2012/03/08 by Teri Suzanne Krebs, Pål-Ørjan Johansen · 583 citations
Psychology · Neuroscience · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Medicine · #Psychedelics and Drug Studies #Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior #Plant and fungal interactions #Lysergic acid diethylamide #Randomized controlled trial #Context (archaeology) #Meta-analysis #Psychology #Clinical trial #Clinical psychology #Psychiatry #Medicine #Internal medicine
paper · doi:10.1177/0269881112439253
published in Journal of Psychopharmacology 26(7), 994-1002 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2012/03/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Assessments of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in the treatment of alcoholism have not been based on quantitative meta-analysis. Hence, we performed a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials in order to evaluate the clinical efficacy of LSD in the treatment of alcoholism. Two reviewers independently extracted the data, pooling the effects using odds ratios (ORs) by a generic inverse variance, random effects model. We identified six eligible trials, including 536 participants. There was evidence for a beneficial effect of LSD on alcohol misuse (OR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.36-2.84; p = 0.0003). Between-trial heterogeneity for the treatment effects was negligible (I² = 0%). Secondary outcomes, risk of bias and limitations are discussed. A single dose of LSD, in the context of various alcoholism treatment programs, is associated with a decrease in alcohol misuse.