Lysergographic

“Turn on, Tune in, Drop out…” 

Yet another twist-of-fate article: the illustrated history of LSD. Above is the first 20%, which I felt held aesthetic merit and I wanted to throw it out there for you guys to see. The cartoon in its entirety is called “Chemical Salvation?” and it’s about entheogens and their potential use in the psycho-medical industry.  I’m really not here to champion any causes, so if you want to read the rest of the comic it’s here, which is also my site because this way you can view it in a convenient vertical format instead of the irritating manner in which the original website has it laid out.

The comic was commissioned by MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies) which is currently developing research on the use of LSD and ’shrooms to treat cluster headaches. Some of you may recall Dr. House self-medicating a self-induced migraine with acid. (He said Cameron sounded “blue.”) This clip shows him treating a patient’s cluster headache with ’shrooms.

MAPS details studies and plans for studies on their website, and encourage private donations. However, you don’t just donate money to The Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies: you can choose what you’re paying for. “Sponsor one LSD Experimental Session, all associate costs – $7,000; One LSD Experimental Session, therapist time only – $2,300 … One Non-Drug Psychotherapy Session – $225; Medical Exam, each subject – $150″ (MAPS, 2008).

They’re also dedicated to research involving psychedelics as treatment for alcohol and cigarette addiction. One study in Saskatchewan (and others following) showed that after one trip alcoholics found the resolve to stop drinking. Apparently, they had seen God or something and came away from their psychedelic experience with faith and resolve that they could  stay sober, and that, though it may be difficult, it was totally worth it. Ditto smoking, I guess. (Then again, I’ve heard of PCP (phencycledine phosphate, a dissociative & hallucinogen) being used to treat heroine addiction due to its trippy and anaesthetic properties helping one get through withdrawal, so maybe the smoking cessation therapy is involving psilocybin instead of lysergic acid.) 

However, in my opinion the coolest thing about LSD is, by and far, the CIA research into its use as a truth serum/brainwashing agent. The declassified documents can be found here in full. …And by “in full” I mean what wasn’t destroyed in the fifties. The entire thing is very difficult to read, and what you can make out pretty much just describes how other stuff was destroyed, how anyone asked would deny any knowledge of the project, and how important it is to keep it all hush-hush. I’m going to assume that’s because A) test subjects had no idea what they were in for and severely suffere psychologically and B) it completely, totally, and utterly failed.

It’s still pretty neat to read, though. Kinda like good ol’ Indiana Jones, ya know? Reminds you of days when the world was exciting and full of mystery and intrigue.