RR Griffiths, WA Richards, U McCann, R Jesse. 2006. "Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance." Psychopharmacology (Berl). 187(3), 268-83, commentaries 284-292.

2006 Hopkins/CSP psilocybin paper here;

the journal's editorial and commentaries here;

press release here; Q&A here.

RR Griffiths, WA Richards, MW Johnson, UD McCann, R Jesse. 2008. "Mystical-type experiences occasioned by psilocybin mediate the attribution of personal meaning and spiritual significance 14 months later." Journal of Psychopharmacology, 22(6), 621-632.

2008 Hopkins/CSP psilocybin paper here;

press release here; backgrounder/Q&A here.

MW Johnson, WA Richards, RR Griffiths. 2008. "Human hallucinogen research: guidelines for safety." Journal of Psychopharmacology, 01 July.

2008 safety paper here.

Scientific American articles on contemporary hallucinogen studies, December 2010

RR Griffiths and CS Grob, "Hallucinogens as Medicine" here;

Maria Estevez, "High Light: When a Psilocybin Study Leads to Spiritual Realization" here.

RR Griffiths, MW Johnson, U McCann, WA Richards, BD Richards, and R Jesse. 2011. "Psilocybin occasioned mystical-type experiences: immediate and persisting dose-related effects." Psychopharmacology, 15 June.

2011 dose-effect study here;

press release and supplemental material here.

KA MacLean, MW Johnson, and RR Griffiths. 2011. "Mystical experiences occasioned by the hallucinogen psilocybin lead to increases in the personality domain of openness." Journal of Psychopharmacology, 29 Sept.

2011 openness paper here.

KA MacLean, MW Johnson, M-MS Leoutsakos, and RR Griffiths. 2012. "Factor Analysis of the Mystical Experience: A Study of Experiences Occasioned by the Hallucinogen Psilocybin." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 51(4):721-737.

2012 mystical experience factor analysis here.

MW Johnson, A Garcia-Romeu, MP Cosimano, and RR Griffiths. 2014. "Pilot study of the 5-HT2AR agonist psilocybin in the treatment of tobacco addiction." Journal of Psychopharmacology, 16 Oct.

2014 smoking cessation paper here.

A Garcia-Romeu, RR Griffiths, MW Johnson. 2014. "Psilocybin-Occasioned Mystical Experiences in the Treatment of Tobacco Addiction." Current Drug Abuse Reviews, 7(3): 157 - 164.

2014 addiction treatment paper here.

FS Barrett, MW Johnson, and RR Griffiths. 2015. "Validation of the revised Mystical Experience Questionnaire in experimental sessions with psilocybin." Journal of Psychopharmacology, 29 Nov.

2015 mystical experiences validation paper here.

PS Hendricks, MW Johnson, and RR Griffiths. 2015. "Psilocybin, psychological distress, and suicidality." Journal of Psychopharmacology, 21 Sept.

2015 suicidality paper here.

TM Carbonaro, MP Bradstreet, FS Barrett, KA MacLean, R Jesse, MW Johnson, and RR Griffiths. 2016. "Survey study of challenging experiences after ingesting psilocybin mushrooms: Acute and enduring positive and negative consequences." Journal of Psychopharmacology, 30 Aug.

2016 challenging experiences paper here.

RR Griffiths, MW Johnson, MA Carducci, A Umbricht, WA Richards, BD Richards, MP Cosimano, and MA Klinedinst. 2016. "Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer: A randomized double-blind trial." Journal of Psychopharmacology, 1 Dec.

2016 cancer distress paper here.

MW Johnson, A Garcia-Romeu, PS Johnson. 2017. "An online survey of tobacco smoking cessation associated with naturalistic psychedelic use." Journal of Psychopharmacology, 18 Jan.

2017 smoking survey paper here.

Barrett FS, Griffiths RR (in press). "Classic Hallucinogens and Mystical Experiences: Phenomenology and Neural Correlates" in AL Halberstadt, FX Vollenweider, and DE Nichols (Eds.) Behavioral Neurobiology of Psychedelic Drugs, Curr Top Behav Neurosci. Epub Ahead of Print: 2017 Mar 2016. DOI: 10.1007/7854_2017_474

2017 mystical experiences chapter here.

MW Johnson, A Garcia-Romeu, MP Cosimano, and RR Griffiths. 2017. "Long-term follow-up of psilocybin-facilitated smoking cessation." American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 21 Jul.

2017 smoking cessation follow-up paper here.

FS Barrett, H Robbins, D Smooke, JL Brown, and RR Griffiths. 2017. "Qualitative and Quantitative Features of Music Reported to Support Peak Mystical Experiences during Psychedelic Therapy Sessions." Frontiers in Psychology, 25 Jul.

