Contemporary Drug Problems
August 11, 2026
Alana Roy, M.l. Williams, Kimberley Day et al.
Alternative healthcare practices using psychedelic “plant medicines,” such as ayahuasca, challenge current prohibition and mainstream healthcare frameworks. Despite the criminalization of ayahuasca's active component, N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), Australian ayahuasca dietero networks have developed sophisticated healthcare systems with systematic assessment processes, safety mechanisms, and...
Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)
June 1, 2026
Gabrielle Smith, Timothy Piatkowski, Jason Ferris et al.
1 citation
While research on novel therapeutic applications of ketamine is expanding, particularly in controlled settings, there is limited exploration of its consumption related to self-treatment of psychiatric conditions. This study investigated the characteristics of people who use ketamine and psychedelics for self-treatment of psychiatric conditions, providing insight into patterns of use within this...
Drugs Education Prevention and Policy
March 22, 2026
Jordan J. Negrine, Stephen Bright, Monica J Barratt et al.
Background Following Australia’s landmark 2023 decision to approve psilocybin and MDMA for clinical use, psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) is beginning to emerge within regulated mental health settings. This study investigates psychologists’ views on the relevance of psychedelic therapists’ lived-living experience (LLE) with psychedelics. While discussion around LLE is growing, little is known...
Journal of sex research
January 16, 2026
Mason Levey, Benjamin Bonenti, Timothy Piatkowski et al.
Psychedelics are theorized to enhance emotional openness and interpersonal attunement, but their effects in sexual contexts - particularly among those with a history of sexual trauma - remain underexplored. This study investigated whether individuals who had used psychedelics to cope with or overcome sexual trauma (Psy-CST) reported different experiences of sexual communication and emotional...
Drug and Alcohol Dependence
July 1, 2025
Dilara Bahceci, Krista J. Siefried, Maureen Steele et al.
Methamphetamine use disorder, associated with significant morbidity and mortality, has limited effective treatments. Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy shows promise, but data on its safety and efficacy in this population are limited. This exploratory study describes the demographic, substance use, and mental health characteristics of people who used methamphetamine and psychedelics and the...
Toxicon : official journal of the International Society on Toxinology
June 7, 2025
Simon A Beck, Caine Barlow, Liam Engel et al.
4 citations
Psilocybin-containing mushrooms have long been used for their psychoactive effects, but emerging evidence suggests that certain lignicolous ("wood-loving") species may also induce a distinct toxidrome known as "wood-lover paralysis" (WLP). WLP is characterised by transient weakness following mushroom ingestion, but its aetiology and prevalence remain poorly understood. In this paper, we present...
Drug and Alcohol Review
May 1, 2025
Joel Keygan, Breanna Willoughby, Raimondo Bruno et al.
1 citation
Despite high-dose 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) drug alerts being distributed, no research has been conducted as to changes in use in response. This study aimed to determine if: (i) high-dose MDMA drug alerts, and (ii) varied descriptions of dose, effects and actions to reduce harm were associated with intentions to reduce the initial MDMA dose in a hypothetical scenario. Australians...
Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)
2025
Karen P Barrios, Dean J Connolly, Jason Ferris et al.
17 citations
Ketamine's popularity has surged globally in the past decade, especially among young men. Emergency department visits due to its toxicity remain relatively rare, often linked to co-occurring use of other substances. Using data from the Global Drug Survey (GDS) 2018, this study explored the correlates associated with lifetime and past-year ketamine use, and estimated the socio-demographic...
Addiction (Abingdon, England)
2025
Leigh Coney, Amy Peacock, Daan van der Gouwe et al.
8 citations
Drugs sold on cryptomarkets are thought to have lower levels of adulteration and higher strength compared with those sourced off-line. The present study aimed to determine whether cryptomarket and off-line-sourced 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methamphetamine (MDMA), cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) differed in adulteration and strength. A between-groups design...
Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)
August 1, 2024
Luke Baxter, Cheneal Puljević, Tim Piatkowski et al.
3 citations
The recreational use of LSD, a synthetic psychedelic drug, has surged in recent years, coinciding with a renewed research focus on its potential psychotherapeutic properties. This study aims to describe the experiences and perceptions of individuals engaging in LSD use for the first time, derived from a large international sample. This study utilised 2018 Global Drug Survey data collected from...
J Psychopharmacol
July 29, 2024
Claire Walker, Timothy Piatkowski, Jason Ferris et al.
4 citations
INTRODUCTION: This study explores how individuals self-treat psychiatric conditions with psychedelics outside medical guidance bridging the gap in understanding unregulated therapeutic use. AIMS: The primary objective was to extract specific factors underlying the effects of psychedelics, exploring their relationship with the need for medication, particularly for mental health conditions like...
Drug and Alcohol Review
March 4, 2024
Monica J. Barratt, Matthew Ball, Gabriel T. W. Wong et al.
18 citations
INTRODUCTION: Prohibited drugs in unregulated markets may be adulterated, resulting in increased risks for people who use drugs. This study investigated levels of drug adulteration and substitution of drugs purchased in Australia from cryptomarkets. METHODS: Data were collected from a darknet forum called Test4Pay from 1 September 2022 to 23 August 2023. Posts were included if they reported the...
The International journal on drug policy
2024
Leigh Coney, Amy Peacock, Aili Malm et al.
