JAMA
February 9, 1970
Lillian Y. F. Hsu
33 citations
A newborn girl with congenital abnormalities consistent with D1-trisomy was found to have trisomy 13 accompanied by a D/D translocation. Her parents had used lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) before conception but not during the pregnancy. The authors suggest that LSD may have damaged maternal germ cells prior to fertilization, leading to chromosomal rearrangement. Fertilization involving a gamete with an unbalanced chromosome complement may directly cause the chromosomal aberration observed in the offspring.
JAMA
August 8, 1977
Sidney Cohen
31 citations
Phencyclidine (PCP, Angel Dust) was developed as an anesthetic in the 1950s but caused prolonged postoperative agitation and delirium, preventing its human medical use. It is now used only as an animal anesthetic. A chemical relative, ketamine, is used for human anesthesia. On the street, PCP appears as powder, tablets, or capsules in various colors and is made by amateur chemists from easily obtained ingredients. Because it is simple to produce, PCP is often sold as a substitute for harder-to-find psychedelics like mescaline.
JAMA
September 9, 1968
Lionel Grossbard
23 citations
A person who used several hallucinogenic drugs, including LSD, mescaline, marijuana, and amphetamines, developed acute leukemia. The patient's leukemic cells contained a Ph1-like chromosome, a finding rarely reported in acute leukemia or in individuals who have taken LSD. Lymphocytes transformed with phytohemagglutinin did not show chromosome breaks.
JAMA
October 21, 2025
Reid Robison, Robert Barrow, Craig Conant et al.
22 citations
A single dose of MM120 (lysergide D-tartrate) reduces anxiety in a dose-dependent way in adults with moderate to severe generalized anxiety disorder. In a phase 2b randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with 198 participants, the 100-µg and 200-µg doses produced significantly greater reductions in Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale scores at 4 weeks than placebo, with differences of -5.0 and -6.0 points, respectively. Lower doses (25 µg and 50 µg) did not differ from placebo. Common side effects included visual perceptual changes and nausea, which increased with dose.
JAMA
July 30, 2024
Mason Marks
20 citations
The Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee's decisions on MDMA-assisted therapy carry significant implications for the future of psychedelic research. The committee's evaluations highlight the complex regulatory and scientific challenges facing this emerging treatment modality. Their rulings may shape how subsequent studies are designed, what endpoints are considered acceptable, and how safety and efficacy data are interpreted. The analysis suggests that these decisions could either accelerate or hinder the development of psychedelic therapies, depending on how the field responds to the committee's concerns about trial methodology, blinding, and potential for abuse.
JAMA
October 20, 1975
David Dorrance
20 citations
Lifelong and multigenerational ingestion of peyote, a mescaline-containing cactus with hallucinogenic properties, is not associated with abnormalities in lymphocyte chromosomes. Fifty-seven Huichol Indians with a personal and 1,600-year cultural tradition of peyote use were compared with 50 Huichol Indian controls and ten laboratory controls. The frequency of chromosomal abnormalities did not differ significantly between the experimental and control groups, indicating no detectable genetic damage from this traditional practice.
JAMA
May 24, 2019
Ole Köhler‐forsberg, Cristina Cusin, Andrew A. Nierenberg
18 citations
Recent evidence shows that several nonpharmacological and drug therapies can benefit people with major depressive disorder. Effective options include exercise, a Mediterranean diet with structured dietary support, ketamine and esketamine, anti-inflammatory drugs, brexanolone, and psilocybin.
JAMA
April 15, 1968
Joseph N. Digiacomo
18 citations
Four teenagers who ingested Asthmador asthmatic powder, a stramonium-belladonna mixture, were mistakenly thought to be experiencing LSD reactions. Their symptoms included acute brain syndrome and physical signs of atropinization. Stramonium ingestion produces effects similar to amphetamine and LSD, but additionally causes dry mucous membranes, heat, and flushing. The cases highlight that stramonium poisoning can mimic psychedelic drug reactions.
