Treatment of alcoholism using psychedelic drugs: a review of the program of research.
Journal of psychoactive drugs January 1, 1998 M Mangini 107 citations
LSD was studied extensively for therapeutic use after its discovery in 1943, particularly for treating alcoholism, inspired by the observation that delirium tremens sometimes led alcoholics to reduce drinking. Early researchers conducted many hypothesis-generating studies with varied designs, but few controlled trials tested the premise. After twenty-five years, flawed methodology, uneven results, and social disapproval halted research, leaving many questions unanswered. Today, after a thirty-year pause, interest in these historical findings has revived. This article reviews the history of LSD treatment for alcoholism and the events that reclassified hallucinogens as drugs of abuse.