Scientific American vs. the War on Drugs

The editors of Scientific American have called for an end to the federal government's prohibition against psychoactive drug research. They pointed out that LSD, MDMA (aka Ecstasy), psilocybin and cannabis all “had their origins in the medical pharmacopeia.”

Marijuana and all other psychedelic drugs are classified as Schedule I, meaning “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”

LSD and Ecstasy were both heavily used by psychotherapists (er, their patients, that is) before they became illegal.  As the linked article says:

“A catch-22 has arisen:  these drugs are banned because they have no accepted medical use, but researchers cannot explore their therapeutic potential because they are banned.”

Recent studies have also shown that former prisoners who take LSD or psilocybin are less likely to return to prison.  No wonder the Prison Industrial Complex wants to keep these drugs illegal.

Also from the linked article:

“If some of the obstacles to research can be overcome, it may be possible to finally detach research on psychoactive chemicals from the hyperbolic rhetoric that is a legacy of the war on drugs. Only then will it be possible to judge whether LSD, ecstasy, marijuana and other highly regulated compounds — subjected to the gauntlet of clinical testing for safety and efficacy — can actually yield effective new treatments for devastating psychiatric illnesses.”