PSYCHEDELIC PSYCHIATRY PSYCHEDELIC PSYCHIATRY: LSD AND POST-WORLD WAR II MEDICAL EXPERIMENTATION IN CANADA By ERIKA DYCK, B.A., M.A. MCMASTER UNIVERSITY A Dissertation Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor ofPhilosophy McMaster University © Copyright by Erika Dyck, 2005 DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (2005) McMaster University (History) Hamilton, Ontario TITLE: Psychedelic Psychiatry: LSD and Post-World War II Medical Experimentation in Canada AUTHOR: Erika Dyck, B.A. (Dalhousie University), M.A. (University of Saskatchewan) SUPERVISOR: David Wright NDMBER OF PAGES: vi, 327 11 Abstract Many medicall"esearchers in the post-WWII era explored LSD for its potential therapeutic value. Among these psychiatrists Humphry Osmond (in Weyburn) and Abram Hoffer (in Saskatoon) directed some of the most comprehensive trials in the Western world. These Saskatchewan-based medical researchers were first drawn to LSD because of its ability to produce a "model psychosis." Their experiments with the dmg­ that Osmond was to famously describe as a "psychedelic"-led them to hypothesise, and promote, the biochemical constitution of Schizophrenia. Simulating psychotic symptoms through auto-experimentation, professionals also believed that the drug would help reform mental health accommodations by cultivating a sophisticated appreciation for the relationship between environment and health. This thesis examines the era of pre­ criminal LSD experimentation. Drawing on hospital records, interviews with former research subjects, and the private papers of Hoffer and Osmond this dissertation will demonstrate that these LSD trials, far from fringe medical research, represented a fmitful and indeed encouraging branch of psychiatric research. Clinical LSD experiments in the 1950s played an influential role in defining theoretical and practical aims of the post-war psychiatric profession. Ultimately the experiments failed for two reasons, one scientific and the other cultural. The scientific parameters of clinical trials in medicine shifted in the 1950s and early 1960s so as to necessitate controlled trials (which the Saskatchewan researchers had failed to construct). Second, as LSD became increasingly associated with student riots, anti-war demonstrations and the counter culture, governments intervened to criminalise the dmg, in effect terminating formal medical research with LSD. An historical examination ofthese LSD experiments provides insight into the changing complexion of psychiatry in the post-World War Two period, and the ways in which scientific medicine was shaped by social, cultural and political currents. lll Aclmowledgements This dissertation has benefited tremendously from the generosity and expertise of my doctoral supervisor, David Wright. I am further indebted to my dissertation committee members, Ken Cmikshank and Stephen Heathorn, and examiners Marcel Martel and Louis Schmidt for their insightful questions and comments. Financial support from McMaster University, the History of Medicine Unit, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Associated Medical Services, and the Friends of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health archives made much of this research possible. Everyone at the History Department and the History ofMedicine Unit at McMaster University helped by providing advice and encouragement throughout the program, especially Virginia Aksan, Michael Gauvreau, John Weaver, David Barrett, Stephen Streeter, Dick Rempel, James Moran, Shelley McKellar, Geoff Hudson and Sasha Mullally. And, I wish to extend a special thanks to Wendy Benedetti and Barbara-Ann Bartlett, who both generously gave of their time and assistance. I have had the good fortune to work with an extremely talented group of friends and colleagues at McMaster: Angela Graham, J essa Chupik, Greg Stott, Carrie Dickenson, Bill Campbell, Jingge Li, Heather Nelson, Tabitha Marshall, Nathan Flis, Mat Savelli and everyone from 434, 3Nl0 and 2D03. Angie, I could not have done it without you. Several members ofthe Canadian Society for the History of Medicine and of the American Association for the History of Medicine welcomed my participation at their annual meetings and provided inspiration. At various stages throughout this doctoral project I profited from the wisdom, expertise and encouragement of a number ofpeople who took an interest in this historical study: Jennifer Keelan, Cara Pryor, Jennifer Milne, Laura McNaughton, Jason Kleinermanns, Patrick Barber, Peter Twohig, Maureen Lux, Arthur Allen, John Mills, John Smythies, Matthew Gambino, Bram