From: bagg@ellis.uchicago.edu (matthew john baggott)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Subject: Therapeutic and Scientific Uses of Hallucinogens
Date: 12 Nov 92 18:32:58 GMT
Reply-To: bagg@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations

I spent the week before last in Anaheim attending the annual meeting of the 
Society for Neuroscience.  Not surprisingly, there was a lot of interesting 
data and interested people.  Over the next few days, I hope to write 
a file or two summarizing some of the recent developments in some interesting 
fields.  I won't put off mentioning the news that a clinician has 
gotten approval to do a clinical test of the safety of MDMA in humans!!!  
I'll write more about MDMA later.  This file will focus on hallucinogens and 
their possible uses.  Of course, all errors are mine alone (I did not
record the event and am relying on hand-written notes).

One of the highlights for me was the evening social on hallucinogens.  Dave 
Nichols, Elaine Sanders-Bush, and Nicholas Penington all gave brief 
presentations.  Dave Nichols spoke on the scientific & therapeutic potential 
of hallucinogens, while Sanders-Bush and Penington focused on the substances' 
pharmaoclogical mechanisms.  Afterwards, interested parties stood around and 
chatted.  Because Sanders-Bush's and Penington's talks were very technical, 
I'm not going to discuss them except to say that the 5-HT1C (and possibly 1A) 
receptor seems involved in the activity of hallucinogens (in addition to the 
5-HT2).

Dave Nichols began by pointing out the disconnection between the knowledge 
that DOI, for example, is a 5-HT2/1a agonist and the fact that it is 
hallucinogenic.  While one aspect has been explored and exploited, the other 
has not.  He suggested that this is partially due to the fact that we need a 
developed theoretical knowledge base in order to use any technology.  
Unfortunately, we have only begun to understand how the brain "generates" the 
mind.  Thus, we have a long way to go in understanding how hallucinogens can 
be usefully employed.  Nonetheless, Nichols felt that there were many areas 
where hallucinogens seem to be promising tools.  Nichols went on the summarize
the problems with past research and identify which studies avoided these 
problems and thus suggested uses for hallucinogens.

Nichols summarized the common problems with early clinical studies with 
hallucinogens (most of the studies cited used LSD): absence of control 
groups; insufficient size & inadequate description of subjects; 
inadeqaute/inappropriate assessment procedures; inadequate statistical 
methods; and the drug's lack of a reliable dose-response curve.  Nichols 
noted that research which was well-designed, executed, and analyzed only 
really began a couple years before LSD was made illegal and research was 
effectively halted.

Despite these pitfalls and problems, Nichols identified several areas where 
LSD and hallucinogens have potential as useful tools: in studying processes 
involved in dreaming; in studying cognitive functions and sensory processing; 
in studying the structure and development of personality (including Freudian 
and Jungian theories); in treating obsessive compulsive disorders; in treating
neurotic disorders; in prisoner rehabilitation; in treatment of chronic pain; 
in treatment of terminal illness; and as a parallel to near death and peak 
experiences.

To support each of these potential indications, Nichols cited clinical 
publications which he considered sound research.  I tried to scribble down all
of his references as well as brief comments on each study.  As I haven't 
checked all of these at a library, minor errors may exist.

Torda, J. of Med. 68, p. 1135-8 found LSD reduced latency of 4th REM period 
from 40-60 to 10-19 min.

Brandrup and Vangaard, Acta Psychiat. Scand. 55: 127-141 (1977) treated a 
single individual for severe compulsive disorder and found that the individual
had a "born again" experience on his (?) 32nd of 57 sessions (100 mikes each) 
and was cured.

McCabe et al, J. Psych. Drugs 5:18-28 (1972) well executed study which treated
neurotic disorders.

Clark, J. Psych. Drugs 17:229-234 (1985) studied LSD's use in convict 
rehabilitation.  This is the famed Leary study.

Kast, Anesthethesia and Analgesia 43:285-291 (1964) studied pain reduction 
with LSD [Psychedelic Monographs and Essays 5 has an article on this work, 
although Nichols didn't mention it].

Kurland, J. Psychoact. Drugs 17: 279-290 (1985) gave LSD to terminal cancer 
patients.

Maslow, J. Genetic Psych 93:43-66 (1959) discusses need/use for peak 
experiences, which relates to near death experiences.

Noyes, Psychiatry 43:234-242 (1980) discusses near death experiences.  
Nichols suggested that noth NDEs and Peak Experiences often involve sudden 
improvements in an individual's life.

McCabe et al, J. Psychedel Drugs 5:18-28 (72) ?.

Saskin, J. Nerv. Mental Disease 157: 410-19 (75) ?. [I'm not sure what these 
articles discuss.]