Illegal drugs make headlines everyday, but LSD, otherwise known as Lysergic acid diethylamide, has been largely absent from the news in recent decades.

But the hallucinogen is back as researchers are giving the illegal drug a second look. New findings suggest LSD may be a treatment for alcoholism. In a study published earlier this year in the in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, researchers affiliated with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Harvard University looked at the results of six studies of LSD, conducted between 1966 and 1970.

The researchers found "evidence for a clear and consistent beneficial effect of LSD for treating alcohol dependency," according to a written statement released by the journal's publisher. "It was not unusual for patients following their LSD experience to become much more self-accepting, to show greater openness and accessibility, and to adopt a more positive, optimistic view of their capacities to face future problems," wrote one of the earlier studies' authors.

Although LSD is not coming off the Drug Enforcement Administration's list of illegal substances any time soon, it may come as no surprise to Swiss psychiatrist Peter Gasser, M.D., that researchers have studied the possible benefit to controlled use of the drug. , Gasser is set to publish findings from his four-year study that looks at the anti-anxiety benefits of LSD for those suffering life-threatening illness.