Psychedelic Drugs in Correctional Treatment

Abstract

Psychedelic drugs have been used for individual psychotherapy in prison settings. This paper outlines two studies that explore the use of psychedelic drugs in correction. In 1961 Timothy Leary and Walter Houston Clark administered psilocybin to thirty-three prisoners at the Massachusetts Correctional Insti tution. This program seemed to have positive effects on the inmate-subjects. William H. Lyle gave doses of LSD to inmate- addicts from the Clinical Research Center in Lexington, Ky. Lyle's treatment indicates that LSD can accelerate certain forms of psychotherapy. Since long-term follow-ups were not made on either study, their full value cannot be determined. However, these two programs do indicate that further research should be conducted on the use of psychedelic drugs in the correctional setting.