Drug Science Policy and Law - The Consciousness Library

How small is a microdose, how big is a macrodose? Clarifying the lexicon of psychedelic research and treatment

Drug Science Policy and Law August 1, 2026 V. Polito

Nutt et al. recently proposed a common lexicon for psychedelic science including dosing categories for different forms of psychedelic use across multiple substances. Although common dosing terminology is an important advance, this paper identifies four challenges with Nutt et al.'s proposed categories. First, microdosing was defined as subperceptual; however, in both scientific and naturalistic...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245261480024 Full text

The impact of drug control on wider research: Psychedelic mushroom exploration

Drug Science Policy and Law 2026 Sam Lasham, Rhys Ponton 1 citation

Laws to control drugs have been progressively introduced since the early twentieth century to reduce non-medical use and drug-associated harm. Restrictions on what are now deemed ‘controlled drugs’ and, in New Zealand, ‘prohibited plants’ unjustly impact both medical care and research. The impact on research has frequently been cited in reference to the use of drugs in clinical research, such...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245251412697 Drug control Clinical research Control management Compassionate use +5

The medical sociological and social epidemiological psychedelics paradigm (MSSEPP)

Drug Science Policy and Law November 1, 2025 S. Viña

Although psychedelics have shown therapeutic potential in treating conditions such as depression, PTSD, and addiction, concerns remain regarding ethical practices, participant diversity, and the structural limitations of prevailing theoretical frameworks. This theoretical framework critically examines the dominant biopsychic model that underpins much of contemporary psychedelic research and...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245251401023

A lexicon for psychedelic research and treatment

Drug Science Policy and Law September 1, 2025 David Nutt, David Erritzøe, Anne Katrin Schlag et al. 9 citations

Psychedelics are undergoing a clinical research renaissance, with compounds such as psilocybin advancing to Phase 3 trials for treatment-resistant depression and receiving fast-track or breakthrough designations from regulatory agencies. Despite this progress, the field lacks standardized terminology to guide clinical development, dosing, safety monitoring, and regulatory classification. Here,...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245251380511

Reframing psychedelic regulation: Tools, not treatments

Drug Science Policy and Law June 16, 2025 Max Wolff, Natalie Gukasyan, Leor Roseman et al. 5 citations

Current regulation frameworks for medicines struggle to address the combination of pharmacological and psychotherapeutic elements in psychedelic therapy. We propose a more appropriate and advantageous approach may be to regulate psychedelic drugs as therapeutic tools or adjuncts to psychotherapy, rather than as treatments for specific mental disorders. Drawing parallels with anesthetics, which...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245251348272 Cognitive reframing Psychotherapist

Minorities’ diminished psychedelic returns: Depression, suicide, distress, and serious mental illness

Drug Science Policy and Law April 1, 2025 Sean M. Viña 4 citations

Although there is growing support for the protective effects of psychedelics on mental health, recent evidence finds racial and ethnic minorities gain fewer benefits. This paper aims to test whether the disparate mental health outcomes associated with psychedelic use extend across multiple racial and ethnic groups, including non-Hispanic Whites, Blacks, Asians, and Hispanics. In order to...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245251337357 Mental illness Depression economics Mental distress Clinical psychology +1

Do undergraduates’ views of psychedelics relate to the context for psychedelic use?

Drug Science Policy and Law March 1, 2025 Dan Petrovitch, Jason van Allen, Sean M. Mitchell et al. 1 citation

Psychedelic drug policy is changing, both in the USA and internationally. However, psychedelic use is not homogeneous, as there are multiple unique contexts for use, including clinical therapies, naturalistic use, and microdosing. There are notable differences between these contexts regarding emerging evidence for safety, therapeutic efficacy, likely future legality, and more. We compared...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245241308747 Full text Psilocybin Context archaeology Aesthetics Hallucinogen

Minorities’ diminished psychedelic returns: Cardio-metabolic health

Drug Science Policy and Law 2024 Sean Matthew Viña 10 citations

Although there is a growing support for the protective factor of psychedelics to improve mental and physical health, these effects may differ across racial and ethnic groups. Race differences remain a critically understudied gap in psychedelic literature. Recent empirical research into Minority Diminished Psychedelic Returns suggests that Black Americans may gain little health benefits from...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245231225756

Childhood trauma, challenging experiences, and posttraumatic growth in ayahuasca use

Drug Science Policy and Law 2024 Ksenia Cassidy, C. J. Healy, Eva Henje et al. 10 citations

