Experiments
Test Effects
of LSD I
By HARRY ENGEL
Collegiate Press Service
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — LSD.
an hallucinogenic drug responsi
ble for the dismissal of two
Harvard psychologists, is current
ly being used by a University of
Minnesota medical doctor to re
store normal and abnormal per
formance in the nervous system.
Although small doses of the
drug can do severe brain damage
if improperly used, it is being ad
ministered here in medically su
pervised conditions with screened
subjects and can cause no harm,
according to Amedeo S. Marrazzi,
pharmacology professor in charge
of the experiment.
Marrazzi said the danger is in
the misuse of LSD as in the case
of two Harvard professors, Tim
othey Leary and Richard Alpert.
The pair’s unapproved experi
ments with the drug sent two
students to mental hospitals.
Mentally unbalanced persons can
sometimes go completely insane
under the drug.
Safety Factors
Marrazzi’s experiment, approv
ed by the UM College of Medi
cal Science’s advisory commit
tee on the use of human volun
teers, will not harm a person’s
mental equilibrium because of
several safety factors, he said.
All volunteers are subject to
a variety of medical checks, in
order to find those with “poten
tially alarming disturbances oi
mental performance.”
Volunteers are given a person
ality inventory test and are
screened by the Clinical Psychol
ogy as well as by Marrazzi's test
team The volunteers also may
be checked out with the psychi
atry department when there is I
any doubt about using them as
subjects.
Then, when the volunteer has
been cleared, he is ready to re
ceive a very small dose of LSD.
LSD, short for d-lysergic acid
diethylamide, is derived from a
fungus which grows on the grain
of wheat and rye.
Weird Effects
If taken in excessive doses, it j
produces weird effects: vision and
perception are altered drastically.
One sees the world, as Time mag
azine described it, in "wide -
screen three-dimensional vision.”
sometimes in T e c h n i color.
Thought processes are released
from their usual restraints so
greater insights may develop, in
cluding deep spiritual feelings.
One Harvard student, after a
session with the expelled profes
sor, was almost killed as he walk
ed in front of Boston rush-hour
traffic. He said he thought he
was God and that nothing could
touch him.
Barrazzi said the aim of his
experiment is to find out how
the nervous system handles the
impulses of mentally ill persons.
By impending the flow of im
pulses with LSD, he can imitate
the situation in a mentally ill per
son’s brain, he said.
Interferes with Perception
Marrazzi said LSD first inter
feres with normal perception,
which operates through the
memory part of the brain. Here,
stored information is compared
to new information received
through the five senses and the
brain interprets this. When a per
Artist to Deliver
Festival Lecture
“Art and Knowledge” will be
discussed by New York painter
and writer Fairfield Porter dur
ing a Festival of Arts lecture at
8 p.m. today in 150 Science.
An exhibition of Porter’s works,
including landscapes and por
traits is on display in the lobby
of Lawrence Hall. He studied at
Harvard and the Art Students
league, and later became associ
ate editor of Art News maga
zine.
Porter is now teaching at the
South Hampton Museum on Long
Island. His exhibit, which was
arranged through the Art Asso
ciation of Reed College and the
Tibor de Nagy Gallery in New
York, will be displayed through
March 7.
son first sees a pencil, he records
it; he will use his memory to re
call what a pencil looks like and
is used for the next time he con
fronts one, Marrazzi said.
LSD “closes the door” of trans
mission between memory and new
information, he said. The re
sults are a misinterpretation of
the new information, commonly
called an hallucination.
Thus, a pencil will no longer
be seen as a pencil; it may be
“misinterpreted as a dangerous
weapon,” Marrazzi said. This re
flects the abnormal performance
in an ill person’s mi id.
Marrazzi conducts his experi
ments in an 8-foot high, square,
windowless "room” with three
walls.
Upon entering the room the
volunteer for the experiment no
tices this “room” first; it has sec
tions that completely cover the
walls, ceiling, and floor. A yard
long wooden bar attached to the
far wall can be rotated clockwise
or counter-clockwise by a dial
and it is connected to an electri
cal recorder.
Wears Goggles
The volunteer sits in front of
the “room” and puts on a pair
of goggles. He is instructed to
use the dial to rotate the bar
in order to keep it parallel to
the floor. He does.
But after a moment, the floor
is no longer parallel to the bar;
it is now inclined downward to
the right and the volunteer must
adjust the bar until it is para
llel to the floor again.
Marrazzi explained that the
goggles produce the weird ef
fects with the floor.
But shouldn't (he volunteer
have seen the weird shape ns
soon as he donned the goggles?
