Pubdate: Fri, 09 Mar 2012
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Times Colonist
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/letters.html
Website: http://www.timescolonist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: Derek Abma, Postmedia News 
Referenced: Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) for alcoholism: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials: http://jop.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/03/08/0269881112439253.full.pdf+html

DROP ACID, KICK ALCOHOL DEPENDENCY

LSD Could Treat Addictions, Norwegian Study Suggests

Is dropping acid a reasonable way to deal with a drinking
problem?

Researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's
department of neuroscience think there's some merit to the idea.

They've gone through data from experiments conducted in the 1960s and
1970s and say there is evidence that subjects given LSD were more
likely to make progress in dealing with a harmful alcohol habit.

Their paper, published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, took a
broad look at six different experimental trials - including one in
Canada in 1966 - involving 536 subjects being treated for alcohol problems.

A key finding in the analysis was that, in the trials, 59 per cent of
subjects administered a single dose of LSD showed improvements in
their alcohol habits in follow up assessments months after treatment,
compared with 38 per cent of people who did not take the drug.

It's unclear why LSD might have helped people dealing with their
drinking, but one of the study's authors, Pal-Orjan Johansen, said:
"Many patients claim that they get significant insights into their
problems, that they get a new perspective on their problems and
motivation to solve them.

"It also seems that some people are prepared to be more self-accepting
and able to see negative consequences and happenings in their own lives."

The study found evidence that LSD had a positive influence on the
alcohol habits of people out of treatment for as much as six months,
but not on those who had been away from a program as long as one year.

Johansen said it's possible LSD could be beneficial in treating other
addictions as well, though more research is needed.

Asked whether treating alcohol dependency with LSD could result in
replacing one addiction with another, Johansen said: "Psychedelics are
not known to be toxic to the body or dependence-producing."

He said that while alcohol and drugs, such as heroin, help users
temporarily escape from negativity in their lives, a common view is
that LSD brings a person's problems more sharply into focus, creating
a much different experience than substances more often linked to addictions.

As to whether long-term psychological problems could arise from using
a mind-altering drug, such as LSD, to wean off alcohol, study
co-author Teri Krebs said: "Our study, this meta-analysis, is not
designed to answer that question."

The analysis did acknowledge negative experiences people can have on
LSD, often called "bad trips," but Johansen said: "Anxiety is not
dangerous in itself. None of the studies reported lasting
psychological problems in any of the LSD patients."
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.