Erika Dyck: Who is Keeping Tabs? LSD Lessons from the Past

Erika Dyck examines the historical context of mid-twentieth century LSD research, particularly in Saskatchewan, Canada. Medical history is analyzed to highlight how psychedelic research initially emerged from a multidisciplinary academic spirit that bridged science, psychiatry, and humanitarian perspectives. Psychedelic state exploration was viewed as an expansive research area rather than a focus only on clinical pathology. The development of the term psychedelic and the role of key figures like Aldous Huxley and Humphry Osmond are revisited to show how early experiments were embedded in a nuanced landscape of cross-disciplinary collaboration. Historical records of patients and researchers reveal a more multifaceted, less dogmatic era of psychiatric exploration that predates modern regulatory constraints and contemporary research models.