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[[File:War on drugs Psychedelics.jpg|alt=War on drugs Psychedelics|thumb|'''Figure 1'''. The global War on Drugs started in the US.]] | [[File:War on drugs Psychedelics.jpg|alt=War on drugs Psychedelics|thumb|'''Figure 1'''. The global War on Drugs started in the US.]] | ||
'''Through the 1950s and 1960s, more than 1,000 research papers were written about [[LSD]], psilocybin, and other [[Psychedelics|psychedelic]] drugs. Some 40,000 people were given these mind-expanding agents, and great progress was made in the understanding of how they might help people suffering from depression, alcoholism, and the psychospiritual distress'''. However, due to a series of unfortunate events psychedelics were mired in taboo due to a political agenda ultimately starting the War on Drugs. | '''Through the 1950s and 1960s, more than 1,000 research papers were written about [[LSD]], psilocybin, and other [[Psychedelics|psychedelic]] drugs. Some 40,000 people were given these mind-expanding agents, and great progress was made in the understanding of how they might help people suffering from depression, alcoholism, and the psychospiritual distress'''. However, due to a series of unfortunate events psychedelics were mired in taboo due to a political agenda ultimately starting the ''War on Drugs''. | ||
This witch hunt which persists even today, started on October 24, 1968 by the US government outlawing psychedelics. This caused a domino effect globally, leading to a 1971 UN resolution criminalising the medicines worldwide. To illustrate this timeline, the table below charts out notable landmarks leading up to worldwide psychedelic criminalisation. | This witch hunt, which persists even today, started on October 24, 1968 by the US government outlawing psychedelics. This caused a domino effect globally, leading to a 1971 UN resolution criminalising the medicines worldwide. To illustrate this timeline, the table below charts out notable landmarks leading up to worldwide psychedelic criminalisation. | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
! colspan="1" rowspan="1" |'''Year''' | ! colspan="1" rowspan="1" |'''Year''' | ||
| Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
|- | |- | ||
|3000 ce | |3000 ce | ||
|Es Càrritx cave in Spain contains hair samples with traces of the alkaloids atropine, scopolamine, and ephedrine | |Es Càrritx cave in Spain contains hair samples with traces of the alkaloids atropine, scopolamine, and ephedrine. Followed by a [[Psychedelic History|history of psychedelic]] use. | ||
|E. Guerra-Doce, C. Rihuete-Herrada, R. Micó, R. Risch<ref>'''Direct evidence of the use of multiple drugs in Bronze Age Menorca (Western Mediterranean) from human hair analysis.''' E. Guerra-Doce, C. Rihuete-Herrada, R. Micó, R. Risch, V. Lull & H. M. Niemeyer Scientific Reports volume 13, Article number: 4782 (2023). Accessed on 9th May 2023 via: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-31064-2</ref> | |E. Guerra-Doce, C. Rihuete-Herrada, R. Micó, R. Risch<ref>'''Direct evidence of the use of multiple drugs in Bronze Age Menorca (Western Mediterranean) from human hair analysis.''' E. Guerra-Doce, C. Rihuete-Herrada, R. Micó, R. Risch, V. Lull & H. M. Niemeyer Scientific Reports volume 13, Article number: 4782 (2023). Accessed on 9th May 2023 via: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-31064-2</ref> | ||
|- | |- | ||
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| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |1947 | | colspan="1" rowspan="1" |1947 | ||
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Werner Stoll publishes first paper on psychological effects of LSD in humans | | colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Werner Stoll publishes first paper on psychological effects of LSD in humans | ||
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Stoll, 1947<ref>Lysergsäure-diäthyl-amid, ein Phantastikum aus der Mutterkorngruppe. Stoll W (1947). Schweiz Arch Neur 60: 1–2.</ref> | | colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Stoll, 1947<ref>'''Lysergsäure-diäthyl-amid, ein Phantastikum aus der Mutterkorngruppe.''' Stoll W (1947). Schweiz Arch Neur 60: 1–2.</ref> | ||
|- | |- | ||
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |1950 | | colspan="1" rowspan="1" |1950 | ||
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |First English language publication on LSD | | colspan="1" rowspan="1" |First English language publication on LSD | ||
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Busch and Johnson, 1950<ref> | | colspan="1" rowspan="1" |Busch and Johnson, 1950<ref>'''L.S.D. 25 as an aid in psychotherapy; preliminary report of a new drug.''' Dis Nerv Syst 11: 241–243. Busch AK, Johnson WC (1950). </ref> | ||
|- | |- | ||
| colspan="1" rowspan="1" |1953 | | colspan="1" rowspan="1" |1953 | ||
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|} | |} | ||
== Criminalisation Rationale == | === Criminalisation Rationale === | ||
The period just before the criminalisation of psychedelics, at the peak of their use, was typified by the 1960s counterculture movement spreading ideas of antiwar, sexual liberation, environmentalism and women's rights. All of these new ideas were framed by the media as threatening traditional mainstream conservatism. This sentiment became most apparent when US President Richard Nixon proclaimed a thought leader of the counterculture movement, a Harvard psychiatrist Timothy Leary as “''the most dangerous man in America''”. Leary’s mantra of “''turn on, tune in, drop out''” was seen as a direct threat to the corporate establishment and the consumerist, materialist mindset and the state at large. | The period just before the criminalisation of psychedelics, at the peak of their use, was typified by the 1960s counterculture movement spreading ideas of antiwar, sexual liberation, environmentalism and women's rights. All of these new ideas were framed by the media as threatening traditional mainstream conservatism. This sentiment became most apparent when US President Richard Nixon proclaimed a thought leader of the counterculture movement, a Harvard psychiatrist Timothy Leary as “''the most dangerous man in America''”. Leary’s mantra of “''turn on, tune in, drop out''” was seen as a direct threat to the corporate establishment and the consumerist, materialist mindset and the state at large. | ||
'''References''' | '''References''' | ||
<references /> | <references /> | ||