Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
May 18, 2026
Kevin H. Yang, Miranda Rasmussen, Kush V. Bhatt et al.
1 citation
Recent literature suggests potential associations between hallucinogen use and valvular heart disease (VHD) due to prolonged activation of serotonin 5-HT2B receptors, which may lead to valvular fibrosis – a condition also linked to drugs including fenfluramine and pergolide. Despite these concerns, epidemiological studies exploring this association are lacking. This exploratory analysis...
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
May 4, 2026
Kevin H. Yang, Nora Satybaldiyeva, Wayne Kepner et al.
1 citation
IntroductionMicrodosing involves consuming low doses of psychoactive substances, typically between 1/5th and 1/20th of a recreational dose. Despite increasing public attention to cannabis and psychedelics amid evolving drug policies, epidemiologic data on microdosing remain limited.MethodsA cross-sectional, web-based survey (Characterizing the Epidemiology of Cannabidiol Use Survey) of 1,523...
Am J Psychiatry
April 22, 2026
Kevin H. Yang, Avery Eun, Joseph J Palamar
Prevalence and Correlates of Past-Year Psilocybin Use in the United States.
Community mental health journal
April 1, 2026
Kush V. Bhatt, Joseph Friedman, Lindsay L Benster et al.
Recreational psychedelic use is increasing, yet data on adverse events remains limited. This study characterized emergency department (ED) visits associated with recreational psychedelic use at UC San Diego Medical Center. We conducted a retrospective chart review of ED encounters (2010–2023). Cases were identified using ICD-10 hallucinogen-related codes and confirmed through manual review....
Journal of Affective Disorders
March 15, 2025
Kevin H. Yang, Wayne Kepner, Charles M Cleland et al.
19 citations
Ketamine's potential for treating depression has drawn increased clinical interest in recent years. However, despite growing therapeutic use, recreational use among individuals with depression remain underexplored. We analyzed data from the 2015-2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health focusing on adults in the US. Trends in past-year ketamine use, overall and by depression status, were...
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
March 3, 2025
Wayne Kepner, Patricia Dionicio, Katie Bailey et al.
3 citations
Little is known about ecstasy/MDMA use among Asian American and Pacific Islander populations. Research is important because AAPIs face unique cultural factors that may influence use. We estimated the prevalence and correlates of lifetime ecstasy/MDMA use based on a representative sample of US AAPI adults aged ≥18 from the 2015-2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. An estimated 5.1% of...
FOCUS The Journal of Lifelong Learning in Psychiatry
July 1, 2024
Samantha Shao, Tessa Gruen, Alexandra Babakanian et al.
2 citations
Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a deadly illness with no proven treatments to reverse core symptoms and no medications approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Novel treatments are urgently needed to improve clinical outcomes. In this open-label feasibility study, 10 adult female participants (mean body mass index 19.7 kg m-2; s.d. 3.7) who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental...
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
June 10, 2024
Eric C. Leas, Nora Satybaldiyeva, Wayne Kepner et al.
10 citations
Interest in psilocybin-containing mushrooms is increasing in the U.S., with 12.3% of U.S. adults reporting use of psilocybin-containing mushrooms in 2022, up significantly from 11.4% in 2021.1 This makes psilocybin-containing mushrooms the most commonly used hallucinogenic substance. This growing interest in psilocybin-containing mushrooms has also sparked a new commercial market for other...
JAMA Health Forum
June 7, 2024
Kevin H. Yang, Nora Satybaldiyeva, Matthew R Allen et al.
16 citations
Despite growing interest in psychedelics, there is a lack of routine population-based surveillance of psychedelic microdosing (taking "subperceptual" doses of psychedelics, approximately one-twentieth to one-fifth of a full dose, over prolonged periods). Analyzing Google search queries can provide insights into public interest and help address this gap. To analyze trends in public interest in...
Nature Medicine
July 24, 2023
Samantha Shao, Tessa Gruen, Alexandra Babakanian et al.
150 citations
Abstract Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a deadly illness with no proven treatments to reverse core symptoms and no medications approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Novel treatments are urgently needed to improve clinical outcomes. In this open-label feasibility study, 10 adult female participants (mean body mass index 19.7 kg m − 2 ; s.d. 3.7) who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of...
Pain
September 5, 2022
Matthew Lyes, Joel Castellanos, Timothy Furnish et al.
55 citations
Abstract Psychedelic serotonergic agonists such as psilocybin have recently been shown to produce sustained benefit in refractory depression, end of life anxiety, and addiction when administered in hallucinogenic doses and coupled with psychotherapy. Although it has been suggested that similar high-dose protocols may help chronic pain conditions, there are few published clinical trials of...
Addictive behaviors
September 1, 2022
Kevin H. Yang, Benjamin H Han, Joseph J Palamar
30 citations
There is renewed interest in the clinical application of hallucinogenic substances to treat a range of psychiatric conditions. However, there is mixed evidence regarding how use of such substances outside of medical settings relates to psychological distress, depression, and suicidality. We examined data from a US representative sample of noninstitutionalized adults from the 2015-2020 National...
Journal of Addiction Medicine
Kevin H. Yang, Wayne Kepner, Anamika Nijum et al.
11 citations
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) (also known as "ecstasy" or "Molly") has regained attention in recent years for its efficacy in treating posttraumatic stress disorder, and the drug was granted breakthrough therapy designation for such use by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2017. However, little is known about the current epidemiology of recreational ecstasy/MDMA use. We...