Challenging experiences in ayahuasca use, childhood trauma, and posttraumatic growth have not been investigated systematically. This study aimed to explore whether a self-reported history of childhood trauma was associated with challenging experiences during acute ayahuasca effects and whether such challenging experiences were associated with beneficial long-term outcomes measured by...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245241238316 Ayahuasca Adverse childhood experiences Intervention counseling Posttraumatic growth +4

Participation in an indigenous Amazonian-led ayahuasca retreat associated with increases in nature relatedness – a pilot study

Drug Science Policy and Law 2024 Simon Ruffell, Sam Gandy, WaiFung Tsang et al. 10 citations

Indigenous Amazonian shamanic ayahuasca practice is embedded in a nature-based context and is employed as an ecological mediating agent and in collective environmental decision-making processes by some of the groups that use it. Phenomenologically, the ayahuasca experience is often rich in nature-based themes and content, and its usage has been associated with eliciting shifts in perspectives...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245241235100 Ayahuasca Amazonian Indigenous Amazon rainforest +1

A history of the European Medical Society for Psycholytic Therapy (EPT) 1964–1974

Drug Science Policy and Law 2024 Torsten Passie 4 citations

The emergence of a so-called psychedelic renaissance has been proposed to characterize the revival of research into (psycho-)therapies using psychedelic drugs. In Europe, the most widespread approach employed in the 1960s and 1970s that involved the use of drugs like LSD and psilocybin as an adjunct to psychotherapy was named according to its main theoretical framework, that is, psychoanalysis...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245231221154 Psilocybin Psychotherapist The renaissance

Case report: Prolonged amelioration of mild red-green color vision deficiency following psilocybin mushroom use

Drug Science Policy and Law 2023 Brian S. Barnett, Noah Wiles Sweat, Peter S. Hendricks 6 citations

Background Recent survey data indicate that some people report long-term improvement in color vision deficiency (CVD), also known as color blindness, following use of psychedelics such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin. However, there are no objective data reported in the medical literature quantifying the degree or duration of CVD improvement associated with psychedelic use....

DOI: 10.1177/20503245231172536 Psilocybin Hallucinogen Generalizability theory

A roadmap for psychedelic pharmacy in Canada: A proposed policy and operations approach for controlled access to select psychedelics for treatment of mental illness

Drug Science Policy and Law 2023 Jaden Brandt 5 citations

The unprecedented progress in the science and clinical investigation of psychedelic medicine will require those in healthcare leadership and the legislative policy arena to conceptualize how future reforms, policy creation, and clinical practice should occur to broaden access to these agents while simultaneously maximizing effectiveness and mitigating harm. The pharmacy profession has...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245231170340 Psilocybin Pharmacy Mental illness Legislature +8

Could classic psychedelics influence immigrants’ acculturation process? A narrative review contemplating how

Drug Science Policy and Law 2023 Benjamin A. Korman 5 citations

Rising international migration, paired with increasing public support for far-right political parties, poses a growing challenge to the countries tasked with successfully integrating immigrants into their society. Further complicating this matter is the fact that the acculturation process which immigrants undergo to fully integrate into their host society can be long, difficult, and taxing to...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245231191400 Full text

Can ayahuasca reduce inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity? A pilot study

Drug Science Policy and Law 2023 WaiFung Tsang, Simon Ruffell, Nigel Netzband et al.

Background The potential benefits of ayahuasca on mental health conditions are well documented. This pilot study is the first to explore whether there is an association with ayahuasca use and reductions in inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, the core features of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Methods In this exploratory, observational pilot study, the Adult...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245231215413 Full text

Italian psychedelic therapies of the past century: An historical overview

Drug Science Policy and Law 2023 Adriana D’arienzo, Giorgio Samorini

In recent years, the historical record of psychedelic therapy in Europe and the Americas has undergone considerable revision. In this article, we contribute to this re-interpretation by sharing documentation relating to psychedelic therapy carried out in Italy during the period 1927–1966. Our library research has uncovered one hundred publications, documenting at least 60 clinical studies in...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245231179687 Psilocybin Lysergic acid diethylamide Hallucinogen Psychotomimetic +2

A phenomenological analysis of Fellini's films to understand the effect of LSD therapy on his creativity

Drug Science Policy and Law 2023 Antonio Metastasio, Silvio Mignogna, Riccardo Paci et al.

