* Used in religious ceremonies by Amazonian indigenous populations and for therapeutic purposes by witch doctors
* 1930s: used as a sacrament bi-monthly in the União do Vegetal, Santo Daime, and Barquinha churches in Brazil

Grinnell College

- Ayahuasca use and research pre-1970
- LSD use and research pre-1970
- Psilocybin use and research pre-1970
- MDMA use and research pre-1970


Psychedelic research before the War on Drugs

Carhart-Harris, R. L., & Goodwin, G. M. (2017). The Therapeutic Potential of Psychedelic Drugs: Past, Present, and Future. Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 42(11), 2105–2113. https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2017.84

Dyck E. (2015). LSD: a new treatment emerging from the past. CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 187(14), 1079–1080. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.141358

Hamill, J., Hallak, J., Dursun, S. M., & Baker, G. (2019). Ayahuasca: Psychological and Physiologic Effects, Pharmacology and Potential Uses in Addiction and Mental Illness. Current neuropharmacology, 17(2), 108–128. https://doi.org/10.2174/1570159X16666180125095902

Johns Hopkins Center for psychedelic and Consciousness Research. Johns Hopkins Medicine. (n.d.). https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/psychiatry/research/psychedelics-research 

NIDA. 2021, April 13. What is the history of MDMA?. Retrieved from https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/mdma-ecstasy-abuse/what-is-the-history-of-mdma on 2023, November 3

Nuwer, R. (2023, September 14). MDMA therapy inches closer to approval. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/14/health/mdma-ptsd-psychedelics.html

References for Psychedelic research before the War on Drugs

Ayahuasca use and research pre-1970

* 1958: Synthesized from "magic mushrooms" by Albert Hoffmann
* 1958-1969: used to treat non-psychotic mental disorders

Psilocybin use and research pre-1970

- Original name: Methylsafrylaminc
- 1970-1985: gained following in the psychiatric community
- 1985: placed under an emergency ban by the FDA

MDMA use and treatment pre-ban

-  1943: Albert Hofmann (Swiss chemist) first synthesized LSD
- 1953: end of 1960s: John Smythies and Humphrey Osmond used LSD to treat over 2,000 alcoholics in Saskatchewan, Canada. 40-40% of their patients did not relapse one year after their LSD treatment
- 1952: Ronald Sandison used LSD to treat patients in addition to psychotherapy; he obtained results similar to Smythies and Osmond's trials
- 1960s: LSD became widely used in "hippy" culture

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