LSD as alcoholism cure debated

One dose of the hallucinogenic drug LSD could help alcoholics give up drinking, an analysis of studies performed in Norway in the 1960s suggests. A study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology by Teri Krebs and Pal-Orjan Johansen of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology analyzed data from six trials conducted between 1966 and 1970 involving more than 500 patients. There was a "significant beneficial effect" on alcohol abuse that lasted several months after the drug was taken, the study said. The patients were all taking part in alcohol treatment programs, but some were given a single dose of LSD of between 210 and 800 micrograms. For the group of patients taking LSD, 59 percent showed reduced levels of alcohol misuse compared with 38 percent in the other group, the analysis found. "A single dose of LSD had a significant beneficial effect on alcohol misuse at the first reported follow-up assessment, which ranged from 1 to 12 months after discharge from each treatment program," Krebs and Johansen wrote. David Nutt, former drugs adviser for the British government, has previously called for the laws concerning illegal drugs to be relaxed to enable more research. "Curing alcohol dependency requires huge changes in the way you see yourself. That's what LSD does," he told the BBC. "Overall there is a big effect; show me another treatment with results as good. We've missed a trick here." "This is probably as good as anything we've got" for treating alcoholism, he said.