Psilocybin-occasioned mystical experiences have been linked to persisting effects in healthy volunteers including positive changes in behavior, attitudes, and values, and increases in the personality domain of openness. In an open-label pilot-study of psilocybin-facilitated smoking addiction treatment, 15 smokers received 2 or 3 doses of psilocybin in the context of cognitive behavioral therapy...
This article documents the phenomenology of psilocybin when given in a novel manner (intravenous injection) and setting (an MRI scanner). The findings of the analysis are consistent with previous published work regarding the subjective effects of psilocybin. There is much scope for further research investigating the phenomena identified in this paper.
This article offers critical sociological and philosophical reflections on ayahuasca and other psychedelics as objects of research in medicine, health and human sciences. It situates 21st century scientific inquiry on ayahuasca in the broader context of how early modern European social trends and intellectual pursuits translated into new forms of empiricism and experimental philosophy, but...
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a semisynthetic compound with strong psychoactive properties. Chemically related to serotonin, LSD was initially hypothesized to produce a psychosislike state. Later, LSD was reported to have benefits in the treatment of addictions. However, widespread indiscriminate use and reports of adverse affects resulted in the classification of LSD as an illicit drug...
Substances known as psychedelics, hallucinogens and entheogens have been employed in ethnomedical traditions for thousands of years, but after promising uses in the 1950's and 1960's they were largely prohibited in medical treatment and human research starting in the 1970's as part of the fallout from the war on drugs. Nonetheless, there are a number of studies which suggest that these...
Pharmacological treatments are available for alcohol, nicotine, and opioid dependence, and several drugs for cannabis-related disorders are currently under investigation. On the other hand, psychostimulant abuse and dependence lacks pharmacological treatment. Mesolimbic dopaminergic neurons mediate the motivation to use drugs and drug-induced euphoria, and psychostimulants (cocaine,...
Health-related psychedelic research should focus on helping us flourish, not just remedying ill-health or addiction. We don't know enough about how psychedelics could enhance human flourishing. Factors promoting health-through-flourishing include finding meaning in life, spiritual practices, comfortable levels of social bonds, emotionally/physically satisfying sex in a long-term monogamous...
Kosmicare project implements crisis intervention in situations related to the use of psychoactive substances at Boom Festival (Portugal). We present evaluation research that aims to contribute to the transformation of the project into an evidence-based intervention model. It relies on harm reduction and risk minimization principles, crisis intervention models, and Grof's psychedelic...
This form of ayahuasca-assisted therapy appears to be associated with statistically significant improvements in several factors related to problematic substance use among a rural aboriginal population. These findings suggest participants may have experienced positive psychological and behavioral changes in response to this therapeutic approach, and that more rigorous research of...
Recent developments in the study of classic hallucinogens, combined with a re-appraisal of the older literature, have led to a renewal of interest in possible therapeutic applications for these drugs, notably their application in the treatment of addictions. This article will first provide a brief review of the research literature providing direct and indirect support for the possible...
A wider array of treatments are needed for people with substance abuse disorders. Some psychedelic compounds have been assessed as potential substance abuse treatments with promising results. MDMA may also help treat substance abuse based on shared features with psychedelic compounds and recent reports indicating that MDMAassisted psychotherapy can reduce symptoms of PTSD. Narrative reports and...
Ibogaine is a psychoactive alkaloid derived from Tabernanthe iboga, a plant used in initiatory rituals in West Central Africa. Largely because of ibogaine's status as a Schedule I substance in the U.S., the development of ibogaine's use in the treatment of drug addiction took place outside conventional clinical and medical settings. This article reviews the history of ibogaine's use in the...
The multidisciplinary research on Salvia divinorum and its chemical principles is analyzed concerning whether the ethnobotany, phytochemistry, mental effects, and neuropharmacology of this sacred psychoactive plant and main principle clarify its experienced effects and divinatory uses. The scientific pursuit spans from the traditional practices, continues with the botanical identification,...
A recent and dramatic increase in the emergence of novel psychoactive substances ('legal highs') has left many governments unable to provide a timely response to an increasing number of potentially harmful drugs now available to the public. In response to this rapid increase in lawful drug use, the UK government intends to implement temporary class drug orders, whereby substances with a...
Recently, a new class of “designer drugs” has emerged on the drug use market, known as “legal highs” or “herbal highs”. They include a wide range of products, from natural plant-originated substances to synthetic compounds, that can be purchased both online and from high street retailers. “Legal highs” mimic psychoactive effects of illicit drugs of abuse. However, they are claimed to consist of...
Although the prevalence of co-use of cannabis and 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is very common among polydrug users in western societies, few studies have tested the consequences on behavior, cognition or neurobiology. This review examines 23 articles published between 2002 and 2010 with an explicit focus on the combination, or administration, of MDMA and cannabis or cannabinoid...
A quantitative meta-analysis was carried out on the chronic effects of ecstasy use on working memory (WM), assumed to consist of a central executive (CE) and four executive subcomponents: Updating, Attention shifting, Inhibition and Access to long term memory. Publications dating from January 1998 to January 2008 were only included when they fulfilled the criteria for a meta-analysis (number of...
Cannabis preparations as recreational drugs are the most widely used illicit drugs in the world. Although cannabis derivatives produce clear subjective motivational responses in humans leading to drug-seeking behavior and in a specific proportion in repeated drug use, the reinforcing/rewarding attributes of these subjective effects are difficult to define in experimental animals. This led to...