Treatment of alcoholism using psychedelic drugs: a review of the program of research.

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.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Following Albert Hofmann's discovery of LSD's psychoactive properties in 1943, and previous to their scheduling as controlled substances, the psychedelic drugs were widely studied--six international conferences and hundreds of papers discussed their potential therapeutic usefulness. The observation that the frightening experience of delirium tremens sometimes led alcoholics to moderate their alcohol intake suggested to early psychedelic researchers that the "psychotomimetic" experience thought to be produced by LSD could be used to treat alcoholism. A number of hypothesis-generating studies employing a variety of research designs to examine this premise were completed, but relatively few controlled trials attempted hypothesis testing. After twenty-five years of study, a combination of flawed methodology, uneven results and social reprehension led to the abandonment of research on the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs, leaving many avenues of inquiry unexplored and many questions unanswered. Today, after a thirty-year hiatus, this research is gradually being resumed, and there is renewed interest in the findings of previous studies. This article explores the history of one branch of psychedelic research, the therapeutic use of LSD in the treatment of alcoholism, and of the events that led to the relabeling of the "hallucinogens" as drugs of abuse.