‘Hitting highs at rock bottom’: LSD treatment for alcoholism, 1950–1970

This commentary paper (2006) traces the history of LSD as a treatment for alcoholism from 1950-1970.

Abstract of Hitting highs at rock bottom

“In the 1950s, researchers in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan began treating alcoholics with d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and achieved significant rates of recovery. Psychiatrists, including Humphry Osmond who coined the term ‘psychedelic’ while working in Saskatchewan, believed that the successful treatment of alcoholism with biochemical means would scientifically prove that the condition was a disease and not the result of a weak or immoral character. Initial experiments demonstrated unprecedented rates of abstinence among alcoholics treated with LSD. The approach gained support from the provincial government, local chapters of Alcoholics Anonymous and the Bureau of Alcoholism, all of which collaborated in a public campaign that supported LSD treatments. Although Alcoholics Anonymous endorsed psychedelic therapy, the Addictions Research Foundation did not. The leading Canadian authority on addictions disputed the findings in Saskatchewan and challenged these advocates of psychedelic treatments to conduct trials with proper controls. Despite subsequent efforts to demonstrate that the success of psychedelic therapy relied on both medical and non-medical factors, the treatment failed to satisfy current medical methodology, embodied in controlled trials. By the late 1960s, LSD had become a popular recreational drug and gained media attention for its association with counter cultural youth, social disobedience and anti-authoritarian attitudes. All this served further to erode support for its clinical status.”

Author: Erika Dyck

Summary of Hitting highs at rock bottom

In the early 1950s, clinical researchers explored the therapeutic value of the psychedelic drug LSD with subjects suffering from alcoholism. The drug provided a profound and chemically-induced awakening or enlightenment that often led to sobriety.

In the first half of the twentieth century, alcohol addiction attracted medical attention. LSD treatments were introduced alongside an upsurge in interest in mitigating the consequences of excessive alcohol consumption.

During the 1950s, problem drinking moved into the medical arena, with new clinical studies and medical approaches offering compelling evidence that problem drinking had a genetic or biological explanation.

To access this content, you must purchase one of the following memberships: Pro Membership, Pro Membership Unlimited, Business Membership or Business Membership Unlimited. The membership will give you access to exclusive data, including summaries of psychedelic research papers, extended company info, and our member-only visualisations. Save yourself multiple hours each week by accessing Blossom’s resource library.