Then (1970), Storming Heaven
Psychedelic Prohibition: What the Evidence Actually Showed
LSD and other psychedelics were placed in Schedule I in 1970 as substances with "no accepted medical use" and "high potential for abuse." The Nixon administration and congressional testimony described them as highly dangerous with no therapeutic value.
Refuted by Evidence
The Cambridge HPS dissertation (2007) documented that 40,000+ patients received LSD therapy in the 1950s-70s with promising outcomes. The Schedule I classification was based on inadequate evidence and driven by political rather than pharmacological reasoning. Current Phase 2/3 clinical trials at Johns Hopkins, NYU, Imperial College, and MAPS show significant therapeutic efficacy for depression, PTSD, addiction, and anxiety in terminal illness. David Nichols (2016): no established physiological lethal dose for classical psychedelics.
Sources
- Medical History of Psychedelic Drugs, Cambridge HPS (2007) [Source not found; under review]
- Nichols, Pharmacological Reviews (2016)
- Marlan, Beyond Cannabis (2019)