scottygee wrote:
I have heard people adamantly argue for psychotropic treatment as a cure for alcoholism...not quite like substituting methadone for heroin, but also not sure if one cure is not worse than the ailment...suppose (like anything) that it all depends on the individual.
Actually, LSD produced some quite good results in England when used for alcoholism. One major distinction between LSD-for-alcoholism and methadone-for-heroin* though, is that LSD does not produce any dependency/addiction, either physical or psychological. Methadone is intended to substitute a less destructive and more livable dependency for one that is more so. LSD is not used as any sort of ongoing substitute for alcohol, but was tested as an adjunct for and/or type of treatment.
A pretty good brand-new two-hour documentary on the history of hallucinogens called
From Peyote to LSD ran recently on the History Channel. See
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0822803/ - I'm sure they'll re-run it soon enough. Lots of info about and some footage of interviews through the years with good Dr. Hoffman (as well as Leary, Kesey, etc.), but the main focus was on Richard Schulte, who spent his life investigating medical and other uses of plants from the Rio Grande to the Amazon.
Even subjectively, the important effects of LSD/psilocybin are exceptionally difficult to describe. The hallucinogenic effects, while interesting, are just the sprinkles. The meat of the matter is the sense of insight, and now we have some very good science telling us that the mystical, transformative 'oneness-with-God/the Universe'-type religious ecstasies of master yogis, Christian saints, etc. can be reached by a simple chemical shortcut (in the Hopkins study, psilocybin mushrooms).
I can easily understand how these drugs would be therapeutically useful, and believe that, if it were not for the irrational drug policies of the US, we could have learned a great deal by now about their benefits. While 'bad trips' are not a fiction, in the hands of reasonable people and under safe surroundings, it is difficult to muster good arguments for the continued total illegality of LSD, a drug which a) does not produce any dependency (or any other physical side effects - the 'chromosome damage' noise in the '60s was CIA disinformation, their own LSD studies showed more damage from caffeine**) b) has serious potential for therapeutic use, and c) in common and casual occasional usage is generally viewed as benign.
My own personal opinion is that most people would find LSD, taken with respect and in safe and comfortable circumstances, to be a startlingly pleasant and profound experience. All of the documentary interviews with the scientists who had partaken suport this view as well.***
scottygee wrote:
The mind is a baffling chunk of tissue, for certain...and I believe that what you do to your own is your business, as long as it stays between your ears...kinda like Vegas, baby...what goes on there should stay there...
I remember a great line (from Woody Allen referring to his therapist, maybe?) - "My mind is a terrifying place. I try not to go in there alone."
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*Methadone-for-heroin is just the last step in the chain which started with 'morphine is the solution for opium addiction,' followed by 'heroin is the solution for morphine addiction.' Methadone may be the last step though, the prior two were really just increases in efficiency in getting the opioids past the blood-brain barrier.
**It's an interesting sidelight that all of the major illicit drugs of the last 50 years were all studied extensively by the CIA and/or Pentagon very early on - LSD, mescaline, marijuana, psilocybin,
etc. ad infinitum.***When Hoffman first took LSD intentionally, there were no known drugs that were effective in microgram dosages. On April 19, 1943 he took 250 milligrams (usually misstated as 250 micrograms, probably the result of disbelief of the correct figure by people familiar with modern dosages), or about 2500 times the usual modern dosage of around 100 mcg. He decided to go home that afternoon when he started feeling odd, and famously wrote about his psychedelic bicycle ride home. LSD fans still celebrate 'Bicycle Day' on April 19. (Presumably it's just a happy coincidence that 4.20 is devoted to a more ... ummm ... mellow and recuperative psychotropic!)
There are a few reports of LSD overdoses having harmful physical effects (one of an elephant who died after being darted with 297 milligrams), but they are not considered reliable, or are thought to be the effect of other drugs. Pure LSD-25 is not believed to have ever directly caused harmful physical effects, even in the comparatively massive doses used in some of the CIA testing.
