Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out, Do Research

LSD to treat alcoholism? Ayahuasca to treat drug addiction? Sounds pretty trippy! But, if you've actually done them (and not just heard urban legends about people jumping out of windows or whatever), you know that it isn't that far-fetched. I can imagine that LSD doesn't cure alcoholism, so much as put people in the frame of mind to comprehend the disease and a positive path to take out of it. But, unlike Timothy Leary, I definitely don't think drugs are for everyone. But, I'd like to see something like the MacArthur grant to give LSD to people who have created works of genius in their particular fields. Maybe call it "The McArthur Park Grant"! Also, I'd like to know the effects of LSD on clinical depression. The assumption that a depressed person would necessarily have a bad trip hasn't been true in my experience, which admittedly was probably a decade or so ago.

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