This Sept. 29, 2009 photo shows U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Greg Rivers, 20, of Sylvester, Ga., holding his neck while waiting to take psychological tests at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif. The U.S. government is testing hundreds of Marines and soldiers in search of clues that might help predict who is most susceptible to post-traumatic stress disorder.
This Sept. 29, 2009 photo shows U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Greg Rivers, 20, of Sylvester, Ga., holding his neck while waiting to take psychological tests at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif. The U.S. government is testing hundreds of Marines and soldiers in search of clues that might help predict who is most susceptible to post-traumatic stress disorder. 
Millions of Americans suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, including hundreds of thousands of veterans. Yet standard drug and therapy treatments have mixed success rates. Some cases of PTSD are considered untreatable. But researchers are seeing dramatic results from therapy that uses psychedelic drugs to treat PTSD, depression and addiction. Therapy involving substances like Psilocybin and MDMA, better known as ecstasy, show 80 percent success rates years after treatment. Diane and a panel of guests discuss new research on drugs that have long been considered dangerous and illicit.

Guests

  • Dr. Michael Mithoefer a psychiatrist practicing in Charleston, South Carolina. He divides his time between clinical research and outpatient clinical practice specializing in treating post-traumatic stress disorder.
  • Nicholas Blackston marine veteran, served in Iraq. He was a participant in a drug trial for the treatment of post traumatic stress disorder.
  • Dr. James Giordano scholar-in-residence and chief, Neuroethics Studies Program at the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University Medical Center
  • Tom Shroder author and editor. His non-fiction books include: "Acid Test," "Old Souls," and "Fire on the Horizon: the Untold Story of the Gulf Oil Disaster."

Read An Excerpt: 'Acid Test'

Excerpted from “Acid Test: LSD, Ecstasy, and the Power to Heal” by Tom Shroder. Copyright 2014 Blue Rider Press. All rights reserved.