seen as more spiritual.