Episode 47: How LSD Research in Canada Helped Treat Alcohol Use Disorder with Dr. Erika Dyck

March 29th, 2026  |  39 mins 41 secs

In this episode of the MAPS Canada Podcast, host Matt Hamel speaks with Dr. Erika Dyck about the remarkable early wave of psychedelic research conducted in Saskatchewan during the 1950s and 1960s.

Researchers based in the Canadian prairies, including Humphry Osmond, developed an ambitious program investigating the potential of LSD as a treatment for alcoholism. During this period, Osmond also famously coined the term “psychedelic” in correspondence with Aldous Huxley, helping shape the language that still defines the field today.

Dr. Dyck explores the broader scientific and cultural context that allowed this pioneering research to flourish. The conversation also examines the social and political forces that abruptly halted this early wave of work, and how the insights from this era of Canadian research continues to influence today’s renewed interest in psychedelic science, including modern studies on psychedelics and alcohol use disorder.