During the first three hours, Professor of Psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine Dr. Charles Grob and Marilyn Schiltz PhD with the Institute of Noetic Sciences discussed new research with hallucinogenic substances from a medical-holistic perspective. Promising experiments using hallucinogens to treat difficult conditions such as alcoholism were conducted during the 1950s & 60s but were eventually curtailed because the drugs became illegal. However, several new studies have been approved in the last few years, reported Grob.
Grob has been involved in a experimental trial, treating advanced stage cancer patients with psilocybin. Results have shown an improvement in the quality of the patients' lives that lasted for up to months after the use of the drug, he noted. The University of Arizona has also found promising results using psilocybin to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder. The methodology to evaluate such experiments has improved since the early experiments of the 50s & 60s, he added.
In addition to the medical findings, Schiltz spoke about the transformative qualities that hallucinogens can bring to people, opening them up to a broader sense of reality. Many indigenous groups have acquired types of wisdom through psychoactive plant use, she detailed. Schiltz will be one of the presenters at the upcoming Consciousness in Action conference.
The last hour of the show featured Open Lines, with callers sharing their ghost stories.