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Will Lawn

36 papers in the library · 970 citations · publishing 2014-2026

Papers

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Well-being, problematic alcohol consumption and acute subjective drug effects in past-year ayahuasca users: a large, international, self-selecting online survey

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...

Individual and combined effects of cannabis and tobacco on drug reward processing in non-dependent users.

Psychopharmacology November 2017 Chandni Hindocha, Will Lawn, Tom P. Freeman et al.

Cannabis and tobacco are often smoked simultaneously in joints, and this practice may increase the risks of developing tobacco and/or cannabis use disorders. Currently, there is no human experimental research on how these drugs interact on addiction-related measures. This study aimed to investigate how cannabis and tobacco, each alone and combined together in joints, affected individuals'...

Psilocybin with psychological support improves emotional face recognition in treatment-resistant depression

Psychopharmacology October 30, 2017 J. B. Stroud, Tom P. Freeman, Robert Leech et al. 102 citations

RATIONALE: Depressed patients robustly exhibit affective biases in emotional processing which are altered by SSRIs and predict clinical outcome. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to investigate whether psilocybin, recently shown to rapidly improve mood in treatment-resistant depression (TRD), alters patients' emotional processing biases. METHODS: Seventeen patients with...

Cannabis Dampens the Effects of Music in Brain Regions Sensitive to Reward and Emotion

The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology August 30, 2017 Tom P. Freeman, Rebecca Pope, Matthew B. Wall et al. 67 citations

Background: Despite the current shift towards permissive cannabis policies, few studies have investigated the pleasurable effects users seek. Here, we investigate the effects of cannabis on listening to music, a rewarding activity that frequently occurs in the context of recreational cannabis use. We additionally tested how these effects are influenced by cannabidiol, which may offset...

A proof-of-concept investigation into ketamine as a pharmacological treatment for alcohol dependence: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Trials April 4, 2017 Amy Mcandrew, Will Lawn, Tobias Stevens et al. 20 citations

BACKGROUND: Worldwide, alcohol abuse is a burgeoning problem. Abstinence is key to allow recovery of physical and mental health as well as quality of life, but treatment for alcohol dependence is associated with high relapse rates. Preliminary data have suggested that a combined repeated ketamine and psychological therapy programme may be effective in reducing relapse in severe alcohol use...

Acute and chronic effects of cannabinoids on effort-related decision-making and reward learning: an evaluation of the cannabis ‘amotivational’ hypotheses

Psychopharmacology September 2, 2016 Will Lawn, Tom P. Freeman, Rebecca Pope et al. 177 citations

RATIONALE: Anecdotally, both acute and chronic cannabis use have been associated with apathy, amotivation, and other reward processing deficits. To date, empirical support for these effects is limited, and no previous studies have assessed both acute effects of Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), as well as associations with cannabis dependence. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of...

Methoxetamine: An early report on the motivations for use, effect profile and prevalence of use in a UK clubbing sample.

Drug and Alcohol Review March 1, 2016 Adam Winstock, Will Lawn, P. Deluca et al.

AbstractIntroduction and AimsTo assess the prevalence of use and subjective effect profile of methoxetamine among a group of polydrug users.Design and MethodsCross‐sectional, anonymous, online survey of UK‐based polydrug users was conducted. Prevalence of lifetime, last year and last month use, sourcing of the drugs, motivations for use, and subjective effect and risk profile compared with that...

Recreational 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA) or ‘ecstasy’ and self-focused compassion: Preliminary steps in the development of a therapeutic psychopharmacology of contemplative practices

Journal of Psychopharmacology May 18, 2015 Sunjeev K. Kamboj, Emma J. Kilford, Stephanie Minchin et al. 43 citations

3,4-methylenedioxy- N-methylamphetamine (MDMA) produces diverse pro-social effects. Cognitive training methods rooted in Eastern contemplative practices also produce these effects through the development of a compassionate mindset. Given this similarity, we propose that one potential mechanism of action of MDMA in psychotherapy is through enhancing effects on intrapersonal attitudes (i.e....

DOI: 10.1177/0269881115587143 (opens in new tab) Ecstasy MDMA Psychopharmacology Recreational drug +3

Methoxetamine: prevalence of use in the USA and UK and associated urinary problems

October 7, 2014 Will Lawn, Rohan Borschmann, A. Cottrell et al.

Background: Methoxetamine is a novel psychoactive substance and a legal alternative to ketamine in many countries, including parts of the United States. Frequent recreational ketamine use can cause lower urinary tract symptoms, whereas methoxetamine was originally marketed as “bladder friendly”.Aims: (1) To determine changes in prevalence of methoxetamine use between 2011 and 2012 in the USA...

The NBOMe hallucinogenic drug series: Patterns of use, characteristics of users and self-reported effects in a large international sample.

Journal of Psychopharmacology August 1, 2014 Will Lawn, Monica J Barratt, Martin L Williams et al.

The NBOMe compounds are a novel series of hallucinogenic drugs that are potent agonists of the 5-HT2A receptor, have a short history of human consumption and are available to buy online, in most countries. In this study, we sought to investigate the patterns of use, characteristics of users and self-reported effects. A cross-sectional anonymous online survey exploring the patterns of drug use...

DOI: 10.1177/0269881114523866 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Demographics Nbome Hallucinogen Internet drug market +8

Longitudinal fMRI reveals altered developmental trajectories of functional network organisation associated with adolescent cannabis use

Elizabeth J Davies, Natalie Ertl, Tom P. Freeman et al.

Adolescence is a critical period of brain development during which the endocannabinoid system continues to mature. These developmental changes may contribute to age-related differences in the association between cannabis use and large-scale functional network organisation, yet this association remains incompletely characterised. We hypothesised that regular cannabis use would be associated with...