LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS AND BEER
A study recently presented in the Journal of Psychopharmacology stated that there was a significant breakthrough in the treatment of alcoholism after lengthy analysis of studies performed in the 1960’s. And what took place in these six trials with over 500 patients? Well, LSD of course. It was the Sixties after all.
Patients were given a single dose of LSD and it was shown to have had a “significant and beneficial effect” on alcohol consumption – yeah, cause they were too damn high to find the beer cooler! Okay, let’s look at this seriously for a moment, cause I’m all for medical breakthroughs, no matter what helps us get there. Apparently, the class A drug appears to work by blocking serotonin in the brain (that serotonin is such a trouble maker), which controls a whole host of our needs and desires. And what's more, the patients in the this study that were taking the LSD showed a 59% reduction rate in alcohol misuse compared to their placebo counterparts.
Apparently these beneficial affects of alcohol abstinence lasted for six months, but then petered off after a year - I assume that's when their brain finally stopped hallucinating that their mothers had morphed into Margaret Thatcher wearing a caftan singing Peace Train. The authors of this report stated that perhaps more regular doses might lead to a sustained benefit. Yeah, fine people are not drinking, but they are potentially becoming total freaking acidheads? Are they not? I’m not sure x is better than y in this example.
Professor David Nutt, who was actually fired as the UK government drug’s advisor (for an acid dependency – just kidding!) had advocated more lenient laws regarding illegal drugs for research purposes. As he says, “Curing alcohol dependency requires huge changes in the way you see yourself. That’s what LSD does.” You’re damn right it does. I’ve never taken LSD but when I did partake of some magic mushrooms back in the day (only a few times Mom. Sorry), I was convinced a snow capped mountain was breathing and laughing at me and my face was melting off. So I can only imagine that being high on LSD would make me view life a bit differently, not to mention forget all about hightailing it to the nearest liquor store.
But hey, I’m all about out of the box thinking. If there is a possibility of tackling the alcohol dependence epidemic with a little peace, love and hallucinations, perhaps it’s worth a shot. People would be a lot more entertaining to watch tripping on acid than drunk; drunk always leads to vomit, let’s be honest, and that’s just no picnic to watch, no matter how you slice it.
Happy Monday all!