The LSD-for-Alcoholics Story Deserves a Closer Look

[MindMover]

A study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, a British scholarly journal, has been picked up, repeated and amplified by many news organizations. Given the quality of the source research, I’m astonished that the headline, “LSD may help alcoholics to get sober” has been accepted without much reservation. The article is a meta-analysis of 6 studies of the effect of a single dose of LSD on subsequent drinking by people we are told are “alcoholic.” All the studies reviewed and compiled in this paper were performed prior to 1970. So even a cursory glance at this article tells us we’re talking about research that is about a half-century old. Assuming the research is valid and justifies some confidence that LSD is therapeutic for this syndrome, (and that assumption is wrong anyway) why should door-nail dead, 6-feet-under research that is disinterred after more than 42 years make such a splash?

I think the answer is twofold: First—the scourge of alcoholism is significant at a population level and at a deeply personal one. Everyone’s life has been touched usually in profoundly sad ways by problems caused by alcohol. As with many prevalent diseases that are painful and recalcitrant, any news item that purports to provide a solution will be cause for hope, and thus grab attention. (Sadly, all too often, it is a false hope.) Second: This news item resurrects a taboo drug, namely LSD. Only aging baby-boomers or their seniors will know that LSD was once available by prescription. In the early 60s it earned a seat of honor at the high-table of the DEA’s forbidden substances banquet. Because it is associated with the counterculture, and a bygone summer of love, an article about it might be nominated in the category of Best Revival, a la Hair. It’s titillating, so let’s swallow the message hook line and sinker.

The reading public may not know that there is a persistent group advocating for the therapeutic role of mind-bending drugs such as LSD. One online resource on this topic is the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies or MAPS (based in Santa Cruz, Calif.). The authors of the LSD study getting all the attention now were previously funded by MAPS to investigate any potential role of MDMA (‘ecstasy’) in psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. So the authors, while not having a commercial vested interest in this topic, may indeed have a professional stake in this subject. I can’t comment on whether support for psychedelic research, or the topic in general, makes up a significant part of the authors’ professional portfolio, but it is worth noting the authors’ involvement in the movement.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/GarySchwitzer/31677

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See my original post here ; http://www.democraticunderground.com/101471422

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[Ian David]

1. "Stop drinking or we'll make you take more LSD" might work. n/t

[cbrer]

3. Need any test cases?

Just wondering...