Second thoughts on psychedelic drugs.
S J Novak
Endeavour 1998 DOI: 10.1016/s0160-9327(98)01096-5 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that serious medical concerns about psychedelics arose before the 1960s backlash, based on a review of Sidney Cohen's private and published writings, complicating the view that early experimentation demonstrated their safety. |
Abstract
Psychedelic drugs are making a comeback. Proponents of psychedelics point to the widespread medical experimentation with mescaline and lysergic acid diethylamide-125 (LSD) in the 1950s as proof of their safety and efficacy. However, a review of the private and published writings of Sidney Cohen, MD, who conducted the first study of the safety of psychedelics, reveals that serious medical concerns about psychedelics arose before the public backlash against the drugs in the 1960s. The story of psychedelic research is a reminder of the inevitable complications involved in testing drugs on human subjects.
Citations in the library
Cited by 5
- Psychedelics and the essential importance of context. Journal of Psychopharmacology February 15, 2018
- Waves of the Unconscious: The Neurophysiology ofDreamlikePhenomena and Its Implications for the Psychodynamic Model of the Mind Neuropsychoanalysis 2007
- Prohibited or regulated? LSD psychotherapy and the United States Food and Drug Administration History of Psychiatry May 19, 2016
- Research ethics aspects of experimentation with LSD on human subjects: a historical and ethical review. Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy June 1, 2019
- Considerations on the Construction, Timing, and Consequences of the Psychedelic Renaissance Contemporary Drug Problems June 9, 2025
Cites 4
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- LSD before Leary: Sidney Cohen's Critique of 1950s Psychedelic Drug Research Isis March 1, 1997
- Complications Associated with Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD-25) JAMA July 14, 1962
- LSD: The Varieties of Psychotic Experience Journal of Psychoactive Drugs October 1, 1985