What is the history of psychedelics?

 

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To answer this question, we have to go back a few thousand years. Algerian cave drawings from 5000 BCE depicting shamans holding mushrooms are believed to be among the first recorded evidence of psychedelic use.¹ And Peyote buttons dating back to 3700 BCE were discovered in the Shamula Caves area of present-day Texas where Native Americans were known to carve sculptures that worshiped the mescaline-containing cacti. Centuries later, the work of pioneering scientists like Arthur Heffter, who purified mescaline from peyote in 1897, and Anton Köllisch who first synthesized MDMA in Germany in 1912, would advance the field of psychedelics.

Many consider Albert Hofmann’s synthesis of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25) in 1938 to be the event that marked the start of modern psychedelic research.² A chemist at a Swiss pharmaceutical company, Hofmann was tasked with isolating, purifying, and synthesizing the active compounds from medicinal plants for pharmaceutical development.³ His research ended when others at the company showed little interest in his work. Five years later, in 1943, Hofmann returned to the compounds for further study, during which time he inadvertently dosed himself and discovered the psychedelic effects of LSD.

In the 1970s, as LSD and psilocybin became closely linked to the anti-war movement and the counterculture, President Richard Nixon declared a War on Drugs and signed into law the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, bringing an end to scientific studies of psychedelics.⁴ The law placed all drugs into one of five schedules. LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, cannabis, and DMT were classified as Schedule I drugs. MDMA was added to the Schedule I list in 1985.

Government interventions throughout the 1970s and ’80s restricted psychedelic research, despite evidence of the limited medical risks and therapeutic potential of psychedelics.⁵ In fact, it was not until 1990, when Rick Strassman conducted his DMT study involving 60 participants at the University of New Mexico that scientists began to venture back into this field of research.⁶ Since then, numerous studies have taken place, including clinical trials with MDMA-assisted therapy for treatment of PTSD, alcoholism, and social anxiety, and with psilocybin for depression and substance dependence.⁷ Other studies have explored the impact that psychedelics have on the nervous system as well as their ability to “catalyze spiritual or mystical experiences” and inspire creativity.⁸