Bill Wilson, AA, and LSD, wow.

[yesplease]

This is very interesting reading:

LSD could help alcoholics quit, AA founder believed - Shroomery News Service - Shroomery Message Board

Anybody tried it? :wow:

[DriftyAlison0]

Bill Wilson, AA, and LSD, wow.

How can trading one addiction to another be helpful? I never tried it, but if you do, you could trade one addiction for another and that is not good.

[Jazi's Mum]

Bill Wilson, AA, and LSD, wow.

This is interesting because it shows, I think, that the founders of AA would not have been averse to using drugs to help drunks kick their addiction - if the drugs we have today were known to them.

In my opinion it's like doctors reluctance to embrace new ideas simply because they want to cling to the old ways. There was a time when doctors washing their hands before they touched a patient was considered a crack-pot theory.
JMum

[yesplease]

Bill Wilson, AA, and LSD, wow.

I'm not sure it's trading one addiction for another, although I understand that concern. It's probably more about finding a higher power. People who use psychedelics often say they have a spiritual experience. It doesn't surprise me that hallucinogens can do that.

What I do find surprising is that we didn't know about Bill W's experience until recently. I'm reading a book called Distilled Spirits that reveals a lot more about AA's founder than I ever learned in a meeting.

What Bill W. told Carl Jung About his Awesome LSD Trip | Don Lattin | Blog Post | Red Room

LSD is not considered to be addictive and was shown to be very effective for many alcoholics back in the 50's and 60's when it was used in a therapeutic setting. Unfortunately, the government shut down the research when it outlawed the drug but there appears to be renewed interest.

I'm not saying to go out and drop acid. I just think we should be open minded about what works, what doesn't, and why.

[YouKayBee]

Bill Wilson, AA, and LSD, wow.

I've not read the link yet but I was once told LSD will either give you a good head-sorting experience, or it'll permanently leave you with bad flash backs.

I'm kinda glad I never went there!

[Poink]

Bill Wilson, AA, and LSD, wow.

Everything points to Bill W. believing that there would one day be a medical cure, but that until that day someone had to do something to try to save alcoholics. He took inspiration from a couple of places and basically single-handedly formed AA, an amazing feat that has saved a lot of lives. But he never stopped looking for a scientific cure. He thought that it might be LSD or Niacin, but he was a strong believer in AA working with medical science, which makes it seem kind of funny that so many people in AA today are so anti-meds in any form whatsoever.

[bettygirl]

Bill Wilson, AA, and LSD, wow.

Poink;1609121 wrote: Everything points to Bill W. believing that there would one day be a medical cure, but that until that day someone had to do something to try to save alcoholics. He took inspiration from a couple of places and basically single-handedly formed AA, an amazing feat that has saved a lot of lives. But he never stopped looking for a scientific cure. He thought that it might be LSD or Niacin, but he was a strong believer in AA working with medical science, which makes it seem kind of funny that so many people in AA today are so anti-meds in any form whatsoever.

:thanks:


I also read that bill w never lost his obsession about alcohol and thought about it everyday until he died about 15-16 years after getting sober. he wanted a cure all, and he looked for it anywhere he could, and being a physician, he believed in science (yay) and a "higher power".

[bettygirl]

Bill Wilson, AA, and LSD, wow.

I have also read about a drug in central America that people take to get over addictions...in my head, I say whatever works. LSD is not addictive, so it might be a good tool to help addicts get free from the bondage of addiction. it opens up doors to other ideas and ways of thinking that might help someone overcome. if LSD were addictive, I and many other people would be walking around tripping balls right now!

[Poink]

Bill Wilson, AA, and LSD, wow.

Actually, Bill W. was a stock trader and a business man. It was Dr. Bob, the person credited with co-founding AA, who was a physician. Shortly before he died, he said something like he loved the taste of scotch whiskey, and that he would bet that it would taste just as good after all these years but that he had never been tempted to take a drink. He always kept a jug in his house to wean converts but never touched it himself.

Bill W. was basically kicked off of the Board of AA because of some of his views, primarily the ones on LSD.

[Jazi's Mum]

Bill Wilson, AA, and LSD, wow.

Hi Poink. I see this below apparently from information you have on Dr. Bob:

He always kept a jug in his house to wean converts but never touched it himself.

If that's true does it mean that he was not always in favour of quitting cold turkey depending on the situation? How times have changed if that's the case...I'm wondering if the AA model has hardened over time? If the co-founder actually thought there could be a 'weaning' process - that's totally cool in my mind. And changes how some of us view the original AA, and how dogmatic AA has become. JMum

[Samstone]

Bill Wilson, AA, and LSD, wow.

Ok
I guess it needs to be said
Being a user of LSD in the past, I cannot in my wildest dreams think you would use this drug to combat AL

[Jazi's Mum]

Bill Wilson, AA, and LSD, wow.

Samstone, you are so right! However, just think how long ago this was happening. No naltrexone, no topamax, no baclofen, no cameral - whatever - not much of anything especially since to be a drunk was to be a very weak person who barely rated any sympathy at all.
JMum

[Poink]

Bill Wilson, AA, and LSD, wow.

JM, that was before they used phenobarbitol and librium to prevent DTs and seizures, and most of the folks that Dr. Bob brought into his house were what we would consider low-bottom alcoholics, subject to such events. Basically he was detoxing them with booze. But yeah, many of the groups I have visited would have objected.

[bettygirl]

Bill Wilson, AA, and LSD, wow.

Poink;1610183 wrote: Actually, Bill W. was a stock trader and a business man. It was Dr. Bob, the person credited with co-founding AA, who was a physician. Shortly before he died, he said something like he loved the taste of scotch whiskey, and that he would bet that it would taste just as good after all these years but that he had never been tempted to take a drink. He always kept a jug in his house to wean converts but never touched it himself.

Bill W. was basically kicked off of the Board of AA because of some of his views, primarily the ones on LSD.

jeeze, I didn't even think before I posted that... oops! you are right. there is a whole section in the BB about the dr's opinion...:thanks:

[whatever...]

Bill Wilson, AA, and LSD, wow.

What's BB?