LSD before Leary: Sidney Cohen's Critique of 1950s Psychedelic Drug Research

In 1962 Sidney Cohen issued the first medical warning about the dangers of LSD. Originally introduced to the United States in 1949 as a psychotomimetic drug that could model psychosis, LSD was redefined in the mid-1950s by Southern California intellectuals as a psychedelic capable of producing mystical enlightenment. Despite being authorized only for experimental use, psychiatrists and psychologists by the late 1950s were using it to treat neuroses and alcoholism and to enhance creativity. Cohen's 1960 study had concluded LSD was safe in supervised medical settings, but by 1962 his concerns over popularization, nonmedical use, black market LSD, and patient harm led him to warn of its dangers. The subsequent government crackdown on LSD preceded the 1960s drug movement and was driven by medical, not social, concerns.

Study at a glance

Abstract

In 1962 Sidney Cohen presented the medical community with its first warning about the dangers of the drug LSD. LSD had arrived in the United States in 1949 and was originally perceived as a psychotomimetic capable of producing a model psychosis. But in the mid 1950s intellectuals in Southern California redefined LSD as a psychedelic capable of producing mystical enlightenment. Though LSD was an investigational drug, authorized only for experimental use, by the late 1950s psychiatrists and psychologists were administering it to cure neuroses and alcoholism and to enhance creativity. Cohen's 1960 study of LSD effects concluded that the drug was safe if given in a supervised medical setting, but by 1962 his concern about popularization, nonmedical use, black market LSD, and patients harmed by the drug led him to warn that the spread of LSD was dangerous. The subsequent government crackdown and regulation of LSD preceded the 1960s drug movement and was prompted by medical, not social, concerns.