This episode is the first in our two-part series on Canada’s captivating history with psychedelics. Join us as we take a trip down memory lane...
Did you know Canada was once the leading country in psychedelic research? Beginning in the late-1940s, Canada’s first so-called socialist provincial government in Saskatchewan set out to improve the state of mental health care with research at the Weyburn Mental Hospital. Over the course of the 1950s, groundbreaking research with LSD and mescaline was conducted at Weyburn and LSD made its way to British Columbia which became home to the most prominent mental healthcare facility in the world during the 1960s. In this episode, we deliver a behind-the-scenes look at the introduction of LSD and peyote into Canada and the story behind the fascinating scientists and researchers that pioneered psychedelic research in the realm of psychiatry, while also advocating Indigenous Peoples and their cultural rights to peyote.
This episode was produced and edited by Brendon Campbell. It was researched and written by Jaipreet Mattu, Sean Hallam, Rebecca Troock, Sidath Rankaduwa, Monica Lau, Ross Crockford, and Bob Sybydlo. Readings by Sean Hallam, Jaipreet Mattu, and Brendon Campbell. Original music and audio engineering by Andrew Illmann. We’d like to give a special thanks to Ross Crockford for providing research material and helping us make this episode come alive.
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Sources:
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Crockford, R. (2001b). Dr. Yes. Western Living. December 2021 issue.
Dyck, E. (2019). Psychedelic Research in 1950 Saskatchewan. In The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/psychedelic-research-in-1950s-saskatchewan. Accessed 25 January 2021.
Dyck, E. (2012). Psychedelic Psychiatry: LSD on the Canadian Prairies. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press.
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Dyck, E. (2006). Hitting Highs at Rock Bottom’: LSD Treatment for Alcoholism, 1950–1970. Social History of Medicine, 19(2), 313–329.
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