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Acid Test: LSD, Ecstacy and the Power to heal (Book Review)

This has been one of my favorite books that I’ve read on psychedelics.  It highlights what I like specifically about this class of drugs: that they are tools to explore one’s own mind, and tools to heal.  

It’s the story of two people, primarily: Rick Dobbs, the head of MAPS and Nicholas, one of the volunteers in a 2012 MDMA study for treating PTSD.   The story of the book, and it’s very story driven, follows these two, one on a path to legalize MDMA and keep alive the hope of legal psychedelics that died in the current prohibition, and one on a winding path of trauma, luck, and healing.  

Wow, it’s so well composed and written.  I very much enjoyed how the people, real people, felt as characters that you got to know.  It’s not a dialogue or dramatization, but more like watching a documentary.  

For Rick, who is the real crux here, is nothing less than a hero for dedicating his life and plowing through massive obstacles to legalize MDMA. Starting from conservative humble beginnings, to becoming a hippie, to trying to find a way to become a psychedelic therapist, to leading a revolution into actual results.  This man has trailblazed, almost more than any other person I know of, to change the perception of psychedelics and MDMA into a viable medicine.  Indeed, if the pace continues, they are going into phase three trials shortly with an expected date of legalization for medical use in 2021.  By wanting to help individuals as a therapist, he found a way to heal thousands.

My favorite parts of this book were two chapters were 42 - Michael (Getting Crooked) and 46 - Nicholas (Web of Life).  Chapter 42 is about Michael, the third most important character in the book, and his own studies with MDMA and how he meets Rick and become the medical officer for MAPS.  This chapter explores how MDMA and MDMA therapy works chemically, examples of his early therapy sessions, and how strange the sessions actually are especially when compared to regular therapy session.  The sessions sound more like exorcisms and shamanic vision that psychotherapy, and just how well they work.  If no other chapter is read, read this one and you’ll get perhaps the most important information in the book.

Chapter 46 is the end of the long journey Nicholas has been going through since the beginning of the book.  This is the chapter we were waiting for: the details of what a therapy session looks like.  We have seen how Nicholas had a traumatic childhood, go into the military, and get PTSD.  Now we see how most of the symptoms unwind in two sessions of a small dose of MDMA.  The details of the sessions themselves read like scenes Dungeons and Dragons game, as Nicholas visualizes the issue’s he’s going through and develops perspective on his internal demons.  This is not the first I’ve heard of scenes like this: in TIKHAL Ann Shuligin describes a very similar session.  It’s an amazing journey that leaves Nicholas in a good, if tenuous, spot.

All in all, I HIGHLY recommend this book.

Cannabis Vaporizer Combines

Efficient Delivery of THC

with Effective Suppression

of Pyrolytic Compounds

Dale Gieringer

Joseph St. Laurent