title: Second thoughts on psychedelic drugs.
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.
authors.affiliation: City of Hope National Medical Center/Beckman Research Institute, Duarte, CA, USA.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Novak
mesh_terms: D017277:Drug Approval / Q000266:history; D006213:Hallucinogens / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000266:history* / Q000494:pharmacology; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006805:Human Experimentation / Q000266:history; D006801:Humans; D008238:Lysergic Acid Diethylamide / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000266:history / Q000494:pharmacology; D008635:Mescaline / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000266:history / Q000494:pharmacology; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration / Q000266:history
chemical_list: D006213:Hallucinogens; D008238:Lysergic Acid Diethylamide; D008635:Mescaline