Psychedelic drugs revisited

How To Change Your Mind By Michael Pollan, PenguinRandom House, $38

.. .. .. .. .. ..

It was once the most feared and demonised acronym in the vernacular of most first world countries — LSD. Yet computer whizzes in Silicon Valley say it improves their thinking and enhances creativity. Others say it lifts depression. And last month an investigation began into whether microdosing with LSD really does have benefits.

It has become popular in the Californian digital tech world. Some take a tiny amount — about one-fifth of a tab — one or more days a week as part of their workday routine to make them more focused. The trial experiment being conducted by the Beckley Foundation should give us the answers.

These developments make Michael Pollan’s book, sub-titled The New Science of Psychedelics, welcome and timely. LSD is not the only one. The other is psilocybin, produced by the so-called “magic” mushrooms.

These had been used by the indigenous peoples of Mexico and Central America for hundreds of years as a sacrament until brutally suppressed by the Roman Catholic Church after the Spanish conquest.

In the 1950s and early 1960s those in the psychiatric establishment regarded these two products as miracle drugs, but then came a brutal backlash. Adopted by the counterculture youth, a stream of stories of bad trips surfaced, including suicides and aberrant behaviour. Presumably caused by unsupervised overdosing.

Both were banned, and little was heard of them until fairly recently when once again there was excitement about their possible health and psychiatric benefits. That optimism continues, although there is a realisation that there are many obstacles to be overcome before there is acceptance of this.

The author, a highly respected and awarded journalist, has been on several “trips” himself, so speaks with authority. The book is scrupulously researched, and covers not just history but interviews with all those involved in research and development. It is fascinating reading, and a very important book.

—