The need for publicly funded research on therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs
World Psychiatry May 18, 2021 DOI: 10.1002/wps.20847 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Commentary Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Medline Pharmacology |
| Citations | 17 |
| Key points | The text defines psychedelic drugs by their capacity to produce unusual thought, mood, and perceptual changes without physical addiction, craving, major physiological disturbances, delirium, disorientation, or amnesia, and identifies mescaline, psilocybin, LSD, DMT, ibogaine, and ayahuasca as classic psychedelics that act on the 5-HT2A serotonin receptor. |
Abstract
A psychedelic drug is one that “produces thought, mood and perceptual changes otherwise rarely experienced except in dreams, contemplative and religious exaltation, flashes of vivid involuntary memory, and acute psychosis”1. It does so “without causing physical addiction, craving, major physiological disturbances, delirium, disorientation or amnesia”1. The “classic psychedelics” include mescaline, psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), dimethyltryptamine (DMT), and plant-based substances such as ibogaine and ayahuasca. Their chemical structures differ, but they all act on the 5-HT2A serotonin receptor1.
Citations in the library
Cited by 15
- New Paradigms of Old Psychedelics in Schizophrenia Pharmaceuticals May 23, 2022
- Translating Psychedelic Therapies From Clinical Trials to Community Clinics: Building Bridges and Addressing Potential Challenges Ahead Frontiers in Psychiatry November 4, 2021
- Crafting effective regulatory policies for psychedelics: What can be learned from the case of cannabis? Addiction June 6, 2024
- Is good science leading the way in the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs? Psychological Medicine October 1, 2022
- Psilocybin treatment extends cellular lifespan and improves survival of aged mice npj Aging July 8, 2025
and 10 more in the library
Cites 5
- Acute, subacute and long-term subjective effects of psilocybin in healthy humans: a pooled analysis of experimental studies Journal of Psychopharmacology September 20, 2010
- Classic psychedelics: An integrative review of epidemiology, therapeutics, mystical experience, and brain network function. Pharmacology & Therapeutics May 1, 2019
- The abuse potential of medical psilocybin according to the 8 factors of the Controlled Substances Act Neuropharmacology June 5, 2018
- ADVERSE REACTIONS TO PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS. A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease October 1, 1984
- Therapeutic Applications of Classic Hallucinogens. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences 2018