A Clinical Psychological Study

Patients that are suffering from depression are placed on a one month’s treatment with daily oral doses of LSD.

Psychedelics are a class of hallucinogens which historically have been used as certain treatments and religious rituals. Psychedelics, specifically LSD, can affect visual, cognitive, physical, and in some cases auditory functions. It was invented in 1938 by Albert Hoffman, a Swiss scientist known as the father of LSD. However, the subject and research on psychedelics has been shelved for several years. It was not until Hoffman accidentally ingested the substance that he realized its able to produce psychic effects in extremely low dosages. As it gained publicity, it raised the attention of government figures. In the years following, the government outlawed the use of the substance. There are a variety of opinions to the reasons behind the immediate ban on the substance including the fact that the substance was unpredictable because minimal research was conduct at the time. Prior to 1962, doctors were able to distribute investigational drugs, such as LSD, without the authorization of governmental associates. The Kefauver-Harris Drug amendment limited the distribution of such drugs to the general public. After the act, the government completely ban the selling of LSD and limited it to only one distributor, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals; the company that Hoffman had used to test out the substance. Additional legislation was passed to completely curb the use of LSD and other psychedelics in 1970, known as the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. It divided all drugs into five different schedules and placed psychedelics as schedule 1, adjacent to heroin and ecstasy. Hence, all motivation to continue research in the subject ended. The medicinal use of substance still remains unknown due to the criminalization of the drug by the federal government.

Citation:

F. Gordon Johnson. (1969) LSD in the Treatment of Alcoholism. American Journal of Psychiatry 126:4, 481-487. Online publication date: 1-Apr-2006.