Publicity about LSD and other hallucinogens negatively affected ongoing research. A survey of 29 investigators found that 19 reported harm from the publicity, including difficulty recruiting appropriate subjects, changes in attitudes of current participants, altered behavior of research personnel, and the discontinuation of several projects.
The history of LSD in medicine follows a typical pattern: initial speculation, exaggerated claims, and then controlled trials. This book is the first report on the latter category. LSD would be just another psychoactive drug if not for two factors: its adoption by young drug users for psychedelic effects, which has generated enormous publicity, and the fact that a drug producing profound mental changes in tiny doses (less than 50 micrograms) likely touches the core of some vital neurological process.