News from the Other Side

Towards the end of the seventies, Albert Hofmann was deeply disappointed by the fate of the »wonder drug« he discovered: LSD – My Problem Child was the title of the memoir published around that time. While the substance was celebrated as the royal road to discovering the psyche in the sixties, the setback followed soon after: hallucinogenics were widely made illegal as an effect of the »War on Drugs«.

Today, the taboo seems to fade: the legalisation of marijuana is discussed worldwide; young people flock to the Amazon in order to venture on a journey to the beyond with Ayahuasca; scientists investigate the therapeutic potential of MDMA or the mushroom-based drug Psilocybin; even in mainstream cinema the boundaries of perception are being explored. The authors examine the renaissance of the psychedelic from various perspectives, talk to brain researchers, users and legal experts. They deal with one of the central topics of mankind, intoxication, and explain why prohibition won’t put a stop to it.

»entertaining and told in a truly educational manner.« Welt am Sonntag

»Tracing the renaissance of the psychedelic supplies opponents as well as supporters with good arguments.« Weser-Kurier

»A serious attempt to objectify the debate on drugs […] an easily readable and chronologically disposed cultural history of LSD and other psychedelic drugs« taz