Residential Psychedelic (LSD) Therapy for the Narcotic Addict: A Controlled Study
Abstract
A controlled investigation was made of the rehabilitative efficacy of brief residential psychedelic (LSD) psychotherapy with chronic heroin abusers. Seventy-eight volunteer addict inmates from Maryland correctional institutions were randomly assigned to the following: a treatment condition–psychedlic therapy (incorporating one high-dose LSD administration) during a six weeks residence in a halfway house type of facility; or a control condition–an outpatient clinic program including daily urine monitoring and weekly group psychotherapy. All subjects (37 completers in each group) were treated identically save for the initial six-week period of residential treatment. Major outcome criteria were based on evaluative assessments (including daily urine surveillance) of the treatment and control groups covering the 12 months following discharge to the community. Comparative verified abstinence data throughout the first posttreatment year were significantly in favor of the treatment group.
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One outpatient participant died of aortic stenosis 5 months after administration of LSD.
“One outpatient participant died of aortic stenosis 5 months after administration of LSD.26”
From Adverse Events in Studies of Classic Psychedelics: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2024) · cites this paper as [26]
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- Authors
- Savage, C.
- Corresponding author
- Savage, Charles
- Venue
- Archives of General Psychiatry
- Publisher
- American Medical Association (AMA)
- Published
- 1973-06-01
- Volume
- 28
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 808
- ISSN
- 0003-990X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2088785539
- Cited by
- 148
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 3.14
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Archives of General Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
- Keywords
- psychedelic therapy, LSD, heroin addiction, residential treatment, drug addiction, abstinence, inmate rehabilitation, group therapy, outpatient care, treatment efficacy
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adolescent, Adult, Clinical Trials as Topic, Heroin, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, Monitoring, Physiologic, Morphine Dependence, Prisons, Psychotherapy, Residential Treatment, Socioeconomic Factors
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