Studies indicate that LSD may help treat alcoholism or improve the
quality of life for terminal cancer patients, but historical taboos
have hindered the psychedelic's benefits.

David Nichols, professor of medical chemistry and molecular pharmacy,
said previous research by another institution explored the
administration of LSD to endstage cancer patients. Anxiety and
physical pain were alleviated for a majority of the patients, and
Nichols traced the relief back to a loss of the fear of death.

"The interesting thing about psychedelics is that they profoundly
change the way one views the world," he said. "What part of the brain
is so important that it can change the way we perceive reality?
That's what keeps me interested."

Nichols has been studying psychedelics' effects on brain chemistry
since graduate school in 1969, and explained that LSD serves as a
molecular tool to help understand brain functions, which could
decipher how emotions are created or find a cure for depression.

"Science is very reductionist. We could say that any feeling is a
neurological change," he said.

Nichols' research, a combination of chemistry, pharmacology and
neuroscience, is performed by studying a range of subjects such as
cloned brain receptors, rats' behavior, molecular synthesis and
computer models. Some of his findings were published in 2004, and
included information such as how LSD works in the brain.

According to Nichols, brain receptors detect novelty and make people
take notice of things, such as when a glass breaks in a quiet room.
When a person takes LSD, the same receptors may fire and cause an
everyday object to seem interesting.

"It creates novelty where novelty doesn't exist," Nichols said.

In addition to his work with LSD, Nichols performed the earliest work
on what effects Ecstasy has on the brain, as well as research to
activate receptors in schizophrenics' brains to help improve their
memory and cognitive skills. Although the study is in early clinical
trials, the results may help those suffering from schizophrenia to
function successfully in the workplace or prompt a better treatment
for Parkinson's Disease.

The stigmas surrounding the use of psychedelics, however, has
prohibited many hypotheses from developing.

"The industry isn't interested," Nichols said. "No one has really
cared much about these."

LSD, discovered in 1943, was hailed as a vehicle to understand
emotional disorders because of its similarity to the chemical
serotonin in the brain. After the Z60s, though, the taboo of LSD's
counterculture reputation extinguished serious studies.

Nichols said, "Imagine if someone discovered the transistor and then
abandoned it."

Although Nichols said he has a lack of colleagues, recent findings at
Johns Hopkins' University, which showed test subjects believed a
controlled experience with LSD to be life-changing and spiritual, may
help revive and ignite interest in the field.

"What this study will do ... is help this field back up and help it
be explored the way it should be."

Nichols, who has a license to test substances deemed to be illegal
drugs by the government such as LSD, does not advocate the
recreational use of psychedelics.

"I think we should understand what purpose and use they have," he
said. "I think they have medical uses, they just haven't been studied."