JAMA
September 11, 1967
Doris H. Milman
18 citations
A 5-year-old girl with no prior psychiatric problems became acutely psychotic after accidentally ingesting 100μg of LSD. Symptoms included agitation, panic, depression, flattened affect, disorientation, depersonalization, body image distortion, and reduced intellectual function. She also showed signs of organic brain dysfunction, such as impaired visual-motor and visual-perceptual abilities and an abnormal EEG. The most severe symptoms resolved within days, but thinking disorder, body image distortion, and lowered IQ persisted for several months. After five months, only the abnormal EEG and visual-motor disorganization remained; after nine months, only visual-motor impairment persisted.
JAMA
November 11, 1974
Miles K. Crowder
16 citations
Phencyclidine (PCP), a derivative of the anesthetic ketamine, is a major component of street drugs. In one series, it was detected in 184 of 237 street drug samples. It is sold as 'angel dust' sprayed on plant leaves or as a powder called 'peace pills,' and is frequently misrepresented as LSD, mescaline, psilocybin, cocaine, MDA, or THC. Both ketamine and phencyclidine are sympathomimetic anesthetics, but phencyclidine is a much more potent hallucinogen. Their abuse is a massive and generally unrecognized problem.
JAMA
March 7, 1964
Jonathan Cole, Martin M. Katz
16 citations
Several pharmacologically similar drugs—LSD-25, psilocybin, and mescaline—produce intense and unusual psychic effects in volunteer subjects. These include visual phenomena from heightened brightness and beauty to true hallucinations of colors, shapes, or complex scenes. Accompanying emotional experiences range from mild apprehension to panic, severe depression, or mystical elation, and can include concurrent emotions not normally experienced together. Subjects also report changes in body image, such as body parts appearing larger or smaller, and intense feelings of depersonalization where the subject believes they are detached from themselves.
JAMA
March 7, 1964
Roy R. Grinker
16 citations
For years, scientists have quietly studied the behavioral pharmacology of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25) and psilocybin in animals and humans. The drugs' psychotic effects partially resemble schizophrenic psychoses, leading to their classification as psychomimetics, but research has not revealed the cause or treatment of natural psychoses, though it has provided information about abnormal mental states. Two problematic byproducts have emerged unrelated to legitimate science: widespread recreational use by irresponsible people for the hallucinatory "kick" effect, gratification, and a sense of belonging to a superior social group; and experimentation with the drugs outside proper controls.
JAMA
November 3, 1969
J. H. Tjio
15 citations
Chromosomes from lymphocytes were examined in 32 patients before and after they took LSD as part of controlled research, and in five black-market users who received pure LSD in a research setting. Statistical analysis showed no significant difference in chromosomal aberration rates before and after LSD. A follow-up study of eight normal subjects who had taken LSD in earlier experiments also found no evidence of damage. The results consistently support the conclusion that, at this time, there is no definite evidence that pure LSD damages chromosomes of human lymphocytes in vivo as studied from 72-hour cultures.
JAMA
February 9, 1994
Mark S. Gold
12 citations
A large annual survey of over half a million U.S. junior and senior high school students in 1993 found that hallucinogen use rose slightly from 4.9% to 5.3% compared to the previous year. Among hallucinogen users, 83% reported typically getting high or stoned, a higher proportion than among beer drinkers (24%), marijuana smokers (66%), or cocaine users (74%). The authors suggest many young people view cocaine as very dangerous but see LSD as spiritually uplifting; 55% of seniors believed trying LSD a few times is not harmful.
JAMA
September 14, 1963
Dana L. Farnsworth
11 citations
An article in this issue of The Journal highlights a growing medical and social problem in the United States: the ingestion of drugs that drastically alter sensory perception and produce hallucinations. These drugs include stramonium, mescaline or peyote, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25), psilocybin, marijuana, and morning-glory seeds, which contain amides of lysergic acid. Public interest in these psychotomimetic drugs is increasing, and their use to produce hallucinations dates back centuries. Recently, new forms of these hallucinogens have been discovered, along with a subtle promotion designed to encourage the general public to try them.
