Then (1987), Storming Heaven
The Psychedelic Research Interruption: 1968-2018
Stevens documented the collapse of the most promising psychiatric research program of the postwar era, LSD-assisted therapy, through a combination of countercultural misuse and political prohibition. He ended the book in 1968.
confirmed
The interruption lasted approximately fifty years. The revival began with Grob et al.'s 2011 psilocybin study at Harbor-UCLA, followed by the 2016 NYU and Johns Hopkins studies. As of 2025: psilocybin is in Phase 3 trials for TRD and MDD in the US and EU; MDMA-assisted therapy completed Phase 3 for PTSD (denied FDA approval 2024 due to trial design concerns, not efficacy); LSD-assisted therapy is in Phase 2 in Switzerland, Canada, and the UK; Australia approved psilocybin and MDMA for clinical use in 2023. The Storming Heaven story has a next chapter.
Sources
- Stevens, Storming Heaven (1987)
- Davis et al., JAMA Psychiatry (2021)
- TGA Australia Decision (2023)