Babooons self-administrating LSD in experimental study

[Mescaline]

I haven't bee here on this forum for a long time but I just came across this piece of, well, interesting science and this seemed like a good place to drop it, hehe. Obviously the author has her own research goals, but the interesting thing I take from this, by reinterpreting their admittedly limited results, is that at least some baboons seem to actually like taking LSD every now and then, haha! And they do it in moderation (of course! ). Kind of cool if you ask me considering the pretty cruel adverse reactions some other animals have shown in studies from back in the 60s or so (cats, dogs and such). Baboons are different!

Perhaps we'd better prepare ourselves for are real life test of the Stoned Ape Theory

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An intravenous self-administration procedure for assessing the reinforcing effects of hallucinogens in nonhuman primates. Goodwin AK1.

Abstract
Introduction
Self-administration procedures are the gold standard for investigating the reinforcing effects of drugs. The notable exception to good correspondence between laboratory self-administration studies and human drug taking behavior has historically been the classic hallucinogens.

Method
The present study used a well-established daily access procedure, followed by a novel intermittent access procedure, to investigate the reinforcing effects of LSD in baboons.

Results
Rates of self-injection in the daily access procedure were minimal. One baboon self-administered 0.001 mg/kg and a second baboon self-administered 0.0032 mg/kg above vehicle levels, though rates of self-injection were clearly low and neither of the two remaining baboons self-administered any LSD dose tested in the daily access procedure. Rates of self-injection using an intermittent access procedure with discriminative stimuli resulted in two doses of LSD being self-administered above vehicle levels in two of three baboons tested (0.01 and 0.032 mg/kg in one baboon; 0.0032 and 0.01 mg/kg in a second). In addition, the number of self-injections at these doses was higher (range = 3–6 injections) in the intermittent access procedure than in the daily access procedure (range = 1–2 injections).

Discussion
The present study is the first to demonstrate LSD self-administration in a laboratory animal, and though the results are limited, they indicate intermittent access procedures with discriminative stimuli may provide a reliable and valid method for investigating the reinforcing effects of IV self-administered hallucinogens in laboratory animals. The usefulness of such procedures should be further evaluated in a larger number of subjects.

Keywords

• Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD);
• Abuse liability;
• Hallucinogen;
• Reinforcing effects;
• Intravenous (IV) self-administration;
• Operant behavior

An intravenous self-administration procedure for assessing the reinforcing effects of hallucinogens in nonhuman primates
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27473331

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