Then (1954-1960), Moksha: Letters of Huxley & Osmond
LSD as Alcoholism Treatment: Hoffer-Osmond Results
Hoffer, Osmond and colleagues treated many alcoholic patients with LSD in Saskatchewan and reported that roughly half improved or stopped drinking, a result they attributed to the peak experience the drug could produce.
contested
A 2012 meta-analysis of six randomized trials from the 1960s and 1970s, run at several centers (Krebs & Johansen, J. Psychopharmacol.), found LSD associated with a significant reduction in alcohol misuse, clearest at the earlier follow-ups. Psilocybin for alcohol use disorder showed promising results in a 2022 RCT at NYU (Bogenschutz et al., JAMA Psychiatry), the first such trial since prohibition. As of 2025, MAPS-affiliated researchers are running Phase 2 trials of psilocybin for AUD. The original Saskatchewan figures were uncontrolled; the later randomized evidence supports a smaller but real effect.
Sources
- Hoffer & Osmond, J. Mental Sci. (1961) [Source not found; under review]
- Krebs & Johansen, J. Psychopharmacol. (2012)
- Bogenschutz et al., JAMA Psychiatry (2022)
- Chwelos, Blewett, Smith & Hoffer, Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol (1959)