Michael Pollan: evaluation

Transcript context

…Do you think LSD, in particular, could pass current FDA guidelines that you have to show a drug is both safe and effective? Or are those guidelines too strict? No, I don’t think they’re too strict in this case. Let’s talk about psilocybin, though, because it’s a very similar drug. The duration of action is much longer with LSD. It’s about twice as long. That’s one of the reasons it’s not used in the current research. The other is it has much more political baggage. It’s much more radioactive in Congress, and the kinds of people who might shut it down know about LSD. They don’t know about psilocybin. I think that efficacy will be demonstrated for certain indications. We’ve seen already that it can reduce anxiety and depression in people who have a cancer diagnosis. We’ve seen some promising evidence in smaller studies that it’s helpful with addiction. I think there’s a very good chance we’ll find efficacy. If we get half the treatment effect we’ve seen in the cancer-anxiety study, it would be better than a lot of things out there. Safety — I don’t think it’s that hard. One of the striking things about these drugs . . . When I say these drugs, I don’t mean everything people are calling psychedelics. I wouldn’t put MDMA under this umbrella, or cannabis. The so-called classic psychedelics, like psilocybin, DMT, LSD, have remarkably low toxicity compared to drugs we take routinely, compared to over-the-counter drugs, compared to Tylenol. There doesn’t appear to be a lethal dose, which is one measure of toxicity in a drug. So I don’t think they’re going to have too much trouble with that. As for safety, there’s something, as you know, called hallucinogen persisting perception disorder that some percentage of people — they take psychedelics, possibly LSD, and then for years afterwards, they have distortions in their field of vision, almost like minitrips, ongoing. What’s your view on that evidence?…

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