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Comment by deepsun | Hacker News Reader

> drug could treat depression

Weren't researches done way back in 60-70s?

As this area was gaining legitimacy in the late 70s, Reagan and the War on Drugs happened, which made legally obtaining the substances difficult, and research funding dried out.

The backlash actually started sooner than that, and largely due to the excesses of Tim Leary, et al. Michael Pollan's book "How To Change Your Mind" covers it in detail.

A great shame, because psychedelic therapy has so much potential. Just a single data point, but my life was turned around by some formational experiences on LSD and Psilocybin. Glad to see research heating up in this area again.

I read "it changed my life" so many times on internet, but from personal experiences and many friends I don't know anyone who'd noticeably changed their life for better.

Except for only one friend, who ended up suicidal and delusional beyond repair, frequent mental hospital dweller (although all doctors said drugs could only exacerbate a pre-existing condition, but not create it from scratch).

I wonder why so big discrepancy between internet and real life here.

Yes, but they became illegal in 1971, before researchers had a chance to further explore the action of psychedelics.

60s and 70s research does not meet modern standards. The validity of almost all medical and psychological research done in the era is very questionable. Some research done in this time was very good, but with psychedelics we are really starting back from square 1 because we've just begun researching it in earnest.

tl;dr If you're in medical or psychological fields and the only empirical evidence you have to back up a claim is from the 60s you are on shaky ground and need to collect more data.

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