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Drugs of Hallucination: Uses and Misuses of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide
288 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1965
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 1, 2021
An excellent description of all that was known about LSD in 1967 - and not much has been added since. This isn't a "turn on" book, but an objective discussion of the effects of LSD, its chemistry, psychological reasons for its action, plenty of interesting case studies, and an assessment of the future - including a refutation of Timothy Leary and a segue on pleasure-seeking that is eerily accurate for the 21st century.
All in all a great book!
All in all a great book!
September 7, 2011
This book was lacking some hard evidence to support it's claims - but I think it was written more as a synthesis of what was known (at the time of publication) about psychedelics (it focuses on LSD, Mescaline/Peyote, and Psyclobin [North American Magic Mushrooms]), rather than as a text of hypotheses. More of a popular psychology text than a behavioural sciences text. But still, I would have liked some references to the actual studies, or to more thorough texts, to assist in further research, because a thoroughly interesting subject.
Since this book was written, there have been huge advances in the methodology and equipment available to neuro-scientists and neuro-psychologists. But no thorough scientific research has been done into the properties and effects of psychedelics since the psychologists of the 50s and 60s, and the CIA, got into them in a big way. It's almost a taboo in the psychological and scientific fields.
The only main research has been performed Alexander Shulgin, and his wife - and they're of the chain crazy because they try everything they discover. Less crazy than you'd expect from the discoverer of MDMA and thousands of other designer stimulants and hallucinogens, but still off the chain, and for the most part, his research isn't aimed at or accepted by the scientific community. Even if it would be, his books were both banned almost immediately after publication.
Official, government sanctioned, or government okayed research hasn't occurred since way back, like I mentioned, until now. Some psychologists have undertaken studies with the old suspects, to see if they can be used for some kind of therapeutic end, and/or to study their effects, in recent years. The most obvious is marijuana, with the whole legalisation debate there is a lot of grant money in detailing effects, coming from both the pro and anti campaigners. Less obvious is MDMA, whilst not strictly a hallucinogen, it has been trialed in assisting existing treatment/therapy of/for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, with an above average success rate. But more money needs to be invested for larger studies. And it's just really fucking bad PR to put money anywhere near street drugs with pre-existing reputations.
My point is, most of the substances are really ill understood. It was highlighted to me in reading this book, the understanding of the brain and particularly perception, has advanced incredibly since this book was published. With the theory going that LSD effects your perception filters (via your dopamine, seratonin and adreno receptors), not very much is known about it beyond that. Except that it is like other drugs. In the 50s, studies showed that LSD drastically increased the success rate of recovering alcoholics.
Albert Hoffmann, the man who first synthesised LSD, was disappointed with the way it was taken up by the counter-culture as a recreational drug. He thought that would tarnish the reputation of it in the eyes of decision makers. He was somewhat right. Aldous Huxley, who famously proclaimed the spiritual benefits of mescaline and peyote related substances in his work "Doors of Perception" less famously (after taking LSD) said that LSD was a much more effective spiritual aid, and perhaps the truth itself. Who knows. There is plenty of literature on the subject. But not enough data, concerning what it actually does.
Drugs of Hallucination has some interesting anecdotes and recounts from Albert Hoffmann, which were certainly entertaining, and it has a few letters written by people on substances which are eye opening - they allow you to look in from outside. But if you haven't ever experienced a strong psychedelic experience, it will probably come off reading like a psych patient, or you just won't get it, except admiring the occasionally strangely beautifully constructed sentence.
I don't think the book has enough of what I've described in the paragraph above, but it is a good introduction to things if you're interested in the subject. And if you are the type of person to be interested in experimenting with one of the three substances this book focuses on, I recommend reading this as part of your research, probably beforehand.
Since this book was written, there have been huge advances in the methodology and equipment available to neuro-scientists and neuro-psychologists. But no thorough scientific research has been done into the properties and effects of psychedelics since the psychologists of the 50s and 60s, and the CIA, got into them in a big way. It's almost a taboo in the psychological and scientific fields.
The only main research has been performed Alexander Shulgin, and his wife - and they're of the chain crazy because they try everything they discover. Less crazy than you'd expect from the discoverer of MDMA and thousands of other designer stimulants and hallucinogens, but still off the chain, and for the most part, his research isn't aimed at or accepted by the scientific community. Even if it would be, his books were both banned almost immediately after publication.
Official, government sanctioned, or government okayed research hasn't occurred since way back, like I mentioned, until now. Some psychologists have undertaken studies with the old suspects, to see if they can be used for some kind of therapeutic end, and/or to study their effects, in recent years. The most obvious is marijuana, with the whole legalisation debate there is a lot of grant money in detailing effects, coming from both the pro and anti campaigners. Less obvious is MDMA, whilst not strictly a hallucinogen, it has been trialed in assisting existing treatment/therapy of/for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, with an above average success rate. But more money needs to be invested for larger studies. And it's just really fucking bad PR to put money anywhere near street drugs with pre-existing reputations.
My point is, most of the substances are really ill understood. It was highlighted to me in reading this book, the understanding of the brain and particularly perception, has advanced incredibly since this book was published. With the theory going that LSD effects your perception filters (via your dopamine, seratonin and adreno receptors), not very much is known about it beyond that. Except that it is like other drugs. In the 50s, studies showed that LSD drastically increased the success rate of recovering alcoholics.
Albert Hoffmann, the man who first synthesised LSD, was disappointed with the way it was taken up by the counter-culture as a recreational drug. He thought that would tarnish the reputation of it in the eyes of decision makers. He was somewhat right. Aldous Huxley, who famously proclaimed the spiritual benefits of mescaline and peyote related substances in his work "Doors of Perception" less famously (after taking LSD) said that LSD was a much more effective spiritual aid, and perhaps the truth itself. Who knows. There is plenty of literature on the subject. But not enough data, concerning what it actually does.
Drugs of Hallucination has some interesting anecdotes and recounts from Albert Hoffmann, which were certainly entertaining, and it has a few letters written by people on substances which are eye opening - they allow you to look in from outside. But if you haven't ever experienced a strong psychedelic experience, it will probably come off reading like a psych patient, or you just won't get it, except admiring the occasionally strangely beautifully constructed sentence.
I don't think the book has enough of what I've described in the paragraph above, but it is a good introduction to things if you're interested in the subject. And if you are the type of person to be interested in experimenting with one of the three substances this book focuses on, I recommend reading this as part of your research, probably beforehand.
April 24, 2013
I actually read The Beyond Within: The LSD Story. I don't feel like attaching my review to the incorrect title, but comment on this or contact me if you really want a review. It was a fantastic book.
March 28, 2011
very good book :)
June 18, 2019
Interesting and comprehensive but focussed purely on the use of the drugs in clinical settings. Ugh!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews