Psychedelics: The Uses and Implications of Hallucinogenic Drugs

by Bernard Aaronson, Humphry Osmond

This book is a broad and serious inquiry into this much-discussed topic. It will enlighten and surprise the uninitiated, as well as the frequent user. It includes first-hand reports of the nature of the experience; recent scientific theories; the use of psychedelics in primitive and non-western cultures; and the sociology of drugs in our own society. There are also sections on the potential creative uses of psychedelics, from the enhancement of religious experience to the treatment of alcoholics and the design of mental hospitals. The contributors include noted scientists, psychologists, sociologists , and religious leaders. All of the help to throw some light on a subject which, in spite of the interest it generates, has produced a great deal of mis-information. Government restrictions have in fact brought the progress of much-needed research almost ot a hald. Psychedelics is a plea for--and an invitation to--enlightenment.

520 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

Reviews

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

College students in the late sixties and seventies were practically issued this book along with their student IDs. It is a reference work on psychedelic drugs. A number of authors contributed short articles, including Alan Watts' classic, "Psychedelics and Religious Experience." The bibliography is quite extensive. All in all, this tome is an even-handed overview of the research into psychedelics for its time.

[Jenna Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the uprising psychedelic research regarding mental health illnesses, I read this book hoping to educate myself a little more around the substances.... it did much more than that! I was hooked as if I was reading a thriller, very interesting, I will definitely be reading again!

[Lysergius · Rating 4 out of 5]

An academic review of the state of the art in the therapeutic uses of hallucinogenic drugs.

[M. Ainomugisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Long & clearly designed for classroom study but an interesting read nonetheless.
Would recommend to those willing to take on the reader process on an individual level.