By Arran Frood of Nature magazine
The powerful hallucinogen LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) has potential as a treatment for alcoholism, according to a retrospective analysis of studies published in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The study, by neuroscientist Teri Krebs and clinical psychologist Pål-Ørjan Johansen of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, is the first-ever quantitative meta-analysis of LSD-alcoholism clinical trials. The researchers sifted through thousands of records to collect data from randomized, double-blind trials that compared one dose of LSD to a placebo.
Of 536 participants in six trials, 59% of people receiving LSD reported lower levels of alcohol misuse, compared to 38% of people who received a placebo. "We were surprised that the effect was so clear and consistent," says Krebs. She says that the problem with most studies done at that time was that there were too few participants, which limited statistical power. "But when you combine the data in a meta-analysis, we have more than 500 patients and there is definitely an effect," she says. In general, the reported benefits lasted three to six months. Their findings are published today in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Psychedelics were promoted by psychiatrists in the 1950s as having a range of medical uses -- to treat conditions such as schizophrenia, for example -- before political pressures in the United States and elsewhere largely ended the work. "Alcoholism was considered one of the most promising clinical applications for LSD," says Johansen. Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson is said to have espoused the benefits of LSD in the book Pass It On: The Story of Bill Wilson and How the AA Message Reached the World.
In the last decade or so, however, a new generation of researchers have been interested in harnessing the therapeutic benefits of illicit drugs -- such as 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or ecstasy) for post-traumatic stress disorder, ayahuasca for drug and alcohol dependency, and psilocybin, the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms, for smoking cessation.
The snow globe of perception?
How psychedelics exert such effects, especially after a single dose, remains unclear. LSD and its chemical cousins share structural similarities with the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is linked to many aspects of mood, memory and pleasure. These psychedelics also bind the same receptor sites in the brain as serotonin, but there the similarity may end -- studies have shown that the hallucinogens elicit chemical cascades different from other compounds that bind at the same receptor. To complicate matters further, LSD also acts at other receptors.
For the moment, studying human behavioural responses rather than brain chemistry may be more helpful in understanding how the drugs work. Robin Carhart-Harris, a psychopharmacologist at Imperial College London who has researched how psilocybin could treat depression, says that psychedelics must work at both biological and psychological levels. "Psychedelics probably work in addiction by making the brain function more chaotically for a period -- a bit like shaking up a snow globe -- weakening reinforced brain connections and dynamics," he says.
Roland Griffiths, a behavioural biologist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, is investigating the influence of psilocybin on smoking cessation, and says that psychedelics sometimes give rise to distinctive, insightful experiences that can produce enduring positive changes in attitude, mood and behaviour.
"This is impressive and important work," says Matthew Johnson, a psychiatrist also at Johns Hopkins University who is now running a small trial looking at the effectiveness of psilocybin to treat nicotine addiction. "Although this meta-analysis does not replace the need to test the approach in new, well-designed and rigorous clinical trials, it puts some more muscle behind the interpretation that the older literature shows hints that psychedelic therapy might really help addiction."
However, Ken Checinski, a consultant addiction psychiatrist and independent researcher based in London, says that although the results are exciting, no pharmacological treatment should be seen as a magic bullet and that modern therapeutic techniques have improved. "The included LSD trials pre-date the use of psychological techniques such as motivational interviewing and cognitive behaviour therapy," he says.
This article is reproduced with permission from the magazine Nature. The article was first published on March 9, 2012.
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24 Comments
Add CommentYou're not going to get drunk if you think the beer bottle is a multi-colored monster.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMuch of the pioneering work on treating incorrigible alcoholism with LSD took place in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in the 1960s. The work ended around 1972 when Canadian Minister of Health Marc Lalonde stood up in the House of Commons and claimed LSD caused brain damage. The lying Minister then "scheduled" the drug, ending all research.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTwo excellent documentaries tell the story...
http://www.karmafilm.ca/the-psychedelic-pioneers/
http://www.nfb.ca/film/hofmanns_potion
I have personal knowledge of LSD curing a strong meth addiction. The person I know has been clean of both substances for 30 years.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisJust don't allow research participants to have any sangria during the study (if you want to curtail alcohol abuse)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnybody notice that shoshin has nothing useful to add to the conversation?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is your brain, Shoshin ... And This is your brain on biblical, conservatard, science denial (CRACKLE). Just say no to Republican't bumper stickers, Shoshin.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDo remeber LSD can cause drugs induced Psychosis and also trigger the gene of Schizophrenia. If alcoholic person used LSD excessive amount he coud end up with psychosis which is dangerous.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIsn't this a bit like curing marijuana abuse by giving somebody meth? Can you call it cure when the treatment is more mind-altering and behavior disabling than the original problem?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTimothy Leary did as much harm to the science of consciousness by using LSD as he did good by stopping research on it by making consciousness a taboo subject for many years following his immature foolhardy actions under it's influence. But there can be no doubt it holds an ability to expose the reality of consciousness and deserves study as to why.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHave book that touches on some of the early studies -- saw it in a used book store years ago and thought it unusual enough to acquire. Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) in the Treatment of Alchoholism; Reginald G. Smart, Rhomas Storm, Earle F.W. Baker, Lionel Solursh; University of Toronto Press, 1967. Much of what is cited is from the late 50's, early 60's.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou say: 59% of 536 people given LSD versus 38% receiving placebo, reported a decrease in alcohol consumption. Two questions: 1) Is the difference statistically significant ?. I don't want to make the calculations. 2) How many of the subjects receiving LSD, decreased alcohol consumption just to become schyzophrenics ?.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA methodic doubt: this experiments, I won't call this a Clinical Trial were done in the years when Sandoz was still spending money to find an indication for LSD, and LSD came from this pharmaceutical company. If you think in conducting some research with this product again, where are you going to get it ?. In your town's drug of abuse dealers ?. Do you consider the possibility to actually buy a more dangerous drug, for example Phencyclidine or Metamphetamine or any kind of this shit ?. Please remember: the time for LSD as a prescription drug is gone forever.
