However, the risks from blurring the boundaries between therapeutic and recreational use will persist even with stronger evidence. One expression of this de-scientization, which will persist, is the ominous tendency to adopt untested traditional rituals, like shamanistic practices, into therapy, which undermines credibility and risks patient safety. Involving non-professionals, such as shamans...
An increasing number of US states and localities are implementing or considering alternatives to prohibiting the supply and possession of some psychedelics for non-clinical use. Debates about these policy changes will probably differ from what we saw with cannabis. Andrews et al. correctly note that: 'The current push to broaden the production, sale, and use of psychedelics bears many parallels...
Recent experience with off-label use of ketamine and recent challenges experienced in research with MDMA and psilocybin provide additional perspectives on how best to continue development of experimental psychedelic medications. Andrews et al. [1] provide a valuable perspective by noting the parallels between the ongoing deregulation of cannabis and what is now happening with psychedelics. The...
When the Saskatchewan-based British psychiatrist Humphry Osmond first wrote to his fellow British émigré, novelist Aldous Huxley, he could have had little idea of how the ripples of their private correspondence of the early 1950s would reverberate across the world and into the future. But here we are in 2024, and the term that Osmond coined—‘psychedelic’—is quite literally everywhere, from...
As psychedelic use expands, the number of adverse effects will increase proportionally. New frameworks for monitoring safety outcomes on a population level are required to limit potential harms. Darke et al. characterized 33 lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and 10 psilocybin-related deaths in Australia between 2000 and 2023 using the country's sophisticated national coroner data system....
Abstract The turn of the century brought a resurgence of interest in psychedelics as a treatment for addiction and other psychiatric conditions, accompanied by extensive positive media attention and private equity investment. Government regulatory bodies in Australia, Israel, Canada and the United States now permit use of psychedelics for medical purposes. In the United States, citizen action...
Abstract Background and aims Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin are used as recreational drugs, and there is renewed interest in their clinical use. The current study aimed to (1) determine the circumstances of death and case characteristics of LSD‐ and psilocybin‐related death in Australia, 2000–23; and (2) determine the toxicological profile and major autopsy findings of these...
AbstractBackgroundPrevalence of nitrous oxide (N2O) use appears to be increasing in numerous countries worldwide, and excessive use has been associated with physical and mental problems. Because there currently is no consensus whether N2O has addictive potential, we aimed to evaluate the evidence for the presence and prevalence of DSM‐5 substance use disorder (SUD) symptoms in N2O...
To test how attentional bias and explicit liking are influenced by delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and whether these effects are moderated by cannabidiol (CBD). Double-blind, randomised, within-subjects cross-over study. NIHR Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility at King's College Hospital, London, United Kingdom. Forty-six infrequent cannabis users (cannabis use <1 per week). Across...
Abstract Background and aims Hallucinogens encompass a diverse range of compounds of increasing scientific and public interest. Risks associated with hallucinogen use are under‐researched and poorly understood. We aimed to compare the trends in hallucinogen‐associated health‐care use with alcohol‐ and cannabis‐associated health‐care use. Design, setting and cases We conducted an ecological...
Given the shifting public perception of psilocybin and associated legal changes, the increase in use observed by Keyes and Patrick is not surprising. The conclusion that this is a rising health concern is not justified by the data, particularly as in this sample non-lysergic acid diethylamide hallucinogen use seems to have increased in a white, educated, relatively higher socio-economic status...
Abstract Background and aims Given the shifting landscape of hallucinogen use, particularly with increased therapeutic use, understanding current changes in use is a necessary part of examining the potential risk hallucinogens pose to vulnerable populations, such as young adults. This study aimed to measure hallucinogen use among young adults aged 19–30 years from 2018 to 2021. Design, setting...
Delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is a psychoactive substance from the Cannabis plant that has been rising in popularity in the United States since the 2018 US Farm Bill implicitly legalized it. This study reviewed research from peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed (e.g. anecdotal and news) reports related to delta-8 THC to summarize current knowledge and implications for public health and...
