JAMA on 60s Psychedelic Drug Culture

An amusing semi-anthropological study was published in JAMA by Ludwig and Levine in 1965. It was based on extensive interviews with 27 "postnarcotic drug addict inpatients" who were treated at a hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. The specific drugs of interest included peyote (from the peyotl cactus plant), mescaline, LSD, and psilocybin. The current availability of each drug, most popular methods of intake, slang terms, psychoactive properties, and subcultural norms were discussed. Hallucinogens were sometimes combined with narcotics, barbituates, amphetamines, or marijuana, depending on the specific demographic group. Basically, there were the junkies, the potheads, and the psychonauts:

There appear to be three main patterns of hallucinogenic drug use. First, there are the people who are primarily and preferentially narcotic drug addicts who have used the hallucinogenic agents on one or several occasions mainly for "kicks" or "curiosity." They seldom seek these drugs and tend to use them infrequently, as for example when these agents come their way through a friend or at a party. Rarely do they take the hallucinogenic agent alone but tend to take it after a "fix" with heroin, hydromorphone hydrochloride, morphine, or some other narcotic drug to which they are addicted at the time.

The next group sounds like your everyday 1960s hippie stereotype:

Second, there are the group of people, aptly described by one of the informants as the "professional potheads," who have had extensive experience with various drugs. The most commonly used drug by this group of people is marijuana (hence the name "potheads"), but amphetamines and barbiturates are also popular. Many have had some experience with the narcotic drugs, but on the whole they tend to avoid the opiates. "Creative" and "arty" people, such as struggling actors, musicians, artists, writers, as well as the Greenwich Village type of "beatnik," tend to fall in this category. The "frustrated," "curious," "free thinkers," "nonconformists," and "young rebels," who are seeking a temporary escape also comprise this class of hallucinogenic users, according to our informants. Although the "professional potheads" enjoy the euphoric effects produced by smoking marijuana, they also tend to relish and seek out the feelings of greater insight, inspiration, and sensory stimulation and distortions which the hallucinogens may produce. They are in constant search of agents to rouse them from their apathy, to make life more meaningful, to overcome social inhibitions, and to facilitate meaningful conversations and interpersonal relationships.

Especially enjoyable was the description of the drug parties frequented by these types:

Hallucinogenic agents are used by these people mainly on weekends (often "four-day weekends") or on special occasions, such as parties. It is rare for users to take drugs alone. They are mainly taken with friends or at intimate gatherings of people. The parties are of all varieties. Frequently, little conversation takes place while people are under the influence of these drugs, but they claim to experience a greater closeness and rapport with the other members of the group. One patient described having attended "basket weaving" and "lampshade making" parties where all members, under the influence of these drugs, squatted on the floor and silently attended to their tasks. At another type of party, overt sexual activities were carried out. Folk singing was also common. To quote another patient, "Mostly the people sit around trying to dig each other . . . everybody is sitting around and waiting, like on New Year's Eve, for something to happen."

Finally were a small number of hard core exclusive users of hallucinogens in search of an expanded consciousness, whether it be religious, spiritual, or cosmic:

Third, there are a small number of people who take the hallucinogenic agents repeatedly over a sustained period of time to the exclusion of all other drugs. The frequency of drug use during these periods of time is variable. One patient took peyote four times a day over a two-year period, while another patient took it two out of every three days over a three-month period. One patient took mescaline every day for two separate 15-day periods, while another took mescaline every two to three days over a six-month period...

Generally, these patients seemed different from those in the second group, who primarily smoke marijuana. They did not take these drugs in a group for social purposes but used them mainly as a means of attaining some personal, esoteric goal. One patient talked of having achieved an increased sensitivity to nature and a greater insight into himself after prolonged peyote usage. While living by himself on Big Sur in California, he claimed to have achieved a "Christ-like state of mind" and a greater feeling of altruism. Another patient stated that as he kept taking mescaline, he was able to control his experience and attained a state of mind in which "every little thing is projected large," where he was able to see the negative and positive aspects of everything, and where "everything is real." A third patient, of Mexican extraction, kept taking peyote to "find God."

In the last several months, there have been a spate of articles on the return of psychedelics for psychotherapeutic purposes. Maia Szalavitz has covered some of the most recent developments: 'Magic Mushrooms' Can Improve Psychological Health Long Term and A Mystery Partly Solved: How the 'Club Drug' Ketamine Lifts Depression So Quickly.


Last year, a Neurocritic post (Ketamine for Depression: Yay or Neigh?) was part of a Nature Blog Focus on hallucinogenic drugs in medicine and mental health, inspired by the Nature Reviews Neuroscience paper, The neurobiology of psychedelic drugs: implications for the treatment of mood disorders, by Franz Vollenweider & Michael Kometer. For more information on this Blog Focus, see the Table of Contents.

The secret history of psychedelic psychiatry was discussed over at Neurophilosophy. Neuroskeptic covered Serotonin, Psychedelics and Depression while Mind Hacks provided a personal look at yagé in Visions of a psychedelic future.


Reference

LUDWIG AM, & LEVINE J (1965). PATTERNS OF HALLUCINOGENIC DRUG ABUSE. JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association, 191, 92-6 PMID: 14233246