Enning, Stephen Snelders, Geoffrey Reaume, David Courtwright, Bill Waiser, Valerie Korinek, Catherine Carstairs, Annmarie Adams, Harley Dickinson, and Suzanne Klausen. I am further indebted to Larry Stewart for fuelling the initial spark from which this research began, and to Cyril Greenland who devotedly fanned the flames. No historical examination could proceed without the help and expertise of archivists. In this regard I was most fortunate. Thank you especially to John Court at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health archives, Nadine Charabin, Christie Wood and Wanda Jack at the Saskatchewan Archives Board, and Patrick Hayes at the University of Saskatchewan Archives who expertly and patiently tracked down my innumerable requests. In addition to archival records, this project was greatly enriched by recollections provided through oral interviews. I am grateful to everyone who shared their memories with me. This dissertation is better as a direct result of their candid contributions. Without a doubt, however, this work would not have come to fmition without the welcome distraction of many soccer games: thanks to everyone who added me to their rosters over the last four years. The support offered by my family has been tremendous. Susan, Alana, Noel, Vered, Ian, Sherry, Alicia, David, Gramma Erna and Grandpa Bill, your love and support sustained me throughout this process. Tristan, your inc~edible patience and boundless wisdom made this journey possible. Words cannot express e1e gratitude I feel towards my parents who CGUrageously looked the other way IV while I moved into the "abyss". Penny and Philip, thank you for believing in me, even if I was in Toronto. Finally, though he passed away mid-way through my program at McMaster, I could not have dreamed my way through a PhD without my grandad's love; thank you George Dyck. v List of Figures See Appendix A Figure 1: Map of Saskatchewan Figure 2a: Photograph ofHenry E. Sigerist Figure 2b: Photograph of Tommy C. Douglas Figure 3: Photograph ofHumphry Osmond Figure 4: Photograph of Abram Hoffer Figure 5: Photograph of Aldous Huxley Figure 6: Experiment with Sidney Katz Figure 7: Experiment with Sidney Katz Figure 8: Depiction ofKatz's experience Figure 9: Experiment with Sidney Katz Figure 10: Photograph ofKyoshi Izumi Figure 11: Photograph of Saskatchewan Mental Hospital, Weybum Figure 12: Aerial view of Saskatchewan Mental Hospital, Weybum Figure 13: Socio-petal Design Figure 14: Photograph ofRobert Sommer Figure 15: Newspaper clipping ofKyoshi Izumi Figure 16: Photography of the Y orkton Psychiatric Centre Figure 17: LSD in the Headlines Vl Table of Contents Abstract .................................................. 0. 0 •••• 0 •• 0 .... 00 oo ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• iii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iv List of Figures .................................................................................................................... vi Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: Plain Psychedelics .................................................................................. 20 Chapter Two: Psychedelic Therapy ............................................................................. 52 Chapter Three: Highs and Lows ................................................................................ 102 Chapter Four: Spaced Out.......................................................................................... 150 Chapter Five: Acid Panic ............................................................................................ 183 Chapter Six: "Too many young chemistry majors" ................................................. 220 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 256 Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 272 Appendix A: Figures .................................................................................................... 307 Vll PhD Thesis-E. Dyck McMaster University-History Introduction Introduction In October 1966, Ken Kesey retumed to San Francisco after spending several months avoiding detection by the FBI for distributing large quantities of acid to American youth. The California govemment had just passed legislation criminalising the possession of dmgs such as LSD and psilocybin (magic mushrooms) only days before Kesey' s triumphant retum to the Bay area. His timely reappearance seemed to coincide with a ceremonial end to an era ofpsychedelic explorations. Kesey's retum to Califomia brought symbolic closure to two distinct images of psychedelic dmg experimentation: medical