with drug addicts and alcoholics. A 2014 study showed evidence that LSD can have therapeutic benefits in treating anxiety associated with life-threatening diseases. Rick Doblin, an American drug researcher, described the work as "a proof of concept" that he hoped would "break these substances out of the mold of the counterculture and bring them back to the lab as part of a psychedelic renaissance." Resistance and prohibition By the mid-1960s the backlash against the use of LSD and its perceived corrosive effects on cultural values resulted in governmental action to restrict the availability of the drug by making use of it illegal. LSD was declared a "Schedule I" substance, legally designating that the drug has a "high potential for abuse" and is without any "currently accepted medical use in treatment." LSD was removed from legal circulation. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration claimed: The governors of Nevada and California each signed bills into law on May 30, 1966, that make them the first two American states to outlaw the manufacture, sale, and possession of the drug. The law went into effect immediately in Nevada, and on October 6, 1966, in California. Other U.S. states and many other countries soon followed with similar bans. Influential individuals Aldous Huxley Renowned British intellectual Aldous Huxley was one of the most important figures in the early history of LSD. He was a figure of high repute in the world of letters and had become internationally famous through his novels Crome Yellow, Antic Hay and his dystopian novel Brave New World. His experiments with psychedelic drugs (initially mescaline) and his descriptions of them in his writings did much to spread awareness of psychedelic drugs to the general public and arguably helped to glamorize their recreational use, although Huxley himself treated them very seriously. Huxley was introduced to psychedelic drugs in 1953 by a friend, psychiatrist Humphry Osmond. Osmond had become interested in hallucinogens and their relationship to mental illness in the 1940s. During the 1950s, he completed extensive studies of a number of drugs, including mescaline and LSD. As noted above, Osmond had some remarkable success in treating alcoholics with LSD. In May 1953 Osmond gave Huxley his first dose of mescaline at the Huxley home. In 1954 Huxley recorded his experiences in the landmark book The Doors of Perception; the title was drawn from a quotation by British artist and poet William Blake. Huxley