PSYCHEDELICS - Sciencemadness.org

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____________________________________________________ Psychedelics
among psychiatrists and psychologists who felt that here at
last was a way to understand schizophrenia. The paper by
Sinnett discusses these issues in more detail.
The psilocybin papers both come from Harvard Psilocybin
Project, whose results catapulted psychedelia into the mass
media, and its originators out of Harvard. These studies
had two aspects: those using ordinary volunteers, and a special
project utilizing prisoners. The general development of
the project is discussed by Leary (1968) in High Priest. The
controversy that has surrounded this situation has obscured
the fact that interesting and seminal observations have been
made here and that nobody has pursued them further. The
paper by Jonathan Clark deals with a drug experience he had
in the course of the prisoner-rehabilitation project. The paper
by Stanley Krippner focuses on the experience of a volunteer
in the experiments that were carried out with non-prisoners.
Both the LSD experiences reproduced here are examples
of experiences produced under controlled conditions during
the time when LSD was legal and obtainable. Should the
hysteria over LSD ever abate, experiences like these, under
professional supervision, might be available to individuals
screened against the likelihood of psychiatric abnormality and
with set and setting controlled to provide maximum safe-
guards against any deleterious effects. The purpose of Aaron-
son's experience was to see what psychedelics were like; Rich-
ardson's experience was to help him solve a problem. Both,
however, have therapeutic overtones.
The paper by Stafford shows the ways in which psyche-
delics tend to be used at present in the community of users.
The substance spoken of as "Yagé" was probably not Yagé,
but harmine or harmaline. Of special interest are the use of
one psychochemical to ameliorate any difficulty arising from
the use of another, and the use of marijuana in conjunction
with the experience without any thought that the marijuana
might influence the experience. Elements of this experience
lead Mr. Stafford to speculate on psychedelics in general and
their possible future impact on society.