Psychiatry in Modern Psychedelia

Modern scientists are studying hallucinogens’ potential to help smokers kick the habit, to undo addictions to drugs and alcohol, to cope with cluster headaches and depression, and to deal with obsessive-compulsive and post-traumatic stress disorders. 

Psilocybin, while not addictive, remains a taboo everywhere. Researchers need a dispensation from the Food and Drug Administration, a licensing from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the approval of professional boards. 

If anything, today’s scientists want to be seen as the anti-Learys. "Anti-Leary" is the term used by Dr. Charles Grob to describe the outlook he shares with other members of the new professional class of psychedelic researchers. This attitude is echoed elsewhere by some of the earliest and most influential proponents of legitimized psychedelic research, who invoke the dangers of "unsupervised" and "uncontrolled" use of psychedelics, and lament the "misuse and improper use" that, in their judgment, characterized the "drug culture" of the 1960s and 70s. Their experiments bear no resemblance to the freestyle acid-dropping of the ’60s. Patients are screened and prepped on what they may expect, and then closely monitored.

http://nyti.ms/23TmwIW

The video is part of a documentary series presented by The New York Times. The video project was started with a grant from Christopher Buck. Retro Report has a staff of 13 journalists and 10 contributors led by Kyra Darnton. It is a nonprofit video news organization that aims to provide a thoughtful counterweight to today’s 24/7 news cycle. Previous episodes are at nytimes.com/retroreport. To suggest ideas for future reports, email retroreport@nytimes.com.