No, Mazzarri. explained. This is
a point of the experiment: hu
man perception tells us that rooms
are square, with floors and ceil
ing parallel to one another Not
until the brain "tired" did it al
low the volunteer to see exactly
what was transmitted to the eyes
by the lenses in the goggles.
Distortion Recorded
During this time, the recorder
has recorded the degree the bar
rotated. This is known as the
degree of distortion.
The volunteer is now given a
small dose of LSD and subject
ed to the same experiment.
Again, the degree of rotation is
recorded.
In comparing the two experi
ments, it is discovered that dur
ing the LSD test, the intensity
of distortion (how well a person
can integrate his memory with
the new information) is low, he
said.
Marrazzi said his experiments
with LSD could provide a break
through in diagnosing of sup
posedly mentally ill people, as
sessing the efficiency of present
psychiatric treatments, and deter
mining who is mentally unbal
anced.
Cautious experiments on Mix
controversial drug are also he
ing carried on elsewhere. Some
feel, as does Marra/./.i, that elin
ical experimentation with I.SD
and other hallucinogen* may
open a whole new field in psyehi
atry and psychology and in the
treatment of mental disturbances
But opinions arc sharply dtvid
ed.
Dr. Sterling Bunnell. Jr., a res
ident in psychiatry at the Mount
Zion Medical Center in Sun Fran
! cisco, lists four criticisms of the
drug:
• Usage of the drugs causes
psychosis The experimenter who
takes the drug himself allows it
to subtly influence his judgment
and objectivity.
• It causes passiveness, intro
spection, and a dreamy state
• Various religious practltion
ers regard it as sinful to explore
feelings and emotion outside Un
church Many subjects relate the
psychedelic experience to a reli
gious conversation.
• The long term effect is un
known.
Many Arguments
Mar razz i claims that the drug
can be used safely, however, and
claims his experiment proves his
assertion He also points to the
successful use of LSD in a con
trolled experiment with 5.1*10 per
sons at the l.os Angeles Veteran's
Hospital.
Psychotic reaction lasting over
48 hours was reported in less
than two-tenths of one per cent
of the cases
A student who lias used LSI)
wrote of his experiences in the
Daily Californian, at the Univer
sity of California at Merkcley. He
said that adults had lost the abil
ity to think about the world in
the terms of a child.
lie added, "Fortunately, for us
adults there is an avenue, how
ever temporary, which bypasses
social structure in its journey to
heightened awareness and im
proved consciousness . . , with
this artificial aid. I could once
attain open my eyes to the beau
ty in details and nuances of
color."
Hut psychiatrists Jerome and
Arnold l,udwi|t, writing in Com
prehensive Psychology, caution
ed against any use of LSD "just
for fun." They wrote. "The fun
j maker who takes it for a kick'
most seriously Jeopardizes his
career a* a human being."
So the controversy continues
over LSD medical blessing or
' curse Most likely it can be both,
(Engle Is a staff writer for the
Minnesota Daily, where the story
originally appeared )
Oregon Daily Emerald
THr Orrg»ti l>wly Kmmld i* (rtiMuKri)
five limn ft Sr|.tr«»Uf ftmi ft*e 44 ya * arrii
luring the waiintltc yr *r, rkirpt dutu-g
rktutfiiuiutl jsrtiidli, bf ibf SlW'lfht I'ut it*
i aiton* ilv-atii < I th# Uitivvfvlly of Ortgtm.
>m t.iirUn )-'«/•«jag* |m -I * >fr
gun vr40), .Su> *tii|»ip»n min $5 i*n )*#r,
t/ per trttt•
“Lets unplug the computer, boys!
Start thinking!’’
A lot of people believe that someday
computers will do all their thinking
for them.
Well, a funny thing is going to
happen on the way to the futures
You’re going to have to think
harder and longer than ever.
Computers can’t dream up things
like Picturephone service, Telstar®
satellite, and some of the other
advances in communications we
have made. Of course, we depended
on computers to solve some of the
problems connected with their
development. But computers need
absolutely clear and thorough
instructions, which means a new and
tougher discipline on the
human intelligence.
And it will take more than a computer
to create a pocket phone the size
of a matchbook, let’s say ... or find
a practical way to lock a door or turn
off an oven by remote telephone
control, or to make possible some of
the other things we’ll have someday.
It takes individuals... perhaps you
could be one ...launching new
ideas, proposing innovations
and dreaming dreams.
And someday, we’re going to have to
find a way to dial locations in space;
Makes you think.
Bell System
American Telephone & Telegrapfl
and Associated Companies