University of Virginia Library

'Physical Insult To Nervous System'

University Doctor Emphasizes Drug Dangers

By Henry Williams
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

"Hallucinogenic drugs used in unauthorized
circumstances are a physical
insult to the central nervous system;
and in a person who is already disturbed,
they may bring to the surface
an underlying pathology."

This was the statement of associate
professor of psychiatry at the University,
John Buckman, in an interview
on the subject of the recent article in
The Cavalier Daily concerning a student
dealer of marijuana and LSD.

Dr. Buckman took his medical
degree from London University in 1950.
He was visiting professor of psychiatry
at the University in 1962, and he
joined the Medical School faculty
permanently in January, 1966.

Papers Published

Having worked with LSD and other
similar drugs since 1956, Dr. Buckman
has published twelve papers and a book
on the subject, "Lysergic Acid and
Ritalin in the Treatment of Neurosis."
His research has been primarily in the
field of psychotherapy and the treatment
of neurosis.

Dr. Buckman said that all hallucinogens
affect the brain by disturbing
the chemistry of the synapses, thus
"altering one's psychic experience of
the world." Most users, he stated, take
them for the sensation produced, consisting
ideally of euphoria, elation, and
fantasy, which is often of a sexual
nature.

"However," he added, "the effects
are not generally related to antisocial
conduct; the drugs principally amplify
the underlying nature of the personality."

Most people who use marijuana, he
noted, will at most "take it only a few
times and forget about it." He felt that
it was seldom that the average adolescent
is led to other habit-forming drugs
by marijuana.

Sensation Seekers

Where there is a movement to sell
drugs, Dr. Buckman said, most of those
who follow it are sensation seekers.
However, there may be some who take
drugs because they "feel they don't
belong, or can't communicate;" of those
a few may use it as an alternative to
medical treatment.

Thus drugs such as LSD may increase
not only artistic creativity but
also tendencies to suicide or schizophrenia.

In a comparison of various "psychologically
habituating" drugs, Dr.
Buckman noted that LSD, marijuana,
and amphetamines (speed) are relatively
cheap compared with heroin.

The average medical dosage of LSD
costs twenty-five cents, while the
amount normally used for a "trip" on
a sugar cube is usually about four
times that amount.

Heroin is the strongest addictive drug
known, he stated, whereas very few
users of marijuana remain delinquent.

When asked of his opinion on the
mass media directed toward psychedelic
culture, Dr. Buckman said
that industry and commerce have exploited
this phenomenon in every way
possible. "Call junk psychedelic," he
said, "and it will sell." This is an indirect
result of over-publicizing hallucinogenic
drugs, he added.

As for the legalization of marijuana,
Dr. Buckman noted, "It is wrong to
have on the statutes too many rules
which can't be enforced. . .although I
do not advocate making it legal overnight,
surely outlawing it does not stop
its use."

Dr. Buckman felt that education is

"the number one solution" to the problem.
He said that he doubted that
legalization of marijuana would cause
its use to be more widespread if
people were educated about it, except
for a possible increase in the first
couple of years.

"This happens whenever you change
the status of things," he stated.

Dr. Buckman commented on the attitude
of the South to marijuana by
noting that Dean Monroe of Harvard
wrote a letter similar to Mr. Runk's on
the subject, only a few months earlier.
But in California, he said, "Somehow
it worries everybody less."

California Attitude

He attributed this to a number of
possible causes, one being their proximity
to American Indians who are
authorized to use peyote in certain
religious ceremonies. Although the drug
is revered and kept by the priests, he
said, some have used this as a justification
for its universal legalization.

On the other hand, Dr. Buckman
added, perhaps Californians have this
attitude because they see themselves as
inhabitants of the last frontier, and
therefore they are more adventuresome.

Dr. Buckman emphasized that there
is no medical value in marijuana, and
that continuous use of it "shows one's
personality deficiency, as if he were
searching for a magic wand."