People who used ‘magic mushrooms’ less likely to develop opioid use disorder, study finds
USA Today reports on a new study from Harvard University that found opioid use disorders were 30% less likely among people who used psilocybin compared with those who never had it. The researchers analyzed data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health from 2015 to 2019 to assess the association between psychedelics and opioid use disorders.
The Next Big Addiction Treatment
The New York Times examines psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy as treatment for substance abuse. This potential stems from psilocybin’s seeming ability to address both chemical and psychological dependencies. Research is ongoing for nicotine cessation and alcohol uses disorders.
Journey Colab bags $3M from ‘moonshot’ fund to push new development model for psychedelic treatments
Journey Colab announces plans to study mescaline for treating alcohol use disorders with trials starting in 2021. The company has received an initial investment of $3 million to begin developing synthetic versions of plant-based psychedelic compounds. The company’s stakeholder model includes Indigenous communities, non-profits, and clinicians.
Psychedelics as an emerging novel intervention in the treatment of substance use disorder: a review
A comprehensive review of the current evidence for using psychedelic substances as a treatment for addiction. Published in Molecular Biology Reports in November 2020, this paper posits how psychedelics improve outcomes in addiction recovery by modulating disordered brain networks including signaling in reward neural pathways.
MDMA-assisted psychotherapy will be cost-effective in the treatment of PTSD
A new article in PLOS one examines the cost effectiveness of MDMA-assisted therapy versus conventional PTSD treatments. Results show that MDMA-assisted psychotherapy may reduce general and mental health care costs to the tune of $103.2 million dollars over 30 years. “By demonstrating a return of an average of 5.5 quality-adjusted life-years over 30 years, we have shown that MDMA-assisted psychotherapy has the potential to reduce more than the personal burden of PTSD,” said Rick Doblin, MAPS Executive Director.
Oregon becomes first state to legalize psychedelic mushrooms
Over the next 2 years Oregon will establish a framework for facilitated psilocybin therapy in certified settings. Health providers and trained guides will deliver psilocybin within a regulated system to individuals seeking psychedelics for healing purposes and personal growth. Measure 110 changes the approach on drug possession to reduce criminal penalties and provide more funding for addiction and recovery programs.
#14Days: psilocybin, where science meets spirituality
Dr. Stephen Ross, Director of the NYU Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship, and other NYU investigators are conducting clinical research trials using psilocybin-assisted therapy for treatment of alcohol use disorders. Ross says, “By inducing a spiritual awakening, it may shift the person who’s addicted from this path they’re on which is very dark and going toward destruction… towards a different path and a connection back into their lives and developmental tracks. This shift we want to feed into psychotherapy to help change their motivation to enter sobriety and recovery.”
Johns Hopkins: psychedelics may be effective treatment for alcoholism
Study participants who decreased their drinking after psilocybin therapy in a clinical trial said, “They believed that the psychedelic helped them to change their life values or priorities; that it changed their perspective on the future, such that they began valuing long-term benefits more; that it changed their own opinion of their ability to abstain; and that it reframed the task of quitting as a spiritual endeavor.”
Psilocybin sessions: psychedelics could help people with addiction and anxiety
Groundbreaking psychedelic research featured on 60 Minutes. Investigators at Johns Hopkins University talk about psilocybin therapy and study participants describe how it helped them overcome nicotine addictions or improve depression symptoms. They have many studies planned for the new Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at JHU. Michael Pollan shares his experience with psychedelics and how these treatments can impact mental health.
Can magic mushrooms cure addiction?
The profound mystical experiences evoked by psilocybin can help people see the real reasons why they are smoking and how to overcome lifelong addictions. Unlike traditional approaches of reducing symptoms of nicotine withdrawal, psilocybin in the context of behavioral therapy gets at the root cause of what is causing the addiction. Under psilocybin, areas in the brain that normally don’t talk to each other begin to cross talk, allowing for new insights to emerge and a shift in perspective around harmful habits.
MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for alcohol use disorders
The first study of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for alcohol use disorders is taking place in Bristol, UK. After two MDMA sessions during an 8-week course of therapy, two patients were not drinking at all and two patients had a single episode of drinking a low amount of alcohol. All had improvements in quality of life, mindfulness, self-compassion, depression and anxiety symptoms. Dr. Ben Sessa, an addiction psychiatrist leading the study, commented, “We know that MDMA works really well in helping people who have suffered trauma and it helps to build empathy. Many of my patients who are alcoholics have suffered some sort of trauma in their past and this plays a role in their addiction.”
