* 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

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

LSD use and treatment pre-ban

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


Grinnell College

- Psychedelic research before the War on Drugs
- Psychedelic research after the War on Drugs

Psychedelic Treatment and the War on Drugs

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

Following the War on Drugs, psychedelic research stalled. It was not until 2000 that regulatory approval was acquired to resume psychedelic research, and not until 2006 that interest in psychedelic research was properly renewed.

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