In 1997, BBC science programme Horizon broadcast a legendary edition on the use of psychedelic drugs in medicine. Luckily, it’s been uploaded to Google Video and you can now watch the whole thing online.
It came at an interesting time in psychedelic drug research – when the authorities were still touchy (they’d only raided Shulgin’s licensed lab three years earlier) but were just starting to allow some stirrings of research since they’d shut it down almost completely in the 1960s.
The programme looks at the history of psychedelic drug research when it was still easily possible, focusing on Osmond and Hoffer’s early work on using LSD in treating addiction and facilitating psychotherapy.
It’s also got loads of great historical footage from the early research but also talks to the new generation of researchers looking at compounds such as ayahuasca and ibogaine, who are now the senior figures in this growing area.
Unfortunately, the video is a bit grainy in places but it’s quite watchable and it’s got a great soundtrack. The producers used Future Sound of London, Massive Attack and a number of tracks from the Ninja Tune label to give the programme a trippy feel.
Link to ‘Psychedelic Science’ edition of Horizon.
Mind Hacks 