LSD art to raise funds for PTSD study trials
Scientists look into ways to ease suffering with hallucinogenic drugs
The swirling kaleidoscope of oranges and purples on framed sheets of “LSD” art at Mark Haden’s Kitsilano residence may cause a flashback, but it won’t get you high.
That’s because it’s blotter art, created to look like acid-soaked perforated paper, which is typically torn into tiny squares, or “hits,” popular with music festival trippers the world over — but sans LSD.
Haden is an addictions counsellor and adjunct professor at the University of B.C.’s School of Population and Public Health. He is also the chairman of MAPS Canada, the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies, and part of a group of scientists auctioning art next month in Vancouver to raise money for a Phase 3 trial looking at how MDMA can be used to treat post traumatic stress disorder.
“This (art) is completely legal,” says Haden, showing off one of the works to be auctioned, a rare collector’s item called Tantric Couple, signed by Alexander Shulgin. Considered the godfather of psychedelics, Shulgin is credited to introducing MDMA (ecstasy) to psychologists in the late 1970s for pharmaceutical use.
“This is the hidden psychedelic art of the 1960s. It’s beautiful ... It is not infused with LSD. So don’t eat them,” he says, with a laugh. “Just hang them on the walls.”
Artists since the mid ’60s have been creating elaborate images on the LSD blotter paper, depict- ing anything from abstract designs to music icons like Jerry Garcia, mystical creatures and, of course, flower power and free love.
Many never saw the sheets, as they were torn apart and gobbled up at festivals before anyone could admire the work. So, many of the artists began re-creating some of the psychedelic images that were used on the original sheets of acid, as well as making their own new designs, to sell as art.
Collecting LSD art has become hugely popular, with websites like eBay and blotterart.com selling the nostalgic paintings. While much of it is focused around one image, others are simple repeated patterns across the sheet, with far out names such as orange sunshine, green fractal, and purple fire.
Haden has four items to auction off at the fundraiser plus dozens more they selling for a flat price. Some of the artists are well known, while others are new to the scene. One of the pieces up for auction is signed by novelist Ken Kesey’s son Zane during the 2014 50th reunion of Kesey’s famous acid-fuelled bus trip across America.
Lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD, was first made by Albert Hofmann in Switzerland in 1938, and in the 1940s was used as a commercial medication for various psychiatric uses. However, LSD’s rise in popularity as a recreational drug in the 1960s led to its prohibition. It remains a controlled drug in Canada.
LSD has made a resurgence as a therapy to reduce anxiety in ter- minally ill patients, among other therapeutic uses.
In a 2014 randomized controlled trial, for instance, 12 terminally ill patients in Switzerland showed “significant reductions” in anxiety after LSD-assisted psychotherapy. An earlier study published in 2011 on end-of-life anxiety in 12 people with end-stage cancer found psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy (hallucinogenic from magic mushrooms) reduced anxiety and improved mood among participants compared to therapy sessions without it or with a placebo.
MDMA is also being studied as a treatment method.
Scientists at MAPS, headquartered in Santa Cruz, Calif., have been using MDMA along with intensive psychotherapy for about 100 people diagnosed with PTSD. They’ve wrapped up Phase 2 of the clinical trial and now plan to head into Phase 3.
Vancouver had six study participants; the others were in the United States, Spain, Switzerland and Israel. About one-third were military veterans.
Haden says the goal of the Phase 3 clinical trial is to have MDMA approved as a medication for PTSD by 2021 to be used as treatment by a psychiatrist or psychologist.
However, he estimates the Phase 3 trial will cost $1.5 million just for Vancouver’s portion of the global study, which is why they are fundraising in addition to donations.
The artwork will be sold at an evening auction and fundraiser at 4255 West 12th on May 19. Tickets are available at mapscanadablotterartfundraiser.eventbrite.com