paulinnc wrote:Bill Wilson, co-founder of AA, participated in some LSD experiments in the 50's and he found that it wasn't quite right for him. If my memory serves me, I think Bill was seeking treatment for very severe depression. That particular event is mentioned in a book about the history of AA, I can't recall the title though.
The book about Bill Wison's experience was Pass It On. One of the studies cited in the paper was done by Humphrey Osmond, the same person that turned on Bill W. There is only anecdotes about how long Bill experimented with LSD, or why he ultimately abandoned that avenue. It's said to have been between 2 and 6 years and one of the reasons for renouncing it as a possible aid for suffering alcoholics was the fact that it wasn't in line with the total abstinence philosophy of AA. Bill Wilson was looking for something that would accelerate the "spiritual awakening" portion of the program and he believed that hallucinogens might be the answer.
ugly rumor wrote:The original thread was that LSD is not a cure for alcoholism, in the sense that you take a tab or two and are cured, but that it was used with a high success rate by medical clinics to aid alcoholics in achieving sobriety. It is not like taking aspirin for a cold. Like most things that are not understood, it should be avoided by those who don't "get it".Link to the actual paper:
http://jop.sagepub.com/content/early/20 ... 3.full.pdf
This is right on the mark, the doses used in the studies that were analyzed ranged from 210 to 800ug, the median average was 500ug. The median average dose of commonly available blotter is 50ug.
http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd ... m_1987.pdf
I'm sure that a WHOLE debate could erupt about individual blotter dosage amounts but the DEA has been conducting these studies for 40 years and the data has been pretty much consistent over time. The studies in the paper are not like taking a hit but more like a ten strip.
Mr.Burns wrote: LSD never killed anyone. Cannabis never killed anyone. If these things scare you, take a Valium.Of the 3 drugs listed, the valium has the highest probability to result in an accidental fatality. Benzo's are bad shit PERIOD!
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All of the studies referenced used a screening process to eliminate people with previous psychological issues, this simply doesn't happen when someone scores tabs at a show. It's a simple fact that the people that LSD "breaks" were already cracked and LSD was the catalyst to break them. Any number of different traumatic events could have broken them in time.