Special K for Depression Renews Hope in Hallucinogens

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-08/special-k-for-depression-renews-hope-in-hallucinogens.html

Ketamine, used as an anesthetic during the Vietnam War, was deemed revolutionary when it was discovered in the early 1960s just after psilocybin, which gives “magic mushrooms” their mind-altering potential. Research on psychedelic drugs was curtailed after experimentation outside labs led to widespread abuse, said Charles S. Grob, professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Tests to determine whether ketamine, a hallucinogen commonly used to anesthetize horses, can offer a new avenue for relieving the low mood and self-esteem and feelings of hopelessness that plague as many as 121 million people worldwide