2017 music paper here.

FS Barrett, MW Johnson, and RR Griffiths. 2017. "Neuroticism is associated with challenging experiences with psilocybin mushrooms." Personality and Individual Differences, 15 Oct.

2017 neuroticism paper here.

About CSP

Why This Work? Reflections from Huston Smith, Ann and Sasha Shulgin, and other distinguished commentators.

2011 Media Coverage 2011 Media Coverage

2010 Media Coverage 2010 Media Coverage

New York Times Hallucinogens Have Doctors Tuning In Again, 11 April.

2008 Media Coverage 2008 Media Coverage

As of July 4, 2008, google news reports 581 articles on the Hopkins/CSP psilocybin findings [search performed at 11:33:00 PDT].

2006 Media Coverage 2006 Media Coverage

The July 2006 publication of the first Hopkins/CSP psilocybin study drew media attention around the globe (including some 300 print articles according to Google, plus magazine, radio, and TV coverage). Here's a sampling:

From The Economist, 13 July 2006:

The God Pill: Hallucinogens induce lasting spiritual highs in the religious

ONE June night in Mexico in 1955, Gordon Wasson, a vice-president of J.P. Morgan, became one of the first outsiders to eat what the Aztecs called teonanacatl, the flesh of the gods. Actually, it is the flesh of a fungus, and it soon became known to hippies as the magic mushroom. But, whereas the flower children of the 1960s and their descendants gobbled the hallucinogenic fungi in search of a good time, the Aztecs had a deeper purpose. They used the mushrooms in religious ceremonies for healing, divination and communing with the spirit world.

Now a study led by Roland Griffiths of Johns Hopkins University, and published this week in Psychopharmacology, has shown that psilocybin – the active component in magic mushrooms – does indeed induce mental states akin to the highest religious experiences. Moreover, it has lasting positive effects on those who take it.

Experiments involving drugs of any kind need to have a control – that is, an otherwise identical experiment in which something other than the drug is administered – to check that any effects are caused by the drug and not something else. Ideally, neither experimental subjects nor researchers should know who is in the control group, but for experiments involving psychedelic drugs this is difficult, because it quickly becomes apparent who is high and who is not.

For his control, Dr Griffiths decided to use methylphenidate hydrochloride, otherwise known as Ritalin, a drug that calms hyperactive children. On one of two occasions, he gave 36 volunteers who had never taken hallucinogenic drugs either psilocybin or Ritalin, swapping the drugs on the second occasion. The choice of Ritalin was inspired. Neither the volunteers nor the experimenters could say reliably which drug was being administered on which occasion.

A close eye was kept on the volunteers for eight hours after the drugs were given, to check all was well. They were then asked about their experience. Two-thirds of the participants, who were mostly middle-aged college graduates, ranked being given psilocybin as either the best or in the top five best experiences of their lives – on a par with the birth of a first child. They described feeling peace, intense happiness and a sense of the unity of all things.

The participants were no strangers to spiritual highs. Almost all engaged at least monthly in religious or spiritual activities such as prayer or attending religious services, and were selected for participation in the trial on this basis. Yet two months after the trial, 79% of them reported moderately or greatly increased well-being or satisfaction. Their positive changes in attitudes and behaviour were confirmed by independent assessments made by friends and family.

Why this should be is not yet well understood. Psilocybin is thought to work by mimicking serotonin. This is one of the messenger molecules that carry signals between nerve cells in the brain, and it is known to influence mood. But there has been little research of late. Clinical studies using psilocybin and other hallucinogens were halted when recreational use of the drugs took off. They have only just resumed after a four-decade hiatus.

Dr Griffiths and his colleagues argue that the mood-lifting effects of hallucinogens might be used to treat drug and alcohol addiction. Psilocybin itself is not addictive, although they recommend that its availability should continue to be limited. Psychedelic drugs could even be used to probe the basis of consciousness, according to Solomon Snyder, one of Dr Griffith's colleagues. Dr Snyder believes that investigation of such drugs could help scientists understand the molecular changes in the brain that underlie religious experiences.

Back in the 1950s, Gordon Wasson spent years gaining the trust of Amerindians who had continued the religious traditions of their pre-Columbian ancestors. Eventually he was allowed to partake of the mushroom. His experience, from which he said he emerged awestruck, started a short period of study that ended prematurely because of the mushroom's widespread recreational use. By showing it is possible to conduct such research responsibly, Dr Griffiths has opened the door for further work to be done on the properties of psychedelic drugs.

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