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Tripping Out At Harvard
By Virginia Prescott on Thursday, June 12, 2008.
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In the 1960s, Harvard psychology professors Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert, later known as Baba Ram Dass, were approved to conduct research on psychedelic drugs. But after rumors spread of students holding "private psilocybin parties," the two were given the boot. Leary's encouragement to seek mystical experiences and spiritual enlightenment by "tuning in, turning on and dropping out" helped spark the counterculture's fascination with hallucinogens. But in the nearly five decades since, Harvard researchers haven’t messed with mind-bending drugs.
Until this past February, when Dr. John Halpern began administering MDMA, better known as the club drug Ecstasy, to dying cancer patients. He got started by researching the use of peyote in Native American religious rituals. Now he’s hoping Harvard will approve testing on the medical prospects for LSD for treating cluster headaches.
Freelance writer Peter Bebergal is based in Cambridge, Mass., and wrote about the new wave of psychedelic-drug research for the Boston Phoenix.
(Photo by Curtis Perry)
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Word of Mouth is all about what's new. Online and on-air, the show looks at our fascinating and ever-changing world, and puts the latest ideas under a microscope. Word of Mouth investigates everything from science and technology, to health and the environment, to new trends in popular culture. The show airs Monday through Thursday at noon and is hosted by Virginia Prescott.
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Can't wait to be a subject in that study!
The study won't be that much fun, lollypops - the amount of psilocybin needed to treat cluster headaches is about a quarter of the amount needed for a mild trip. One doesn't need to get very high to treat clusters.
As a cluster headache sufferer, I can say psilocybin has saved me from a life of pain. Since cluster headaches are sometimes called "suicide headaches," it may have saved my life, period.