Dear Editor,
The obituary for Albert Hofmann, the inventor of LSD who died April 29 at age 102, reported that LSD research was stopped in the early 1970s and never resumed. Actually, a protocol evaluating LSD-assisted psychotherapy in subjects with anxiety associated with end-of-life issues was approved in Switzerland in December 2007, shortly before Albert’s wife, Anita Hofmann, died, after 72 years of marriage. Albert spoke about that approval as ” the fulfillment of my heart’s desire.” The first LSD session in that study took place on Tuesday, May 13. This will become the first controlled, scientific study of the therapeutic potential of LSD in over 36 years. As Albert hoped, his problem child may yet become a wonder child, much as perhaps the most feared drug of all, thalidomide, has returned as a prescription drug to treat cancer and leprosy.
Furthermore, to set the record straight (so to speak), Albert himself took LSD for the last time at age 97.
Rick Doblin, Ph.D.
President, Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS, www.maps.org)
[MAPS is sponsoring the Swiss LSD study]