During the summer of 1988, a musical concert experience called Acid House arrived on the cultural scene in many British cities. The media created a frenzy of misinformation in reporting about the latest drug craze. Acid House music was then banned from the pop music charts, radio and television, and retail outlets. Some psychoactive substances have been bought, sold, and consumed at Acid House...
This article reviews 24 studies on the benefits of Transcendental Meditation (TM) in treating and preventing misuse of chemical substances. Studies cover noninstitutionalized users, participants in treatment programs, and prisoners with histories of heavy use. All the studies showed positive effects of the TM program. Some of the survey-type studies were unable to exclude the possibility of...
The authors provide a comprehensive review of the current phencylidine literature in exploring the history, clinical effects, diagnostic criteria, and treatment of PCP abuse. Seventy-one references are cited.
This paper examines the research evidence relating sustained use of marijuana to chronic cerebral impairment. Evidence from both American and cross-cultural studies is reviewed, with a particular emphasis on methodological problems in the research. The focus of this paper is on neurological findings while another paper focuses on neuropsychological findings. On the basis of available research,...
Personality, attitude, and hallucinogenic drug use data were obtained from 298 male and female adult members of labor unions. Multiple regression and canonical correlation analyses of drug use, personality, and attitude data revealed that: the use of hallucinogens was significantly related to needs for novel or unconventional experiences and negative attitudes toward conventionally defined...
The ego state experienced by chronic users of cocaine is described in terms of sensorimotor functioning, cognitive functioning, emotionality, spatiality , temporality , causality, and materiality . At low use levels the state is pleasurable, but at high levels fear, anxiety, and paranoia increase, and ultimately reality contact breaks down. Q-sort, Semantic Differential, and other data suggest...
This report compares data on some personality characteristics and prior drug experiences of 60 volunteer young men with their subjective psychological responses while inhaling 40% nitrous oxide-oxygen mixtures for 20 min in a naturalistic laboratory setting. A rather specific trait-openness to "internal," reverie-type experiences-was very significantly related to a wide variety of drug...
The scientific literature on PCP (phencyclidine) was reviewed with a view to determining whether or not current knowledge coincides with the picture of PCP presented by the popular media. The media portray PCP as an insidious drug whose use has reached almost epidemic proportions among American youth. Serious adverse reactions, including psychosis and violent behavior, are seen as common if not...
Phencyclidine (PCP) is a popular illicit drug often misrepresented as some other hallucinogenic substance and distributed in widely varying dosage forms and strengths. Users of hallucinogenic drugs may present with unintentional PCP overdoses. Toxicological laboratory analyses are essential to establish the diagnosis. In nine admitted overdose patients, the consciousness level ranged from alert...
A review of the literature of multiple drug abuse involving two or more drug categories where at least one is a nonopiate, nonalcoholic substance (MDA NONA) suggested the possibility that sedative-hypnotics were the culpable agent for neuropsychological deficits in this group. Individually, amphetamines and hallucinogens, primarily LSD, have been associated with long-term psychological...
A number of well-controlled studies have indicated that hallucinogen-assisted psychotherapy is both safe and effective. Following an historical overview, psycholytic and psychedelic therapy approaches are reviewed in terms of rationale, technique, applications, and outcomes. A new theoretical approach stemming from a learning orientation is offered as a conceptual basis for beneficial use of...
In recent years the general argument has been advanced that the effects of psychoactive drug use on human beings depend as much on the context of use as on the inherent characteristics of the drug itself. Two variations on this general theme have been the "Weil thesis" and the "Lindesmith thesis." The former asserts that drug-induced alterations of consciousness are influenced significantly by...
Adult male volunteers with a prior history of either moderate (N = 12) or heavy (N = 14) marijuana use were systematically observed before, during, and after a 21-day period of free access to marijuana cigarettes. Data relevant to social interaction and recreational preferences were collected at hourly intervals. Moderate users consumed an average of 2.6 cigarettes per day and showed both acute...
Using mailed questionnaires, the Transcendental Meditation program was investigated as an approach to the secondary prevention of substance dependence. Significant differences were found between a random sample of meditators and matched control subjects in usage levels and percentage of users for almost all legal and illegal drugs. Meditators had used more prescribed psychoactive medications...
Judgments regarding various personality traits were made on 49 subjects and related to frequency of LSD use. Frequency of use was negatively related to understanding of self and others, to degree of consistency between professed values and behavior, and to a sense of ability to control one's life. No differences were found between various frequency of use groups in terms of general academic and...
. This pilot study evaluated data accumulated in the medical charts of patients at the NPI-UCLA who had been hospitalized because of psychiatric disorders connected with LSD use, between March 1965 and March 1967. We explored the characteristics of the patients and families by reviewing (1) demographic data, (2) patient drug history, (3) information about family interaction, and (4) the...