Dying to get clean: is ibogaine the answer to heroin addiction?
Derived from the roots of a plant from West Africa, ibogaine is sought after for its anti-addictive properties. This strong psychoactive substance has helped people kick decade-long opioid dependence by reducing withdrawal symptoms and cravings. However, without proper screening and oversight, ibogaine use has been associated with life-threatening heart complications and other health risks. Ibogaine is currently banned in the USA, but drug development companies are now working to start clinical trials.
A detox drug promises miracles—if it doesn’t kill you first
An emergency room doctor visits an ibogaine clinic in Mexico to better understand how this substance can interrupt opioid addictions. One of the patients described his experience as, “The benefit of ibogaine is that it gets you through withdrawal so you can get on with the work of sobriety. Those next steps, he said, were even more important.”
How to join a psychedelic clinical trial
Recent advancements in clinical research of psychedelic substances are leading the way for new investigations for treatment of substance use disorders. Currently there are phase 2 clinical trials underway or planned to give psilocybin to people with alcohol, nicotine, and cocaine use disorders. Learn more about study enrollment and how to contact study sites in this article that lists current and planned psychedelic clinical research trials world-wide.
The FDA just fast-tracked another psychedelic medicine trial
Psychedelic substances are in various phases of clinical research. MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for treatment of PTSD is currently in phase 3 trials, the last stage of testing before possibly becoming an FDA-approved medication. Studies are ongoing investigating the use of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression and major depressive disorder. The FDA has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD and psilocybin for treatment resistant depression and major depressive disorder. In phase 2 studies, both have demonstrated substantial improvement over currently available treatments for these life-threatening conditions. Clinical trials are actively recruiting participants for these studies.
Nearly 100 cities are considering decriminalizing psychedelics, map shows
A grassroots movement has gained momentum after success in Denver and Oakland. Decriminalize Nature has provided a template for others to submit similar resolutions in their cities and is working with allied groups to help them accomplish decriminalization in their local areas. Other cities, including Portland, Santa Cruz, Chicago, Berkeley, Dallas and others, have filed or plan to advance decriminalization measures at the city level.
What psilocybin decriminalization initiative will — and won’t — do
In May 2019, Denver became the first city to decriminalize hallucinogenic psilocybin mushrooms. A city ordinance was voted in to “deprioritize, to the greatest extent possible” criminal penalties imposed by the City of Denver “for the personal use and personal possession of psilocybin mushrooms.” These so called ‘magic mushrooms’ are still not legal in Denver or any other USA city, but the ordinance effectively “prohibits the city from spending resources to impose criminal penalties.”
Activists file ballot measure to legalize psilocybin mushrooms in California
The California Psilocybin Decriminalization Initiative is a state measure aimed to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms in the November 2020 election. But first a 30 day public comment period must occur before the signature collection process begins where 625,000 signatures must be collected within 180 days to get this on the ballot for the 2020 election. The latest version of the initiative includes, “advances cognitive liberty and implements a comprehensive, statewide scheme authorizing and regulating the cultivation, processing and distribution of Psilocybin Mushrooms and the chemical compounds contained therein for personal, spiritual, religious, dietary, therapeutic, and medical use.”
Prescription psychedelics are almost here—but western medicine isn’t ready
The use of psychedelics in clinical practices is quite different than traditional medications prescribed for mental health conditions. Rather than a daily dose of a medication, psychedelic-assisted therapies include preparatory sessions, the psychedelic experience with therapy, and integrative sessions after. With these new paradigms emerging, so is the call for long-term supportive community programs. “Psychedelics are not a shortcut to a simple fix. They can show us the way forward, but we need to put in the work before and after the experience. And we need to do that work communally.” More connectedness will foster larger individual and collective healing.
How magic mushrooms can help smokers kick the habit
Smoking was “one of my oldest, dearest friends,” she said of her habit. “To not have that relationship was very, very scary.” Researchers at Johns Hopkins University guide a 40 year smoker through a psilocybin journey in a clinical trial for nicotine dependence. A year-and-a-half later, she remains smoke-free. “I think something in my brain got turned off,” she says.
