Psychedelic Medicine (Book review)

---http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/C9023.aspxPsychedelic Medicine (two volumes)List Price: $200.00To order, visit http://www.greenwood.com/, call 1-800-225-5800Description:Psychedelic substances present in nature have been used by humans acrosshundreds of years to produce mind-altering changes in thought, mood, andperception--changes we do not experience otherwise except rarely indreams, religious exaltation, or psychosis. U.S. scientists werestudying the practical and therapeutic uses for hallucinogens, includingLSD and mescaline, in the 1950s and 1960s supplied by largemanufacturers including Sandoz.But the government took steps to ban all human consumption ofhallucinogens, and thus the research. By the 1970s, all human testingwas stopped. Medical concerns were not the issue, the ban was motivatedby social concerns, not the least of which were created by legendaryresearcher Timothy Leary, a psychologist who advocated free use ofhallucinogens by all who desired.Nationwide, however, a cadre of scholars and researchers has persistedin pushing the federal government to again allow human testing. And themoratorium has been lifted. The FDA has begun approving hallucinogenicresearch using human subjects. In these groundbreaking volumes, topresearchers explain the testing and research underway to use - under theguidance of a trained provider - psychedelic substances for betterphysical and mental health.Experts including physicians and psychiatrists at some of the mostrespected medical schools in the nation, show how psychedelics mayalleviate symptoms or spur cures for disorders from AIDS to arthritis topost traumatic stress disorder. Spiritual uses are also addressed andthe perceived benefits described. Medical and legal issues fortherapeutic uses are also presented. The psychedelic drugs explained inthese pages for potential health use include: LSD, Ayahuasca,Psyilocybin, Peyote, MDMA, Marijauana.---------Volume I: Psychedelic Medicine: Social, Clinical and Legal PerspectivesThomas B. RobertsEditor's Overview of Psychedelic Medicines Volume 1.Michael WinkelmanSection I: The Social and Clinical ContextChapter 1: Therapeutic Bases of Psychedelic Medicines: PsychointegrativeEffects. Michael WinkelmanChapter 2: The Healing Vine: Ayahuasca as Medicine in the 21st Century.Dennis McKennaChapter 3: Contemporary Psychedelic Therapy: An Overview. Torsten PassieChapter 4: Therapeutic Guidelines: Dangers and Contra-Indications inTherapeutic Applications of Hallucinogens. Ede FrecskaSection II: Medical ApplicationsChapter 5: Response of Cluster Headaches to Psilocybin and LSD. AndrewSewell & John H. HalpernChapter 6: Psilocybin Treatment of Obsessive- Compulsive Disorder. F. A.Moreno & P. L. DelgadoChapter 7: Therapeutic Uses of MDMA. George Greer & Requa TolbertChapter 8: MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for the Treatment ofPosttraumatic Stress Disorder. Michael MithoeferChapter 9: Psychedelic Drugs for the Treatment of Depression. MichaelMontagneChapter 10: Marijuana and AIDS. Donald AbramsChapter 11: The Use of Psilocybin in Patients with Advanced Cancer andExistential Anxiety. C. GrobSection III: Legal Aspects of the Medical UseChapter 12: Psychedelic Medicine and the Law. Richard BoireChapter 13: The Legal Bases for Religious Peyote Use. Kevin FeeneyChapter 14: The Supreme Court's Psychedelic Case. Alberto Groisman &Marlene de RiosChapter 15: Conclusions. Michael Winkelman & Thomas B. Roberts-------Volume II: Psychedelic Medicine: Addictions Medicine and TranspersonalHealingPreface- Lancet EditorialChapter 1: Introduction ? The Adventure Continues. Thomas B. RobertsSection I: Treating Substance AbuseChapter 2: Hallucinogens in the Treatment of Alcoholism and OtherAddictions. J. H. HalpernChapter 3: Addiction, Despair, and the Soul: Psychedelic Psychotherapy.R. Yensen & D. DryerChapter 4: The Therapeutic Use of Peyote in the Native American Church.Joseph CalabreseChapter 5: Ibogaine and Substance Abuse Rehabilitation. Kenneth R.Alper & Howard LotsofChapter 