Characteristics of Alcoholics Volunteering for Lysergide Treatment

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) for alcoholism: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

“…Details of the search are shown in Figure 1, details of the included studies are shown in Tables 1 and 2. Among the excluded studies were five non-randomized controlled trials (Ables and Eng, 1967; Ables et al, 1970; Jensen, 1962; Jensen, 1963; Van Dusen et al, 1967), one quasi-randomized controlled trial (allocation by alternating assignment) (Osmond et al, 1967), two randomized controlled trials without any outcome data related to alcohol use (both measured only general psychological variables) (Denson and Sydiaha, 1970; Ditman et al, 1970), and one randomized controlled trial without extractable outcome data on alcohol misuse (this trial reported only ‘no statistically significant difference’ between LSD and control groups on alcohol misuse at 12 months follow-up) (Johnson, 1969).…”

“…Also consistent with our findings, three controlled studies, excluded from this meta-analysis because the control groups were non-randomized (Bowen et al, 1970; Van Dusen et al, 1967) or because of lack of extractable data (Johnson, 1969), reported no significant treatment effect of a single dose of LSD on alcohol misuse at 12 to 18 months follow-up. Importantly, in the Bowen et al (1970) and Van Dusen et al (1967) studies, the comparison group did not volunteer to possibly receive LSD, probably creating selection bias (see, for example, Ditman et al (1970) on differences between alcoholics who volunteer and those who decline to participate in an LSD study), and in the Johnson (1969) study all patients were administered the tranquilizer chlorpromazine during the acute LSD effects, probably attenuating the LSD effects. Additionally, in a randomized controlled trial of a single dose of LSD for heroin addiction, daily urine test data covering the entire follow-up period showed a significantly lower rate of relapse in the LSD group compared to no drug group at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months post-treatment (Savage and McCabe, 1973).…”