FDA Approves Clinical Use of LSD for Medical Research: How Can It Help?

FDA Approves Clinical Use of LSD for Medical Research: How Can It Help?

That’s right, you read that correctly. The FDA has officially approved the use of hallucinogenic drugs for medical research. We can imagine students of MSN programs in Ohio would have been reeling from the announcement despite the recent success in LSD trials for anxiety in their state. It can sound really weird to hear that the major drug approval body in America has approved this, after all, LSD is the drug that hippies take, right? People pass around the peace pipe and get high and go on vision quests while listening to slow, ambient music, right?

Well, aside from the fact that a lot of that preamble is based on archaic, decades-old stereotypes that are not only overly simplistic but inherently incorrect, let’s spend some time to familiarize ourselves with LSD, and what the FDA approval means, shall we?

What is LSD?

LSD is a hallucinogenic drug, with the chemical name lysergic acid diethylamide. It is a street drug that can come as a liquid, powder, tablet, or capsule, though it usually comes as a soaked square of blotter paper. Its street names include Blotter Acid, blotter, acid, Blue Cheer, electric Kool-Aid, hits, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Mellow Yellow, Purple Haze, Sugar Cubes, Sunshine Tabs, and Window Pane.

Taking a hit of LSD produces several symptoms, however most famous is the LSD “trip,” whereby the brain is affected and hallucinations that alter the taker’s sense of reality are disturbed during the active period of the drug’s effects. The resultant hallucinations can be either peaceful or pleasant (a “good” trip) or frightening and anxiety-inducing (a “bad” trip.)

An attractive quality to LSD among those who take it with some form of regularity is so-called “ego death,” the state in which a person’s sense of “self” dissipates, though this can present a risk as some people have difficulty rebuilding their identity after the drug wears off.

LSD is generally taken by placing a small tab of blotter paper soaked in liquid LSD on the tongue. It has no color or odor but can have a slightly bitter taste.

Why the FDA Approved the Testing of LSD for Medical Use

To understand why the FDA has approved LSD for medical use, we first need to understand some basic information about chemistry and chemical compounds. In chemistry, there are three kinds of compounds, acids, bases, and salts. An acid is a chemical substance that donates hydrogen ions when dissolved in water, bases react chemically with acids and produce salts and hydroxide ions in water, while salts are ionic substances that occur when an acid and a base neutralize each other chemically.

 

As you may notice, LSD is an acid (lysergic acid diethylamide). What has been passed for medical trial by the FDA isn’t pure, hallucinogenic LSD, but rather a chemically optimized form of the drug called MM120. MM120 is considered a “tartrate salt,” in other words it is a different form of chemical compound, and while the trials with the chemical are still ongoing, results have so far been very consistent and positive.

It also isn’t the first time that a psychedelic, hallucinogenic drug has found beneficial uses in medicine. Psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and MDMA (ecstasy) received breakthrough therapy designation from the FDA in March this year.

It can sound weird when we hear that these drugs are being investigated (and in the early stages of use) about mental health. After all, as a society, we have always been taught that these drugs are inherently harmful and only used by malcontents. However, perhaps their usefulness in treating severe mental disorders isn’t such a difficult premise to grasp.

If we think about the core effect of these chemical compounds, these drugs ultimately allow people to briefly enter an alternative state of mind. Many LSD advocates and experienced users will speak as to the many benefits of LSD use can bring. Opened mental pathways, new outlooks on life, a letting go of stress and the gaining of a bigger-picture mentality have all been attributed to LSD use. Why should it be so surprising that a drug famous for altering states of mind, often to a brighter place, would be an effective treatment in altering the state of mind in a brain that is often despondent, sad, panicked, or paranoid?

Although the recreational use of LSD is prohibited, it appears that it and other hallucinogenics may be the key to answering several major mental health problems. These drugs have directly improved the lives of people living with major depressive disorder, anxiety, PTSD and more. Ultimately, any fears you may have that the FDA has been taken over by a bunch of hippie communist swine can be allayed. It’s all very legitimate, very scientific, and very interesting.

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