Journal of Psychopharmacology
August 1, 2022
Jan Van Amsterdam, Wim van den Brink
Background: Nitrous oxide (N 2 O) is a frequently used anaesthetic. Since the year 2000, recreational use of N 2 O, also known as ‘laughing gas’, became popular as a recreational drug due to its mild psychedelic effect. In the 1980s, several reports warned against N 2 O-induced reproductive risks among healthcare personnel, questioning the occupational safety of N 2 O in health care. Methods:...
Expert Opinion on Drug Safety
February 26, 2022
Jan Van Amsterdam, Wim van den Brink
74 citations
Psilocybin - mostly combined with psychotherapy or psychotherapeutic support - shows a promise as a treatment for various (treatment-resistant) mental disorders. Larger double-blind RCTs with objective (long-term) outcomes are needed to confirm these findings before standard clinical use of psilocybin can be considered.
Drug Science, Policy and Law
2022
Plinio Ferreira, Adam Winstock, Anne Katrin Schlag et al.
9 citations
The recent surge in recreational (non-medical) use of nitrous oxide (N 2 O, also known as ‘laughing gas’) often by inhaling it from balloons, has attracted the attention of some politicians with calls to control its possession under the United Kingdom (UK) Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (currently selling, but not possession, for recreational use is controlled under the Psychoactive Substances Act...
Neurotoxicity Research
December 2021
Jan Van Amsterdam, Tibor M Brunt, Mimi Pierce et al.
Although MDMA (ecstasy) is a relatively safe recreational drug and is currently considered for therapeutic use for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD), recreational MDMA use occasionally elicits hyperthermia and hyponatremia, sometimes with a fatal outcome. Specific risk factors for both adverse effects are profuse sweating while vigorously...
Expert Opinion on Drug Safety
June 26, 2021
Jan Van Amsterdam, Wim van den Brink
42 citations
BACKGROUNDS: Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic that is currently considered for several new indications. AIM: To deduce the safety of long-term ketamine treatment using the harm of heavy recreational (non-medical) ketamine use as a proxy for maximal possible harm of ketamine treatment. METHODS: Systematic literature review according to PRISMA guidelines to identify controlled studies on...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
May 23, 2021
Ton Nabben, Jelmer Weijs, Jan Van Amsterdam
The recreational use of nitrous oxide (N2O; laughing gas) has largely expanded in recent years. Although incidental use of nitrous oxide hardly causes any health damage, problematic or heavy use of nitrous oxide can lead to serious adverse effects. Amsterdam care centres noticed that Moroccan-Dutch young adults reported neurological symptoms, including severe paralysis, as a result of...
Drugs Education Prevention and Policy
September 10, 2020
Jan Van Amsterdam, Johannes G. Ramaekers, Ton Nabben et al.
4 citations
Introduction Ecstasy (MDMA) is a popular recreational drug, but its illegal production and trade in the Netherlands have developed into a serious public order and ecological problem which endanger and question the harm reduction approach of the Dutch ecstasy policy.Methods The market characteristics, adverse health effects, risk profile, and link to criminal activity of ecstasy were...
Regulatory toxicology and pharmacology : RTP
April 1, 2011
Jan Van Amsterdam, Antoon Opperhuizen, Wim van den Brink
208 citations
In 2007, the Minister of Health of the Netherlands requested the CAM (Coordination point Assessment and Monitoring new drugs) to assess the overall risk of magic mushrooms. The present paper is an updated redraft of the review, written to support the assessment by CAM experts. It summarizes the literature on physical or psychological dependence, acute and chronic toxicity, risk for public...