An LSD Passage

A review of Simon’s Daughter (1984) by Ronald Sandison

The LSD research of Dr Ronald Sandison is a key part of the drug’s early story in the British Isles. He was one of the first people to import and study it, and even founded a specialised LSD unit at Powick Hospital, near Worcester. There he pioneered psycholytic therapy; a series of small dose drug sessions supplemented with psychotherapy. This research garnered international recognition for Sandison, leading to speaking engagements around the world.

Early on in his LSD journey, on 30 April, 1955, Sandison set sail from Merseyside on the transatlantic cargo liner RMS Parthia, on his way to address a roundtable for the American Psychiatric Association. Launched in 1947, the Parthia embodied postwar Britain—elegant amenities for first-class passengers, yet it was a poorly functioning sea boat that needed stabilisers attached in 1954.

During the crossing, Sandison ‘abandoned myself to the pleasures of travel’ after several busy years of clinical work; the Parthia’s cocktail bar no doubt be…