In 1943, biochemist Albert Hoffman accidentally ingested a chemical that he had synthesized from a fungus and discovered that it created hallucinations. The mind-bending chemical was lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and psychiatrists seized on its possibilities. Within a decade, research determined the psychedelic to be safe, nonaddictive , and potentially valuable for treating trauma , substance use disorder , and other conditions. Some midcentury psychiatrists even conducted clinical sessions with patients under the influence .

But by the late 1960s, LSD lost its luster. It became the poster child for counterculture excesses, and laws restricted its access. Now, more than 50 years after it was banned, with growing acceptance of all psychedelic medicines and early research aga

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