A Review of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) in the Treatment of Addictions: Historical Perspectives and Future Prospects

Introduction

Liester opens with a concise historical and scientific background to lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). The introduction traces LSD's discovery, early human self-experiments and animal observations, and situates the molecule chemically as a semisynthetic ergot derivative with potent psychoactive effects. It summarises basic pharmacokinetic features reported in the extracted text (onset 20–60 minutes, typical duration 8–12 hours, plasma half-life ~5.1 hours) and notes early hypotheses that linked LSD to a ‘‘model psychosis’’ because of its capacity to produce profound perceptual and cognitive changes. The introduction highlights a central tension motivating the review: although early clinical reports suggested LSD might assist psychotherapy and show benefit for addictions, widespread unregulated recreational use, adverse-event reports, and restrictive legal actions curtailed research. The paper therefore sets out to review LSD's pharmacology, phenomenology, historical clinical research in addictions, proposed mechanisms of anti-addictive action, and to assess whether renewed investigation is warranted.