First trial of LSD as medicine in 40 years shows promise - latimes.com

First trial of LSD as medicine in 40 years shows promise - latimes.com: Research on the therapeutic potential of other drugs known for their popularity on the street -- including the psychoactive agent in psilocybin mushrooms and MDMA, or Ecstasy -- also is getting the federal government's go-ahead. In addition to several studies using MDMA along with psychotherapy for treatment of end-of-life anxiety, the drug is under study -- and has shown promise -- as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

No flashbacks or other prolonged effects were observed, and only six adverse events -- including illusions, emotional distress, and feeling cold or abnormal -- were reported by subjects during their experience, but those were resolved quickly as the drug's effects wore off.

In a way, the pilot trial was a return of LSD to its homeland. Discovered in 1938 in Basel by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann of Sandoz Laboratories, LSD's psychoactive effects were quickly put to use by psychiatrists treating alcohol dependence, psychosomatic disorders and neurosis. This time, the capsules containing the experimental medication were made up at Bichsel Labs in Interlaken, Switzerland.