Acid Testing
While the medical benefits of marijuana are well-known, most other illegal drugs have not received the same attention. One exception, recently, is LSD. Before it was outlawed in the United States in the 1960s, LSD and psilocybin, a chemical cousin, was the subject of enormous amounts of research aimed at understanding and treating mental illness.
Now the synthetic drug is enjoying a revival, spurred most recently by the acquisition of Timothy Leary's papers by the New York Public Library. Leary, a Harvard research psychologist, studied and later advocated for LSD and psychedelics in general.
His archives will be made available in about two years, but research is ongoing now. A Johns Hopkins University biologist recently discovered that psilocybin, in proper doses, can reduce anxiety. Similar benefits are being claimed for LSD, which scientists are hoping may be useful in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder.