Weekly Planet | THIS WEEK IN TALK OF THE TOWN

Weekly Planet | THIS WEEK IN TALK OF THE TOWN: "LSD For OCD?
A Sarasota nonprofit sees a non-traditional remedy for OCD.

BY ALLYSON GONZALEZ

Rick Doblin had a vision. The Chicago-born Jew had grown up under the shadow of World War II, and came of age feeling that the capacities of the human brain had been undernourished and overlooked. The mind, Doblin thought, was a powerful tool that often fell short of its full potential and, as a result, a profound cultural insanity had emerged.

He arrived at these conclusions in 1982, 10 years after dropping out of New College as a freshman. His first LSD trip, just months after he enrolled in the school, had cracked open the idea that emotional transformation could be achieved through psychedelic drug use. By bringing the unconsciousness to the surface through psychedelics, Doblin felt the future of humanity could change. Everyone from seekers to those with a variety of physical and mental struggles -- including Obsessive Compulsive Disorder -- could benefit."