The extraordinary therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs, explained
A cultural integration of psychedelics is occurring in parallel to regulated psychedelic drug development programs. Many people are looking to underground guides and therapists to experience psychedelics outside of sanctioned research trials. As the therapeutic claims of psychedelics widen, so does the need for education around harm reduction and best practices for psychedelic explorers. The use of psychedelics is evolving, and while many enthusiastically embrace these developments, caution is warranted until more data is collected around safety and application of these powerful tools.
The power of addiction and the addiction of power: Gabor Maté at TEDxRio+20
Canadian physician Gabor Maté is a specialist in terminal illnesses, chemical dependents, and HIV positive patients. Dr. Maté is a renowned author of books and columnist known for his knowledge about attention deficit disorder, stress, chronic illness and parental relations. His theme at TEDxRio+20 was addiction — from drugs to power. From the lack of love to the desire to escape oneself, from susceptibility of the being to interior power — nothing escapes. And he risks a generic and generous prescription: “Find your nature and be nice to yourself.”
The future of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy
Could psychedelics help us heal from trauma and mental illnesses? Researcher Rick Doblin has spent the past three decades investigating this question, and the results are promising. In this fascinating dive into the science of psychedelics, he explains how drugs like LSD, psilocybin and MDMA affect your brain — and shows how, when paired with psychotherapy, they could change the way we treat PTSD, depression, substance abuse and more.
How isolation fuels opioid addiction
What do Tourette syndrome, heroin addiction and social media obsession all have in common? They converge in an area of the brain called the striatum, says neuroscientist Rachel Wurzman — and this critical discovery could reshape our understanding of the opioid crisis. Sharing insights from her research, Wurzman shows how social isolation contributes to relapse and overdose rates and reveals how meaningful human connection could offer a potentially powerful source of recovery.
Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong
What really causes addiction — to everything from cocaine to smart-phones? And how can we overcome it? Johann Hari has seen our current methods fail firsthand, as he has watched loved ones struggle to manage their addictions. He started to wonder why we treat addicts the way we do — and if there might be a better way. As he shares in this deeply personal talk, his questions took him around the world, and unearthed some surprising and hopeful ways of thinking about an age-old problem.
Psychedelics as behavior change agents: addiction recovery & beyond
Johns Hopkins’ researcher Dr. Matthew Johnson presents data from psilocybin clinical trials at the Psychedelic Science 2017 conference in Oakland, CA. Psilocybin combined with therapy is being investigated for treating dependence of nicotine, alcohol, and opioids. The results from these pilot studies show this novel approach can shift people’s perspectives around their substance use and help them harness motivation to reduce harmful patterns.
The science of psychedelics with Michael Pollan and Dr. Robin Carhart-Harriss
Is there a role for psychedelics such as LSD and psilocybin in healthcare, and can they uncover things about our consciousness? Author Michael Pollan and psychedelic researcher Dr. Robin Carhart-Harriss explore the therapeutic value of mind expansive experiences at the Royal Institution.
How LSD and shrooms could help treat anxiety, addiction and depression
The profound mystical experiences encountered during psilocybin sessions can lead to lasting positive changes in mental health. Participants in psilocybin clinical trials talk about how they overcome nicotine and alcohol dependence. Six months after treatment, 80% of fifteen smokers were abstinent from nicotine. Alcohol craving and the number of drinking days were reduced weeks after one to two psilocybin sessions and motivational therapy. New trials are underway to research psilocybin in a larger number of people seeking treatment for addictions.
How psilocybin helped me overcome alcohol dependence
Sarah talks about her challenging experiences during psilocybin therapy when she acknowledges the destructive impact of her uncontrolled drinking. She confronts the emotional pain and sees how to work through things in order to become a more present parent. By reconnecting with her truth, she learns how to accept and move on to lead a healthier life. Ten months after her two psilocybin sessions, Sarah is a more playful mom and is forever grateful for the blessings in her life.
Is MDMA psychiatry’s antibiotic? Dr. Ben Sessa at TEDx University of Bristol
This TEDx talk explores the practice of MDMA Psychotherapy, illustrated with the life-story of a fictional typical patient. We owe it to this population of vulnerable, untreated patients with unremitting mental disorders due to psychological trauma, to explore MDMA Therapy as potential new treatment for the future of psychiatric medicine.