Acid trip could help treat alcoholism, report suggests
By Linda Thrasybule
The mind-altering drug LSD could be used to treat alcoholism, a new report says.
LSD prevented alcoholics from relapsing during treatment, according to researchers in Norway who analyzed six previous studies of alcoholism treatment.
The studies involved 536 heavy drinkers in all, two-thirds of whom were given LSD while others received comparison treatments. Fifty-nine percent of the LSD users avoided relapsing into alcohol abuse, compared with 38 percent of the others, the new study noted.
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"LSD worked in an entirely different way than any current psychiatric drugs," said study researcher Teri Krebs of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. "Many patients said they had gained a new appreciation for their alcohol problem and new motivation to address it."
The study appeared Thursday (Mar. 8) in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.