Journal of Drug IssuesJuly 1, 2026Haley M Hummel, Alexia N Obrochta, David C. R. Kerr et al.
Interest has grown in the effects of psilocybin on mental health, but little is known about its naturalistic use alongside alcohol and its relationship to depression and/or anxiety symptoms. Data from the nationally-representative 2024 National Survey Investigating Hallucinogenic Trends of participants who did ( n = 1234) or did not ( n = 1607) report past-year psilocybin and alcohol co-use...
The emergence of microdosing introduced a novel approach to consuming classic psychedelic substances, such as LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) and psilocybin mushrooms, in ways previously unconventional. Whereas traditional illicit substance use often seeks euphoric experiences, microdosing deliberately avoids such effects in favor of perceived self-enhancing benefits. Increasingly common in...
Motives are a highly influential force in substance use and vary depending on the substance or dose being used. Little research has compared motives across different doses of psilocybin. Psilocybin is often ingested in microdoses (0.1–0.4 g) or macrodoses (1 g+), each producing unique perceptual and mood effects. The current study examined whether motives for microdose and macrodose psilocybin...
Our aim is to understand how those who use peyote in a naturalistic setting discuss it changed their lives and to what they attribute this change. To do this, we draw on data from a photo-ethnography of people who attended peyote ceremonies in rural Northcentral Alabama. Broadly, we found that participants discussed four core areas of change: reduced drug and alcohol misuse, new perspectives on...
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a popular recreational intoxicant and associated paraphernalia are increasingly being found at road traffic accident scenes in the Netherlands, suggesting that N 2 O intoxication causally contributes to the occurrence of a significant number of road traffic accidents. However, information on the pharmacodynamics- and kinetic characteristics of recreational N2O use is...
Microdosing classic psychedelics (e.g., LSD [lysergic acid diethylamide] and psilocybin) is the practice of taking small amounts of these substances to bring about various positive life changes. Little is known about the subjective experiences and perceptions of those who engage in the practice. Accordingly, we use the sociology of accounts as a theoretical framework to explore the ways that...
Ecstasy and LSD use is widespread in large Brazilian cities, but there is limited information on their use among young, middle-class, club goers in Brazil. We conducted standardized face-to-face interviews with 200 male and female ecstasy and/or LSD users, focusing on drug use and sexual history, current risk behaviors, and psychiatric symptomatology. Participants with early sexual debut...
The current study uses a qualitative methodology to investigate socio-cultural and psychological aspects involved in the use of LSD and comparable psychedelic substances. To date, 26 narrative interviews have been conducted with 12 female and 14 male users aged 19 to 53 years. The resulting data were subjected to content analysis in several thematic areas. Subjective reports of LSD use and...
The relationship between religious experience and alternative states of consciousness is as old as humanity itself. From time immemorial, visionary states have been entered through the ritual use of mind-changing substances. Despite the uncontrovertedfact that particular substances have been used for thousands of years to achieve religious experiences and insights, the federal drug laws fail to...
An analysis is made of adolescent hallucinogenic plant ingestion during initiation rituals among Australian Aboriginal males, Tshogana Tsonga females and among Chumash youth of Southern California. This use pattern contrasts with abusive patterns of drug abuse found among American adolescents. Findings indicate the existence of managed altered states of consciousness in the tribal societies...
Psychedelics are unique from other drugs in that the experiences they make available often demand an ethic of living. Ethics of a spiritual, therapeutic, or exploratory quality develop spontaneously because of the transcendental nature of the experience. Contemporary psychedelic drug taking went through a cycle which peaked in 1972 and declined about 1979. A slow resurgence of interest is...
This paper presents an argument for research into the means of altering individual attitudes, values, and communication abilities in the direction of increased social empathy, which, in turn, would produce a more favorable environment for resolving differences and facilitate peaceful negotiations between individuals and nations. It is proposed that prior research with the drug, d-lysergic acid...
Bad trips occurring during psychedelic drug use are analyzed as social rather than pharmacological products. Survey data from psychedelic users show a dramatic decline in bad trips over the period from the mid-1960s through 1975. Several explanations of this phenomenon are considered. Neither pharmacological explanations nor explanations depending on the growth of supportive subcultures of...
This article reviews the major research studies on the use of psychedelic drugs with terminal cancer patients. Present-day research is concentrated at the Maryland Psychiatric Center, where many of the early pilot studies were conducted. The conclusions of researchers such as Eric Kast, Sidney Cohen, Walter Pahnke, William Richards, and Albert Kurland indicate that controlled experimentation...
The concern of this article is to examine the conceptual framework within which drug-induced ecstasy has been compared to and/or used to interpret religious mysticism. No attempt is made to theorize about the “true” nature of either kind of experience; rather the author articulates the underlying assumptions and examines the social setting within which such discussions are carried on. The...
This essay examines the complementary functions of biopsychology and phenomenology in the interpretation of the religious significance of altered states of consciousness. Two physiological models of consciousness are examined and correlated with phenomenological theories of interpretation. The first model charts consciousness along a continuum of central nervous system arousal. The second model...