According to a report by James Randerson in The Guardian, scientists in Switzerland are using psychadellic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin and mescaline in clinical trials to aid a variety of medical disorders including cluster headaches and OCD.
"It aims to use "psychedelic psychotherapy" to help patients with terminal illnesses come to terms with their imminent mortality and so improve their quality of life.
Another psychedelic substance, psilocybin - the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, has shown promising results in trials for treating symptoms of terminal cancer patients. And researchers are using MDMA (ecstasy) as an experimental treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
In the Swiss trial eight subjects will receive a dose of 200 microgrammes of LSD. This is enough to induce a powerful psychedelic experience and is comparable to what would be found in an "acid tab" bought from a street drug dealer. A further four subjects will receive a dose of 20 microgrammes."http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/aug/12/medicalresearch.drugs
To me, personally this is rather worrying. I am all for the helping of sick or infirm, and as a Migraine sufferer for many years I welcome anything to ease the pain. However the use of psychadelic drugs as medicine has eerie echos of "Soma" from Aldous Huley's "Brave New World".
Will patients on the "Psychadelic" medicine or psychotherapy be in control of their faculities ? What are the side effects of such medicine ? What ailments will be included and excluded from this form of therapy ?
Prof Roland Griffiths at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore Maryland said "The working hypothesis is that if psilocybin or LSD can occasion these experiences of great personal meaning and spiritual significance ... then it would allow [patients with terminal illnesses] hopefully to face their own demise completely differently - to restructure some of the psychological angst that so often occurs concurrently with severe disease"
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