Since its discovery in 1943, LSD has been used by artists, scientists, and intellectuals, amongst others, to stimulate their creative insights. Federico Fellini, one of the most important film directors in the XX century, used LSD when it was still legal under the guidance of his psychoanalyst during a phase of personal and creative crisis. This article proposes a phenomenological analysis of...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245231186723 Creativity Filmmaking Dream Adjective +8

Can psilocybin be safely administered under medical supervision? A systematic review of adverse event reporting in clinical trials

Drug Science Policy and Law 2022 Jeremy Roscoe, Olivia Lozy 30 citations

This systematic review investigates whether clinical trials of psilocybin support criterion number three of the drug's schedule I designation: There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision. Data were collected by using the PubMed database and conducting a search on November 24, 2021, with the search term psilocybin and applying the clinical...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245221085222 Psilocybin Clinical trial Adverse effect Tolerability +2

Psychedelics as potential catalysts of scientific creativity and insight

Drug Science Policy and Law 2022 Sam Gandy, Valerie Bonnelle, Edward Jacobs et al. 26 citations

Creativity, that is the creation of ideas or objects considered both novel and valuable, is among the most important and highly valued of human traits, and a fundamental aspect of the sciences. Dreams and hypnagogic states have been highly influential in promoting scientific creativity and insight, contributing to some important scientific breakthroughs. Phenomenologically, the latter states of...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245221097649 Full text

Psychedelic use predicts objective knowledge about climate change via increases in nature relatedness

Drug Science Policy and Law 2022 Christina Sagioglou, Matthias Forstmann 12 citations

Lifetime psychedelic substance use has previously been linked to nature relatedness and pro-environmental behaviour. Yet, participants’ responses to the self-report measures in these studies may have been affected by stereotypical associations or confirmation bias. We therefore re-examined this link by measuring three pro-environmental dependent variables: nature relatedness, concerns about...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245221129803 Psilocybin Climate change Substance use Environmental change +1

An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the use of psilocybin by veterans with symptoms of trauma

Drug Science Policy and Law 2022 FL Smith, JC Neill, V Wainwright 9 citations

Veterans are at increased risk of experiencing symptoms of trauma. Although many benefit from available treatments, some find treatment inaccessible or ineffective and explore alternative substances. One such substance is psilocybin. This Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis study aimed to provide an initial insight into the experiences of veterans who have used or have considered using...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245221124117 Psilocybin Interpretative phenomenological analysis Psychotherapist Clinical psychology +1

A comparative study of the harms of nitrous oxide and poppers using the MCDA approach

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...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245221127301 Recreational drug Harm reduction

Raising awareness: The implementation of medical cannabis and psychedelics used as an adjunct to standard therapy in the treatment of advanced metastatic breast cancer

Drug Science Policy and Law 2022 Rayyan Zafar, Dustin Sulak, Jaime Brambila et al. 3 citations

A 49-year-old woman was diagnosed with an ER + , PR-, HER2 + , BRCA- invasive ductal carcinoma which progressed metastatically to include bone, liver, and lymph node involvement. Standardised care included a 26-month treatment period with targeted chemotherapy and a ketogenic diet. The patient also began a course of cannabinoid-based therapy, consisting initially of a titrated high-dose...

DOI: 10.1177/20503245221114323 Cannabis Breast cancer Regimen Disease +3

2019: A year of expansion in psychedelic research, industry, and deregulation

Drug Science Policy and Law 2020 Jacob S. Aday, Emily K. Bloesch, Christopher C. Davoli 59 citations

Public and scientific interest into psychedelic drugs has grown steadily over much of the last two decades, before an exponential increase in recent years. We contend that 2019, in particular, involved myriad notable changes in the science, industry, and deregulation of psychedelic drugs. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult for professionals to keep up-to-date on these advancements...

DOI: 10.1177/2050324520974484

Reported effects of psychedelic use on those with low well-being given various emotional states and social contexts

Drug Science Policy and Law 2020 Natasha L. Mason, Patrick C. Dolder, Kim P. C. Kuypers 15 citations

Background It has been suggested that the outcome of the psychedelic experience is dependent on set and setting. While scientific research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics is growing, it is clear that in clinical populations an optimal set and setting will not always be attainable. It was aimed to assess under which emotional and environmental circumstances psychedelic users use...

DOI: 10.1177/2050324519900068 Psilocybin MDMA Lysergic acid diethylamide Mood +4

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