JAMA
December 21, 2021
Luke A. Downey, Jerome Sarris, Daniel Perkins
8 citations
No Summary
JAMA
April 11, 1966
Sidney Cohen
7 citations
Three subjects given LSD, psilocybin, sernyl, and a placebo under conditions of sensory monotony—listening to noise and looking at a glazed white dome for three hours—described their experiences. The authors aimed to eliminate setting and set to study drug effects alone, but subjects brought their own variables, and nonrandomized drug order influenced experiences. LSD and psilocybin produced emotional lability, mental confusion, changes in ego boundaries, and colorful perceptual alterations, consistent with prior reports. Sernyl tended to evoke different effects, though specifics are not detailed here.
JAMA
October 4, 2022
Anita Slomski
6 citations
No Summary
JAMA
November 15, 1971
Barry I. Liskow
6 citations
A case report of extreme hyperthermia after LSD ingestion should be interpreted cautiously, as the symptoms—hyperactivity, unresponsiveness, mildly elevated blood pressure, increased heart rate, and slightly dilated reactive pupils—are also consistent with amphetamine overdose or abuse of potent anticholinergics like piperidyl benzilate or high doses of atropine and scopolamine. The patient's amnesia for the episode is not typical of LSD or amphetamine but is characteristic of anticholinergic abuse. The only feature arguing against an anticholinergic was that pupils were not widely dilated with minimal light response. Physicians should consider these alternative causes when treating unresponsive hyperthermic patients suspected of drug ingestion.
JAMA
June 19, 1967
Barry J. Materson
6 citations
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is taken orally in doses of 25 to 150 micrograms for psychedelic effects, and even larger illicit doses rarely cause lethal physical complications. Doses of 20 micrograms per kilogram of body weight have been taken without fatal outcome. No deaths directly caused by LSD have been reported, though the drug has been used unsuccessfully for suicide attempts. Rare suicides associated with LSD occur days to months after administration in disturbed individuals. The main danger arises from hallucinogenic effects leading to life-incompatible acts, such as attempting to fly from a building.
JAMA
October 20, 1975
Arthur D. Bloom
4 citations
A study of lifelong peyote users among the Huichol Indians of northern Mexico found no increase in chromosomal aberrations in their peripheral-blood lymphocytes, providing reassuring evidence that in vivo studies of possible chromosomal mutagens can yield clear-cut negative results. The findings address concerns from the late 1960s and early 1970s about chromosomal damage from psychoactive agents like LSD and marihuana, though the authors caution against heavier experimentation with peyote or mescaline based on this apparent absence of chromosomal effects.
JAMA
December 10, 1960
L. Lunsky
4 citations
A collection of symposium contributions from psychiatrists, psychologists, ethnologists, and sociologists aimed at promoting lively discussion and effective communication, but the volume largely fails to achieve meaningful exchange. Discussions are tangential and lack coherence; the described experiments lack sound design and rely on subjective evaluations without substantiation. One participant noted that the work reflects only impressions of the doctors' unconscious minds. Although some cogent ideas appear, they are lost in confusion, making the volume of questionable value.
JAMA
March 12, 2026
Joshua C. Black, Gabrielle E. Bau, Ryan R. Cook et al.
2 citations
After Oregon and Colorado decriminalized psilocybin, 12-month use of the substance increased in both states. The survey data show that the estimated prevalence of past-year psilocybin use rose in Oregon and Colorado compared with the period before decriminalization. The findings suggest that decriminalization policies are associated with higher rates of psilocybin use.
JAMA
December 14, 1979
Bruce Greyson
1 citation
Near-death experiences occur frequently during grave physical illnesses and injuries, though the role of physiological changes in these experiences remains poorly understood. Some individuals have these experiences when they believe they are dying, even without serious illness or injury. Physicians who are more aware of near-death experiences could observe and report details from patients having them, which would improve understanding of the phenomenon.
JAMA
October 20, 1975
A. D. Bloom
1 citation
A study of Huichol Indians in northern Mexico, lifelong users of the hallucinogen peyote (a mescaline-containing cactus), found no increase in chromosomal aberrations in their peripheral-blood lymphocytes. The results are clear-cut and negative, providing reassurance amid earlier controversy over whether psychoactive agents like LSD and marijuana might induce chromosomal damage. The authors did not demonstrate any increase in chromosomal damage from peyote use.