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29.
ATARACTIC AND HALLUCINOGENIC DRUGS IN PSYCHIATRY.
Geneva: World Health Organization, 1958. 8vo. Stapled wrps., 72pp.
The report from the meeting of a study group held in Geneva between November 4-9, 1957. In its discussion on LSD and mescaline the report notes the dependence of psychedelic effects “on the precise constellation of environmental factors” [p.35], thus anticipating Timothy Leary’s concept of set and setting, as well as recognising the principles of psychedelic therapy, then in its infancy, stating that “the same drug, in the same dose in the same subject may produce very different effects according to the precise interpersonal and motivational situation in which it is given.”
The study group included the British psychiatrist Ronald Sandison, who visited Albert Hofmann in Switzerland in 1952 and subsequently opened the world's first purpose-built LSD therapy clinic at Powick Hospital, near Worcester. More recently there has been a renewed interest in the neurobiological effects and therapeutic potential of hallucinogenic drugs, as well as a trend for self-administered microdosing.
Wrappers somewhat worn and used. Good plus.
