Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies  The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is a membership-based 501(c)(3) organization working to raise awareness and understanding of psychedelic substances. MAPS was founded in 1986 by Rick Doblin, and is now based in Santa Cruz, California. MAPS helps scientists design, fund, and obtain regulatory approval for studies of the safety and effectiveness of a number of controlled substances. MAPS works closely with government regulatory authorities worldwide such as the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to ensure that all of its sponsored research protocols conform to ethical and procedural guidelines for clinical drug research. Included in MAPS' research efforts are MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine) for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); LSD and psilocybin for the treatment of anxiety, cluster headaches, and depression associated with end-of-life issues; ibogaine for the treatment of opiate addiction, ayahuasca for the treatment of drug addiction and PTSD; medical cannabis for PTSD; and alternative delivery systems for medical cannabis such as vaporizers and water pipes. MAPS officials say the organization's ultimate goal is to establish a network of clinics where these and other treatments can be provided together with other therapies under the guidance of trained, licensed physicians and therapists. In addition to sponsoring scientific research, MAPS organizes continuing medical education (CME) conferences, sponsors and presents lectures and seminars on the state of psychedelic and medical marijuana research, provides psychedelic harm reduction services through the Zendo Project at events such as music festivals and Burning Man, and publishes a triannual magazine-style publication, the MAPS Bulletin, with updates about its ongoing research efforts, legal struggles, and educational initiatives. MAPS also publishes books dealing with the science, history, and culture of psychedelic research and psychedelic therapy. The psychoactive properties of LSD were discovered in 1943 by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann when he accidentally ingested a small dose through the skin while studying the compound. Controlled research on human subjects began soon after and Hofmann's colleague Werner Stoll published his findings about the basic effects of LSD on human subjects in 1947. After the earliest European and American research efforts investigated whether LSD could reliably induce psychotic disorders, some began to evaluate the potential for LSD to assist in traditional Freudian psychotherapy in the 1950s. Studies into the effects of LSD on human creativity and spirituality were also conducted during this period. One notable researcher was Humphry Osmond whose team treated mental patients in the Weyburn Mental Hospital in Saskatchewan with psychedelics, which he thought gave insight into the way psychotic people see the world, but later realized they had a wider potential.