2 citations
Drug use and trading are typically social activities; however, supply through cryptomarkets can occur without any in-person social contact. People who use drugs alone may be at higher risk of experiencing harms, for example, due to lack of others who may call for emergency assistance. Alternatively, cryptomarkets may be a source of harm reduction information and drugs with better-known content...
September 21, 2023
Monica J Barratt, Matthew Ball, Gabriel Wong et al.
1 citation
Prohibited drugs in unregulated markets are often adulterated, resulting in increased risks for consumers. This study investigated levels of drug adulteration and substitution in drugs purchased by Australians from cryptomarkets.Methods.Data were collected from the Dread subforum /d/Test4Pay from 1/9/2022 to 23/8/2023. Posts were included if they reported the results of drug samples submitted...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
August 19, 2023
Liam Engel, Monica J Barratt, Jason Ferris et al.
7 citations
Abstract Background and Aims Both Peyote and San Pedro cacti contain mescaline, a classical psychedelic eliciting mystical and visual effects, but only Peyote is a vulnerable species. We sought to address the questions 1; do people who use Peyote substitute with San Pedro, and vice versa, and; 2. how popular is the use of wild harvested mescaline cactus compared with the use of cultivated...
Research Square
September 23, 2022
M. Grifell, Guillem Mir, Roger Estelrich-Azubide et al.
Abstract Background Despite the proliferation of new psychoactive substances (NPS) in recent years, there are many gaps in our understanding of the phenomena. Current methodologies still fail to provide timely and scientifically reliable knowledge between controlled trials and online data reports that lack analytical confirmation of the reported substances. This study tests a new online,...
Drug and Alcohol Review
July 1, 2022
Monica J Barratt, Alexia Maddox, Naomi Smith et al.
19 citations
Digital drugs, or binaural beats claimed to elicit specific cognitive or emotional states, are a phenomenon about which little is known. In this brief report, we describe demographic and drug use correlates of binaural beat use, patterns of use, reasons for use and methods of access. The Global Drug Survey 2021 was translated into 11 languages; 30 896 responses were gathered from 22 countries....
Psychopharmacology
May 1, 2022
Sam Craft, Jason Ferris, Monica J Barratt et al.
19 citations
Synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs) may be used as an alternative to natural cannabis; however, they may carry a greater risk of problematic use and withdrawal. This study aimed to characterise the withdrawal symptom profile of SCRAs and compare their profile of effect with high-potency herbal cannabis. Global Drug Survey data (2015 and 2016) were used to access a clinically...
The International journal on drug policy
November 1, 2021
Amy Peacock, Daisy Gibbs, Olivia Price et al.
12 citations
Colorimetric reagent kits can provide information about the compounds present in drug samples. This study aimed to identify patterns and correlates of colorimetric reagent kit use, as well as behavioural outcomes of testing, amongst people who use illegal stimulants in a context that lacks permanent government-sanctioned drug checking services. Australians residing in capital cities who...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
October 8, 2020
Rotem Petranker, Thomas Anderson, Larissa J. Maier et al.
57 citations
Background: Microdosing psychedelics is the practice of taking small, sub-hallucinogenic doses of lysergic acid diethylamide or psilocybin-containing mushrooms. Despite its surging popularity, little is known about the specific intentions to start microdosing and the effects of this practice. Aims: First, we aimed to replicate previous findings regarding the subjective benefits and challenges...
April 12, 2020
Rotem Petranker, Thomas Anderson, Larissa J. Maier et al.
14 citations
preprint
Background: Microdosing psychedelics – the practice of taking small, sub-hallucinogenic doses of substances like LSD or psilocybin-containing mushrooms – is becoming increasingly popular. Despite its surging popularity, little is known about the effects of this practice. Aims: This research had three main aims. First, we attempted to replicate previous findings regarding the subjective benefits...
Scientific Reports
February 28, 2018
Will Lawn, Jaime E. C. Hallak, José A. Crippa et al.
3 citations
A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has not been fixed in the paper.
Scientific Reports
November 3, 2017
Will Lawn, Jaime E. C. Hallak, José Alexandre S. Crippa et al.
78 citations
Abstract Ayahuasca is a natural psychedelic brew, which contains dimethyltryptamine (DMT). Its potential as a psychiatric medicine has recently been demonstrated and its non-medical use around the world appears to be growing. We aimed to investigate well-being and problematic alcohol use in ayahuasca users, and ayahuasca’s subjective effects. An online, self-selecting, global survey examining...
Human Psychopharmacology Clinical and Experimental
May 1, 2017
Daniel Martins, Monica J Barratt, Cristiana Vale Pires et al.
76 citations
Abstract Objective This paper describes the misrepresentation of LSD at Portugal's Boom Festival 2014 and the prevention of unintentional consumption of DOx and 25x‐NBOMe among LSD consumers attending a drug‐checking service. Methods Two hundred forty‐five drug samples expected to contain LSD were submitted to the drug‐checking service for chemical analysis. One hundred ten post‐test...
Human Psychopharmacology Clinical and Experimental
May 1, 2017
Leigh Coney, Larissa J. Maier, Jason Ferris et al.
18 citations
Abstract Objective This study aimed to describe self‐reported patterns of use and effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) analogues (AL‐LAD, 1P‐LSD, and ETH‐LAD) and the characteristics of those who use them. Methods An anonymous self‐selected online survey of people who use drugs (Global Drug Survey 2016; N = 96,894), which measured perceived drug effects of LSD and its analogues. Results...