The War on Drugs Hurts Scientific Research

For those of you who don’t know, there is significant evidence that psychedelics have a therapeutic effect on an individual’s psyche when applied in a clinical setting.

In the past few years, thanks to efforts by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), Harvard University has conducted the first research into the therapeutic use of psychedelics since the school fired the controversial professor Timothy Leary in 1963.

This trend seems to be spreading around the world. Here are some fascinating discoveries from 2006:

• Ketamine (Special K) alleviates symptoms of depression.
• Psilocybin (Magic Mushrooms) alleviates symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Research like this is long overdue. It is a crime to halt research into potentially healing medicines strictly on the ground that those medicines could be misused. The fact is that any new discovery – whether it be a drug or nuclear power – can be used for constructive or destructive purposes.

With the enactment of the Controlled Substance Act of 1970, LSD and other psychedelics became classified Schedule I (the worst kind). By 1975 all research on psychedelics was effectively frozen.

It would be presumptous to assume that psychedelics hold the key to solving all mental health issues. However, as can be evidenced by the large number of mentally ill who are being incarcerated, our current approaches are not adequate or effective.

I’m sorry, but incarceration is not a viable alternative to therapy.

What follows is a brief history of the discovery and subsequent halting of psychedelic research.

From Discovery to Denial

During the first half of the 20th Century, two human beings completely altered scientific research into the brain and its processes: Sigmund Freud and Albert Hoffman.

Freud’s stubborn insistence that mental processes could be systematically researched led to the discovery of thought patterns whose observation could be replicated in future experiments. These discoveries, and the inevitable theories that followed, quickly developed into the edifice known as Psychology.

Hoffman’s synthesis of LSD in 1938, and his accidental discovery of its ability to manifest hidden aspects of the mind (psychedelic = psyche + “delos” [greek for clear and manifest]) created a research domino effect: for the next three decades Hoffman went on to analyze and document the properties of LSD, psilocybin, salvia divinorum, and morning glory seeds. His research into these substances was slowly integrated into the emerging psychotherapy movement during the 50’s. According to Hoffman, “LSD was used very successfully for 10 years in psychoanalysis.”

This success eventually attracted the attention of Harvard. It was here that psychedelic research began its abrupt decline. Dr. Timothy Leary and Dr. Richard Alpert, the premier researchers on these substances, slowly began to replace the traditional methods of laboratory research with the spontaneity offered by everyday social situations. When the administration at Harvard discovered that Leary and Hoffman’s unorthodox methods involved giving students their own supply of drugs, both men were immediately fired.

Alpert wound up in India meeting his guru, changing his name to Ram Dass, and writing the book “Be Here Now”. Leary stayed in America, privately conducting research, while publicly preaching the benefits of LSD. In a bizarre coincidence of events, Leary’s obsession with the potential of LSD to bring about an advancement of human evolution and an inevitable cultural revolution [he had a plan to spike the drinks of Congress] was met by millions of American youth disillusioned by the Vietnam War and searching for deeper meaning in life. These idealists found their answer in LSD.

Unfortunately for the scientific community, Leary disregarded his most important discovery on psychedelics – they create hell in the mind of the individual who takes them unprepared and in an unstructured environment. This psychological breakdown ended up becoming a reality for a lot of people, and before too long a series of “bad trips” were reported – including a man who jumped to his death thinking he could fly. With all this negative press, it was only a matter of time before the government finally decided to crack down on psychedelics.

A Renaissance of Research

The War on Drugs has suppressed the development of knowledge for far too long. Once these substances are thoroughly studied they can finally be applied in a controlled setting to help those in need.

The studies at Harvard are hopefully a sign of things to come and not just a fluke. All forms of scientific research are essential to the progress of our society and the fact remains that progress can only be achieved through experimentation.