LSD finds new respectability

Science Daily

HAMILTON, Ontario, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- LSD, once the drug of choice on many university campuses, spawning countless jail sentences and fines, reportedly is gaining new respectability.

McMaster University researcher Erika Dyck in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, notes trials of LSD were once a legitimate branch of psychiatric research.

Dyck said, "LSD produced a 'model psychosis,' meaning people who took the drug exhibited symptoms of illnesses such as schizophrenia. Doctors used this as a new method for studying mental illness."

In a recent issue of the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Dyck traced the history of LSD -- and its eventual withdrawal from medical research. LSD, or d-lysergic acid diethylamide, first appeared in scientific literature in 1943. For nearly a decade, it gave psychiatrists insight into the experiences of schizophrenic patients and showed potential as a cure for alcoholism.

In the 1960s, governments criminalized LSD and then terminated medical research into its potential therapeutic effects.

Now, therapeutic uses of psychedelic drugs are reappearing, said Dyck, including MDMA, or 'ecstasy,' in treating pain.

Said Dyck: "Many illegal drugs are used in medical settings. Scientists who studied LSD made important contributions to psychiatry, and found it helped many people cope with mental illness."