Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly
August 24, 2026
Gary Enos
Participants in a Phase 2a trial of a single‐dose psychedelic in combination with cognitive‐behavioral therapy (CBT) for alcohol use disorder (AUD) used terms such as “cleansing” and “rebirth” to describe the impact of their study experience. All but two of the study's 10 interviewed participants reported eliminating or reducing drinking over a 12‐week follow‐up, though several described their...
Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly
August 10, 2026
Alison Knopf
Cannabis use and cannabis use disorder (CUD) are common in early‐onset psychosis. Clinical presentation is key when determining which is present and which to treat first. But reducing cannabis use would help. A study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that cannabis use preceded the psychosis symptoms. Researchers found that screening and...
Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly
May 21, 2026
Alison Knopf
New research on the relationship between cannabis and psychosis was released, and a presentation on how low‐dose buprenorphine combined with ketamine reduced suicidality in adults with major depressive disorder was published and presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly
April 20, 2026
Alison Knopf
When conducting randomized controlled trials, the study drug is pitted against a placebo. The problem with psychedelics trials is that subjects always know when they have been given a psychedelic. The only “placebo” for a psychedelic is another drug with similar properties, because psychedelics have such obvious effects.
Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly
June 2, 2025
Alison Knopf
In a small study, researchers observed a possible link based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) between elevated dopamine function, cannabis use, and schizophrenia. It is known that cannabis use is linked to psychosis, and dopamine is linked to psychosis, but whether there is a dopamine link is unclear.
Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly
March 17, 2025
Alison Knopf
Not for the first time, experts have expressed concern about whether randomized controlled trials (RCTs) can be conducted with psychedelics. A placebo for a drug with such a powerful effect would be difficult to create. But placebos are needed to prove that a medication works because it works, not because the patient thinks it will (the so‐called “placebo effect”). To avoid the placebo effect...
Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly
September 16, 2024
Alison Knopf
The typical conundrum with cannabis use by adolescents and first episode psychosis — which came first? — was displaced by Steven Batki, M.D. in a plenary session at the Cape Cod Symposium on Addictive Disorders (CCSAD) last week. Bakti, who is professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco Weill Institute for Neurosciences, presented his conclusions allowing the audience...
Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly
June 10, 2024
Alison Knopf
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted 9‐2 to reject the application of Lykos Therapeutics, the newly formed commercial arm of MAPS, for “midomafetamine” (actually MDMA, or methylenedioxymethamphetamine) to treat post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly
October 27, 2023
Alison Knopf
When we weren't looking, the annual “Innovations” issue crept up on us. And coincidentally, so did advances in the use of psychedelics to treat substance use disorders (SUDs). ADAW reviewed its own archives, as well as the medical literature, attended a conference and found that indeed, psychedelics can be used not only to treat post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but to treat SUDS, in...
Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly
August 5, 2022
A. Knopf
Last month the American Psychiatric Association (APA) issued a position statement on psychedelics warning about the short‐ and long‐term risks of these unapproved drugs. Sanctioned by the APA board of trustees, the “Position Statement on the Use of Psychedelic and Empathogenic Agents for Mental Health Conditions” notes that preliminary research involving psychedelics for the treatment of...