techknow's cara santa maria met with dr charles grob a pioneer in the therapuetic use of mdma and other psychoactive drugs. she visited his high security lab at the harbor-ucla medical center. >> in a safe that's bolted to the ground behind one locked door and then behind this other one here, researchers at harbor-ucla medical center keep their mdma under lock and key, literally. >> grob says that as controversial as the drug is today, it wasn't initially viewed as an illegal street drug. >> research of psychedelic compounds in the 50s and early/mid 60s was really the cutting edge of psychiatric research. there was great excitement and enthusiasm about the range of effects of these drugs, how they might facilitate our understanding of the brain. unfortunately by the mid/late 60s it became associated with a politically active counter culture. >> recreational use of psychedelics was on the rise. so were overdoses and deaths associated with them. so doctor grob says that pressure against psychedelic research began to build. >> there was a great deal of cultural upheaval and by and large, p