6: Ketamine Psychedelic Psychotherapy. Evgeny Krupitsky & EliKolpChapter 7: Ayahuasca Treatment of Cocaine-Paste Addiction. JacquesMabitSection II: Guidelines for Psychotherapeutic ApplicationsChapter 8: The Ten Lessons of Psychedelic Psychotherapy? Rediscovered.Neal M. GoldsmithChapter 9: Therapeutic Guidelines from Shamanic Traditions. MichaelWinkelmanChapter 10: Common Processes in Psychospiritual Change. Sean HouseChapter 11: Preliminary Remarks on Interpreting Resistance toPsychedelic Insights. Dan MerkurSection III: Transpersonal Dimension of Healing with PsychedelicMedicinesChapter 12: Psychedelics in Psychological Health and Growth. RogerWalsh & Charles GrobChapter 13: Psilocybin Can Occasion Mystical-type Experiences HavingSubstantial and Sustained Personal Meaning and Spiritual Significance.R. Griffiths, W. Richards, U. McCann & R. Jesse.Chapter 14: Remarkable Healing During Psychedelic Psychotherapy.Stanislav GrofChapter 15: Transpersonal Healing with Hallucinogens. Roger Marsden &David LukoffChapter 16: Conclusions and Future Recommendations: The Wider Contexts.Thomas B. RobertsAuthor biographiesIndex---------Endorsement From Harriet de Wit, PhDProfessor, Department of PsychiatryThe University of Chicago:These books are a comprehensive and scholarly review of the currentstatus of the therapeutic potential of hallucinogens. The contributorsrepresent an outstanding group of scientists, scholars and clinicians,most of whom have had direct experience using and administering thesedrugs in either therapeutic or religious contexts. The result is animpressive collection. The authors provide scholarly historical reviewsof the use of these drugs, as well as detailed instructions and advicefor the clinician on how to administer these drugs safely andeffectively in a therapeutic context. The authors provide a balancedview and acknowledge the many risks and pitfalls of improper use ofthese drugs. Likely to be of interest to scientists, clergy, mentalhealth professionals, and anyone interested in the mind. It provides anup to date review of the status of hallucinogens in modern medicine, aswell as a historical review of their status in the past. It is highlyrecommended.Endorsement From Professor Jonathan D. Moreno,University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics:Until they were caught up in the cultural revolution of the 1960s,hallucinogens were being seriously examined by top researchers for theirpotential to alleviate many human ills. The contributors to thesevolumes make a persuasive case that science should now do more to pursuethese questions.Endorsement From Stephen Ross, M.D.Assistant Clinical Professor, Psychiatry, NYU School of MedicineDirector, Division of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Bellevue HospitalAssociate Director, Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship, NYU School ofMedicine:Roberts and Winkelman have assembled one of the most impressive andcomprehensive collections of writings in the field of psychedelicmedicine. The chapters, written by first-rate academic scholars, arerigorous and clear. The topics range from neuroscience to the legal,spiritual, medicinal, and ethical implications of using this novel classof agents. This work is an invaluable resource for educators,clinicians, and policy makers who are interested in rejuvenating thefield of psychedelic research.Endorsement From Nicholas V. Cozzi, Ph.D.Department of PharmacologyUniversity of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health:These volumes present fresh ideas for using psychedelic drugs astherapeutic agents to treat some of the most intractable ofpsychological ailments. As the authors make clear, the ability of thesesubstances to facilitate direct experiential access to our deepestthoughts, feelings, and spirituality makes them uniquely suited for thispurpose. Undoubtedly, their amazing healing potential has yet to befully realized. Thanks to these forward-thinking educators, researchers,and clinicians, we now have new paths to explore in the cure for olddiseases.