Background and aims: Cocaine use disorder (CUD) is a significant public health issue for which there is no Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved medication. Drug repurposing looks for new cost-effective uses of approved drugs. This study presents an integrated strategy to identify repurposed FDA-approved drugs for CUD treatment. Design: Our drug repurposing strategy combines artificial...
Abstract Background and Aims Long‐term harms of cannabis may be exacerbated in adolescence, but little is known about the acute effects of cannabis in adolescents. We aimed to (i) compare the acute effects of cannabis in adolescent and adult cannabis users and (ii) determine if cannabidiol (CBD) acutely modulates the effects of delta‐9‐tetrahydocannabinol (THC). Design Randomised, double‐blind,...
Abstract Background and Aims Hallucinogen use is potentially harmful. Information on whether such use has increased in recent decades is lacking. This study assessed overall and age‐specific time trends in the prevalence of 12‐month hallucinogen use in the US general population. Design Cross‐sectional. Setting Data from the US National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2002–19. Participants...
AIM: To examine prevalence of mental health conditions and receipt of mental health care (MHC) by illicit lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) use status (past-year; lifetime without-past-year; never) among young adults. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, annual survey data from 2015 to 2019 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). SETTING: United States. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 69 916 NSDUH...
BACKGROUND Cannabis is among the most consumed psychoactive substances world-wide. Considering changing policy trends regarding the substance, it is crucial to understand more clearly its potential acute and residual adverse effects from a public health viewpoint. Cognitive function is one of the targeted areas with conflicting findings. This meta-review measured the magnitude of acute and...
Ibogaine is an indole alkaloid used in rituals of the African Bwiti tribe. It is also used in non-medical settings to treat addiction. However, ibogaine has been linked to several deaths, mainly due to cardiac events called torsades des pointes preceded by QTc prolongation as well as other safety concerns. This study aimed to evaluate the cardiac, cerebellar and psychomimetic safety of ibogaine...
Aldous Huxley's personal account of his experience taking mescaline in The Doors of Perception (1954) has influenced popular understandings of the effects of psychedelic drugs and encouraged many personal experiences with these drugs. Huxley encouraged the psychiatrist Humphry Osmond to coin the term 'psychedelic'. He knew many of the leading figures in early psychedelic research and advocated...
The history of research on the use of psychedelic drugs to treat alcohol dependence in the 1950s and 1960s suggests the need for caution in their proposed clinical use. Since 2006 there has been a revival of interest in using psychedelics to treat depression and post-traumatic stress disorders [1] and the addictions [2]. What lessons may we glean from research in the 1950s and 1960s on the use...
Abstract Aims To determine trends in 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)‐related death rates across Australia, Finland, Portugal and Turkey and to analyse the toxicology and causes of death across countries. Design Analysis of MDMA‐related deaths extracted from a national coronial database in Australia (2001–19) and national forensic toxicology databases in Finland (2001–17), Portugal...
AddictionNovember 16, 2018B. Leadbeater, Megan E. Ames, A. Linden-Carmichael
Abstract Aims We tested the age‐varying associations of cannabis use (CU) frequency and disorder (CUD) with psychotic, depressive and anxiety symptoms in adolescent and adult samples. Moderating effects of early onset (≤ 15 years) and sex were tested. Design Time‐varying effect models were used to assess the significance of concurrent associations between CU and CUD and symptoms of psychosis,...
AddictionNovember 2017Sarah D Lichenstein, Samuel Musselman, Daniel S Shaw et al.
(1) To identify trajectories of cannabis use across adolescence, (2) to measure the influence of cannabis use characteristics on functional connectivity of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and (3) to assess whether patterns of functional connectivity related to cannabis use are associated with psychosocial functioning 2 years later. The Pitt Mother and Child Project (PMCP) is a prospective,...
The relationship between cannabis and psychosis and schizophrenia has tested the field of addiction for decades, and in some ways serves as measure of our ability to provide a credible contribution to public health. As cannabis is used widely, many people are interested in the risks the drug poses to mental health. This paper focuses upon a seminal study examining this, the trajectory of...