Psychedelic Psychotherapy: The Ethics of Medicine for the Soul

[Bajeda]

This article is in PDF form so I can't post the text in here, but I definitely think its worth checking out.

The article is from the University of Pennsylvania Bioethics Journal and ponders the question of using psychedelic drugs as psychological medicine.

Things similar to this may have been posted before, but this is so well written and covers the use of all psychedelics as well as the reasoning behind allowing their medical use so I thought I would post it here.


Here is the abstract so you can see if you want to read it:

Originally Posted by Abstract

Psychedelic drugs like LSD and MDMA (Ecstasy) are known to have profound psychological effects people. These substances are now being evaluated in clinical trials in the US as an aid to psychotherapy. The use of these substances in transpersonal psychology is thought to help patients by inducing spiritual experiences that lead to improved mental health. Some people challenge the claim that authentic spiritual experiences can be induced by drugs and still others question whether spirituality has any place in medicine at all. The potential emergence of the use of psychedelics in medicine calls for a consideration of these and many other concerns.

From the March, 2006 issue (I believe), this article does more than consider the questions asked in the abstract, it explains them clearly and concisely with excellent logic.

http://www.maps.org/media/u_penn_3.17.06.pdf