A 2022 article in Nature proclaimed the possibility of "Taking the tripping out of psychedelic medicine," highlighting efforts to engineer medically-compliant designer psychedelics purportedly delivering mental health benefits without inducing subjective experiences. Such developments have since initiated a new mainstream in the pharmaceuticalization and commodification of psychedelics. These...
Trauma has a become a dominant causal explanation in psychological and public health accounts of drug use, with drug consumption typically framed as a coping response or form of self-medication. Drawing on Lauren Berlant's work (2008, 2011), particularly their concepts of genre, crisis ordinariness and lateral agency, we examine the affective and political conventions of trauma as a genre for...
We know little about the extent psychedelic substances are consumed therapeutically and/or discussed with medical professionals despite renewed global interest in these substances. We examined self-reported responses from the 2023 International Cannabis Policy Study (ICPS) in repeated cross-sectional surveys in Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. The survey included questions...
Psychedelic retail stores illegally selling psilocybin, DMT and related substances have proliferated in Canada, with close to 60 brick-and-mortar shops documented in 2023. This echoes the pre-legalization and regulation cannabis landscape. Public responses have remained inconsistent, oscillating between de facto tolerance and enforcement of the law, raising concerns among public health...
Imperfect blinding is not specific to psychedelic trials. In randomized trials, treatment allocation is frequently correctly guessed, yet blinding integrity is rarely assessed outside of psychedelic research and is generally not considered a barrier in regulatory evaluation. The intense debate in psychedelics may reflect a broader double standard affecting mental health research, when...
Canada's evolving attitudes toward psychedelic interventions in palliative and end-of-life care reflect a departure from historically prohibitionist policies and an emerging recognition of their therapeutic potential for individuals facing end-of-life distress. This shift parallels international regulatory developments in jurisdictions such as the United States, Australia and parts of Europe,...
The revival of psychedelic medicalization is often narrated as a story of scientific legitimacy and neurotherapeutic promise, yet the unusual sensitivity of psychedelics to environmental conditions has encouraged research on music, therapy, setting, and other contextual factors. Treating setting and context as the building blocks of felt atmospheres, this article examines how regulation...
Ketamine analogues are emerging dissociative substances structurally related to ketamine and increasingly detected on drug markets worldwide. This study aimed to characterize patterns of use, user profiles, and associated health outcomes in France. We conducted a retrospective analysis of cases involving ketamine analogues reported to the French Addictovigilance Network up to 31 December 2024....
As jurisdictions across the U.S. consider enacting policies that facilitate access to psychedelics, they must determine how the desire to expand access to these substances should be weighed against the need to adequately protect safety. Oregon's psilocybin services program offers an important early case study of this balance in practice. Under the Psilocybin Services Act, adults over 21 are...
Poppers (alkyl nitrites) are widely used among sexually diverse men to enhance sexual pleasure. However, research has historically been dominated by risk-centered frameworks such as associations with HIV or other STIs, overlooking user motivations related to hedonic reward, intimacy, and agency. This conceptual oversight is particularly evident in the Global South. This study explores the...
The legal status of psilocybin mushrooms in Brazil remains ambiguous, despite increasing global scientific and public interest in their therapeutic and ceremonial use. This commentary examines the regulatory uncertainty surrounding psilocybin mushrooms in Brazil and situates the debate within broader legal, drug policy, public health, and Indigenous rights discussions. Building on academic...
There remain significant gaps in knowledge about best practices for facilitated psychedelic care and psychedelic-assisted therapy. To inform the development of service models that support safe and beneficial experiences, this qualitative study explored expert perspectives on current and ideal standards of care, including key practices (e.g., screening, adapting care to diverse contexts) and...
Psychedelics induce transformative experiences leading to lasting changes in attitudes and behaviour, with outcomes depending on both pharmacological factors and the context of the experience ('set and setting'), marking a paradigm shift in mental health treatment. As psychedelics transition from traditional contexts to clinical settings, tension emerges between authenticity and...
BACKGROUND: Naturalistic psychedelic use can result in a range of difficulties that impair social, occupational, and other important areas of functioning. Yet, the prevalence, phenomenology, and etiology of these outcomes remain poorly understood. Recent qualitative research has shown that individuals with long-term difficulties after psychedelic use sometimes attribute their challenges to...
This paper proposes a psychedelic theory of desistance, arguing that psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) may support the desistance from crime - the cessation of criminal behavior - by promoting identity transformation and personal meaning-making among criminal justice-involved individuals. Drawing from psychedelic science and desistance focused criminological theories, it suggests that, when...
This article critically examines the 'Tuci' (or "pink cocaine") phenomenon as an epistemic, cultural, and pharmacopolitical object, proposing its conceptualization as a monstrous substance. Two common assumptions in institutional and media discourses are problematized: that 'Tuci' is a counterfeit of 2C-B and that its identity is defined by the presence of ketamine. Using an approach that...
The global prevalence of depression is high, and there are concerns about the therapeutic effectiveness of current treatments. Research over the past two decades has led to a new class of alternative treatments termed 'psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT).' This study aimed to investigate the attitudes toward the application and use of psychedelic-assisted therapies in the United Kingdom...
Prohibition-based drug policies such as recent UK draft legislation on recreational drug possession assume expanding police powers will deter use and thereby reduce harm. In fact research suggests punitive policing harms PWUD (people who use drugs) in recreational contexts by incentivising behaviours with lower legal but higher health risk. Although some vectors of this harm have been well...
Hexahydrocannabinol (HHC) is a semi-synthetic cannabinoid which was marketed and sold openly in Ireland as a legal alternative to cannabis products until it was controlled in July 2025. There have been reports of psychotic illness precipitated by HHC use. Consequently, there are fears that HHC may become a public health issue. This study's aim was to measure the extent of HHC use and patterns...
INTRODUCTION: Substance use disorders (SUDs) are a prevalent health issue that affects individuals globally. Research is currently being conducted on the potential use of psychedelics as a new approach to treating SUDs. Women have been shown to respond differently than men to SUDs treatments and women-specific approaches have been recommended. This scoping review explores the ways in which...
The use of psychoactive drugs has been increasing worldwide, with adolescents and young adults accounting for a large share of people who use drugs. To date, there is limited information on trends of intoxications with psychoactive drugs among adolescents, particularly with regard to New Psychoactive Substances (NPS). A retrospective study was performed from 2014-2023 to characterize...
BACKGROUND: Preliminary evidence suggests psilocybin may have therapeutic value for various mental health conditions; despite this, it is currently illegal in the UK. Less is known about how people form their attitudes towards psilocybin policies. OBJECTIVES: To explore whether beliefs about the benefits and safety of psilocybin influence support for psilocybin policies. METHODS: In an online...
Ketamine-related poisonings and law enforcement seizures have been increasing in the United States, but population surveys suggest that recreational use has been rare with trends being relatively stable. This study aimed to estimate trends and correlates of use among nightclub attendees-a population known for high prevalence of party drug use. Adults entering randomly selected nightclubs in New...
Existing research highlights an increase in psychedelic microdosing, particularly for therapeutic purposes and as a means for self-enhancement. However, we know little about the different routes into and out of microdosing, particularly by those who do not consume other illicit substances, and of the processes involved in the development, maintenance, and cessation of practices. Drawing upon a...
This essay examines the combination of psychoanalytic therapy and psychedelic substances in mid-20th century Argentina. Through document analysis, it examines the intersection of psychedelics and psychoanalysis, drawing from historical texts and writings by local psychoanalysts to develop a comprehensive understanding of the distinctive clinical practices and therapeutic approaches in the...