Psychedelic Medicine

The results of a fascinating clinical trial challenge popular assumptions regarding "safer" strains of cannabis. The research found higher levels of cannabidiol (CBD) do not negate any potential adverse effects from smoking cannabis.

In a close result, voters in Colorado have passed the most progressive drug reform measure ever seen in the US, creating a regulatory framework for psychedelic clinics to operate and decriminalizing personal use of several natural hallucinogenic plants.

Most psychedelic advocates picture a future where the drug war is over and people are free to use a number of currently illicit substances but exactly how we get to that utopian future is the source of great acrimony in a previously unified community.

The world's first Phase 3 human trial for psilocybin-assisted therapy set to commence by the end of the year. The trial, run by Compass Pathways, will enroll close to 1,000 subjects and the company is looking to FDA approvals by the end of 2025.

New research has estimated legalization of cannabis over the past 25 years has cost pharma companies billions of dollars in lost sales. And, if cannabis were to be legalized across the entire US, pharma stocks could rapidly drop by over 10 percent.

For almost a century, popular culture has presented images of lazy, unmotivated "stoners" who do little more with their lives than smoke cannabis, but across a series of lab experiments and brain imaging tests a new study is busting that long-held myth.

A study has reported results from the first ever placebo-controlled trial testing psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for alcohol use disorder, but the findings inadvertently raise major questions about the veracity of clinical trials for psychedelic drugs.

Data from an annual drug-use survey has found use of psychedelics among US adults is at the highest point ever recorded in the survey’s history. The data also indicates alcohol and tobacco consumption is trending down but marijuana-use has increased.

A pair of unassuming psychedelic researchers have proposed a radical paradigm shift to the way psychotherapy is conducted, presenting a unique protocol for incorporating virtual reality into the still-experimental model of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.

A trial exploring MDMA-assisted therapy in a group setting is about to commence following the resolution of a clinical hold placed by the FDA that paused progress for several months. The trial's goal is to make MDMA-assisted therapy more cost-effective.

The first data has been announced from a Phase 2 trial testing LSD as treatment for anxiety. The results indicate one to two LSD sessions can generate rapid and sustained reductions to anxiety but larger trials are needed to validate these findings.

An ongoing study is testing a new kind of neuroimaging device designed to easily capture brain activity in real-time. These experiments will investigate the effects of ketamine on functional connectivity in the brain before, during and after an experience.