The reason why LSD has some benefit is because it changes your perceptions. I think there are much better ways of doing this than taking more substances. Why not coaching or NLP?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this<a href="http://www.smyls.co.uk">Sort My Life Solutions</a>
Extract: "Psilocybin, the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWRONG the active ingredient is psilocin. Psilocybin is readily and quickly converted upon ingestion into the psychoactive psilocin
The proper LSD studies on alcoholics involved a lot of mental preparation and a lot of support. Many in the profession could not accept te amazing results and set up 'similiar' study except in this case there was no preparation, no emotional support, and a an immoral does of 800 micrograms. Other studies 250 micrograms were used. 250 is the highest ever recommended.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis study was DESIGNED TO FAIL. I sincerely wonder if the metaanalysis included this study.
Some comments above seem to confuse "recreational" use of LSD with "medical" use. In the studies and medical experiments with which I am familiar the participants took a carefully measured, chemically pure dose of the drug under close supervision. Far different than buying a hit of "who knows what" on the illegal market and ingesting it at some party or (worse) alone and with no one to help if things go badly.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd yes, there is more than enough good data to justify renewed research on the possible uses of LSD and several other illegal drugs for addiction as well as depression, anxiety, and several other disorders.
It's too bad that hysteria has once again replaced reason, but that seems par for the course.
I'm sorry, but that is a ridiculous comment. Psychedelics do not work this way, you don't arbitrarily see "monsters". Please don't make comments about things you do not understand, you only help to spread mis-information and fear.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisExcept that you are comparing meth to chocolate milk. Firstly, meth has a very low LD50 compared to psychedelics. In fact, there are no documented cases of death resulted form direct over dosage of psychedelics. On top of that, there is proven scientific medical data done with trials showing little to know additive qualities of psychedelics, in fact on the scale, psychedelics are less addictive than caffeine. Please, don't make comments about things you know nothing about. You only help to spread mis-information and fear. People, there is a such a thing called "Google". Please use it to search for subjects you are unsure about before commenting and making yourself look like an ignorant caveman who just walked out of his cave.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWrong. Psychedelic drugs imitate psychosis which is one of the larger factors why psychologists wanted to study it's effects. Very rarely has a psychedelic induced a permanent state of psychosis, and the cases that have happen there were multiple drugs involved. Wrong also about triggering the gene for schizophrenia. Firstly we have not discovered a gene responsible for schizophrenia so how can you say psychedelics trigger it if we haven't even discovered it? Yes we can calculate risk of having schizophrenia on a combination of gene analysis and medical history of the family, but nothing in the gene's alone can determine risk of schizophrenia, it has to be accompanied with family medical history.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this1. Yes the difference is statistically relevant and if you can't be bothered to understand the calculations, why are you here? I mean seriously, why do you even exist? I won't bother with the rest of your comment, you obviously know little of the subject and have never experienced it for yourself which is key in understanding most anything in the world, direct experience.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWrong, for a few reasons. Psilocin is what Psilocybin is broken down into once ingested. Yes Psilocin is the primary psychoactive chemical responsible for the effects. Although it doesn't matter if you extract Psilocybin or Psilocin, both will have the same effect just different time frames for onset since ingesting Psilocin will go right to work on your system where as ingesting Psilocybin must be converted by your digestive system into Psilocin first. Also it wouldn't be effective to store Psilocin because once Psylocybin is converted into Psilocin, Psilocin begins breaking down very rapidly in the presence of oxygen, light and other environmental factors where as Psilocybin is much more tolerant to breaking down. How exactly do you propose extracting Psiocin from Psilocybin, you can't, there is no extraction involved, you are converting one chemical into another. So first you want to extract Psilocybin then convert that into Psilocin. So, next time you want to blindly point your intellectual (or so called) finger at random people on the internet, know your shit, huh?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThank you for the documentaries!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou obviously have no clue what you're talking about.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou obviously have no idea what you're talking about.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou obviously have no clue what you're talking about.
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