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Lysergic acid diethylamide was termed a "problem child" by the man who discovered his hallucinogenic properties in 1943: at the age of 75, the drug known as the name of LSD may well change the image.
The late Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann heard about the psychedelic effects of LSD when he inadvertently took a small dose while he was working in the lab for the Sandoz pharmaceutical company.
He wanted the drug to be the subject of medical research, convinced that it could be a valuable psychiatric tool and provide a better understanding of human consciousness.
But in the 1960s, LSD became synonymous with counter-culture and anti-authority demonstrations.
By the early 1970s, he had been widely criminalized in the West, prompting Hofmann to publish his 1979 memoir, "LSD: My Problem Child."
The book, in which Hofmann sought to reaffirm the potential medical benefits of LSD, is the subject of an exhibition at the Swiss National Library of Bern, capital of Switzerland, to mark the 75th anniversary of its discovery.
Hofmann died in 2008 at the age of 102, but he probably would have been delighted by a series of recent developments.
After decades of medical expulsion, LSD has aroused renewed clinical interest and it has been proven that it can help treat anxiety and depression.
Hofmann was hoping for such developments at the time of writing "My Problem Child".
"If we can better understand how to use it, in meditation-related medical practice and the ability of LSD to promote visionary experiences under certain circumstances, then I think this" problem child "could become a prodigy "he wrote.
– Experimental research –
He had discovered LSD by working with a fungus called ergot, which attacks cereal grains such as rye and has been used for a variety of medical purposes. At the time, Sandoz used it to make migraine medications.
Unknowingly, Hofmann created LSD by combining the main active agent of ergot (lysergic acid) with diethylamide. After accidentally ingesting a trace of LSD, he began to feel strange and then deliberately took larger amounts to better understand the effects of the drug.
In a best-selling book published in May under the title "How to Change Your Mind," the renowned American author Michael Pollan notes that LSD was the subject of much experimental research in the 1950s and 1960s and has aroused the interest of great psychiatrists.
But the situation has changed.
"When Hofmann published his book in 1979, LSD was completely banned and there was no research," said Hannes Mangold, curator of the National Library exhibition "Problem Child LSD". is 75 years old ".
"What's interesting is that for 10-15 years, research has been re-authorized and LSD as a drug has reappeared."
– 1950s crowdsourcing & # 39; –
The multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), based in California, Santa Cruz, is a non-profit organization that has been instrumental in driving the new wave of research.
MAPS receives mainly private funding from large and small donors to support medical research on controlled substances.
Brad Burge, director of strategic communications at MAPS, told AFP that the organization had raised nearly $ 30 million (26 million euros) for further research in a Phase II study on LSD which, he said, revealed positive indications as to the efficacy of the anxiety medication.
MAPS commissioned Swiss psychiatrist Peter Gasser to conduct the phase II study, published in 2014, which was the first controlled study on LSD for more than four decades.
"We have sort of closed the loop in Switzerland," said Burge.
He stated that in the early years following Hofmann's discovery, Sandoz had sent lots of LSD to any interested researcher, in the hope that someone would set a clear and marketable goal for the drug.
"It was crowdsourcing in the 1950s," Burge said.
– Richard Nixon –
In 1970, the administration of the former President of the United States, Richard Nixon, classified LSD as a narcotic "Schedule 1," a classification given to drugs that Washington considers extremely dangerous and without any medical benefit.
MAPS and others argued that the decision was more policy-based than public health, because Nixon wanted to suppress various groups with whom LSD was linked – accurately or otherwise – with hippies and opponents of the drug. Vietnam War.
However, the designation under Schedule 1 has the effect of disrupting serious LSD research both in the United States and among foreign laboratories concerned with US retaliation, Burge said.
Mangold told AFP that the landscape of LSD research has been dormant for nearly four decades and that it began to change after a conference held in 2006 in Basel, Switzerland, to mark the 100th anniversary of Hofmann.
– A 'back'
Scientists from many countries have left the Basel Symposium, determined to pursue further research and have asked their regulatory authorities for permission to work with LSD, Mangold said.
Burge said one of the key findings from the Phase II MAPS study was that none of the 12 patients who participated had an adverse event.
Given the risks associated with taking a powerful psychotropic drug in an unsupervised setting, it was essential to prove that LSD could be safely administered by health professionals to advance research, did it not? -he declares.
In this study, Gasser focused on patients with life-threatening illnesses who participated in LSD-assisted psychotherapy, where they were guided to cope with the anguishes and painful experiences they experienced.
The qualitative results of the study showed that participants experienced a reduction in anxiety, but that further research was needed to define the LSD model medical uses.
"It is still early, but it is now conceivable that LSD will come back as (therapeutic) medicine," Mangold said.
In Switzerland, an exhibition examines the evolution of LSD since the discovery of its hallucinogenic properties 75 years ago
The late Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann learned the psychedelic effects of LSD by inadvertently taking a small dose while he was working in the laboratory for the pharmaceutical company Sandoz
Hofmann discovered LSD by working with a fungus called ergot, which attacks cereal grains such as rye and has already been used for various medical purposes.
The California-based multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) has been at the forefront of researching a new wave of LSD research.
By the early 1970s, LSD had been widely criminalized in the West
Hannes Mangold, curator of the National Library's exhibition on LSD at the age of 75, said that "in the last 10 to 15 years, research has again been authorized and that LSD in as a drug has resurfaced "
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