Prohibited or regulated? LSD psychotherapy and the United States Food and Drug Administration

The decline of LSD-assisted psychotherapy research in the USA during the 1960s is often attributed to prohibitive federal regulations aimed at curbing recreational use. However, a close examination of the Food and Drug Administration's regulation of LSD research shows that research was never prohibited and was supported more than previously recognized. Instead, the decline reflected complex changes in the regulation of pharmaceutical research and development, rather than a simple ban on LSD studies.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Over the 1950s and early 1960s, the use of the hallucinogenic drug lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) to facilitate psychotherapy was a promising field of psychiatric research in the USA. However, during the 1960s, research began to decline, before coming to a complete halt in the mid-1970s. This has commonly been explained through the increase in prohibitive federal regulations during the 1960s that aimed to curb the growing recreational use of the drug. However, closely examining the Food and Drug Administration’s regulation of LSD research in the 1960s will reveal that not only was LSD research never prohibited, but that the administration supported research to a greater degree than has been recognized. Instead, the decline in research reflected more complex changes in the regulation of pharmaceutical research and development.