The Prohibited Medicine

Cannabis and psychedelics are still prohibited in many countries around the world, despite their wide range of benefits and evidence that they are safer than cigarettes and alcohol. We live in a society where alcohol is heavily advertised, cigarettes are sold on the counter, and painkillers and anti-depressants are taken like candy, yet smoking cannabis is an offence punishable with imprisonment.

According to research published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, the use of psychedelics does not increase a person’s risk of developing mental health problems. clinical psychologist Pål-Ørjan Johansen and neuroscientist Teri Suzanne Krebs said the findings show that most of the claims about the harms from psychedelic drugs like LSD, “magic” psilocybe mushrooms, and mescaline-containing cacti are unfounded.

“There is little evidence linking psychedelic use to lasting mental health problems. In general, use of psychedelics does not appear to be particularly dangerous when compared to other activities considered to have acceptable safety,” the researchers wrote in their study.

According to a study using a novel method to measure the risk of mortality associated with the use of several drugs, at the individual level, alcohol presented the highest risk of death, followed by nicotine, cocaine and heroin. Marijuana was found to be significantly less deadly, at the other end of the spectrum, confirming previous research ranking it as the safest recreational drug.

Another study published in 2012 in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) suggested smoking at a rate of one joint a day for as long as seven years doesn’t seem to affect lung function adversely. The research, according to the Harvard Health Letter, also suggested smoking marijuana in moderation may actually improve lung function because inhaling gives the lungs and the chest muscles a bit of a workout.

The authors concluded the study stating that “Marijuana may have beneficial effects on pain control, appetite, mood and management of other chronic symptoms. Our findings suggest that occasional use of marijuana for these or other purposes may not be associated with adverse consequences on pulmonary function. It is more difficult to estimate the potential effects of regular heavy use, because this pattern of use is relatively rare in our study sample; however, our findings do suggest an accelerated decline in pulmonary function with heavy use and a resulting need for caution and moderation when marijuana use is considered.”

Cannabidiol (CBD), a compound derived from the cannabis plant that does not produce a psychoactive high, has been an increasing focus of medical research. It was shown that in a large-scale, randomized, controlled trial, CBD significantly reduces the number of dangerous seizures in patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy.

The study concluded that among children and adults with the Lennox–Gastaut syndrome, adding CBD at a dose of 10 mg or 20 mg per kilogram per day to a conventional anti-epileptic regimen resulted in greater reductions in the frequency of drop seizures than placebo.

A 2006 study led by Scripps Research Institute’s Kim D. Janda provided a previously unrecognized molecular mechanism through which cannabinoid molecules may directly slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers used laboratory experiments to show that delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) preserves brain levels of the key neurotransmitter acetylcholine.

Janda and colleagues explain that such compounds “may provide an improved therapeutic for Alzheimer’s disease, augmenting acetylcholine levels by preventing neurotransmitter degradation and reeducating amyloid beta aggregation, thereby simultaneously treating both the symptoms and progression of Alzheimer’s disease.”

Research published in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics suggested CBD could stop cancer by turning off the Id-1 gene. The study concluded stating, “CBD represents the first nontoxic exogenous agent that can significantly decrease Id-1 expression in metastatic breast cancer cells leading to the down-regulation of tumor aggressiveness.”

A cross-sectional study of cannabidiol users found that CBD was being used as a specific therapy for diverse medical conditions, especially pain and inflammatory disorders, in addition to anxiety, depression and sleep disorders. According to the study, a large percentage of respondents indicated that CBD treats their condition(s) effectively in the absence of conventional medicine and with no serious adverse effects.

The growing burden of mental disorders continues to grow with significant impacts on a large portion of people all around the world. For instance, the World Health Organization (WHO) states that depression is a common mental disorder and one of the main causes of disability worldwide. Globally, an estimated 300 million people are affected by depression.

For decades now, the issue of mental health has been largely lacking any concrete meaningful treatment developments. But now, many scientists and scholars have become vocal advocates of a new hope for treatment, psychedelics. Recent research suggests certain psychedelic substances can help relieve or even treat anxiety, depression, PTSD, and addiction.

According to a review of studies published online in the journal Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, just one psychedelic trip can lead to changes in personality that can possibly last for years.

A team of researchers from Brazil and Spain analyzed 18 studies conducted between 1985 and 2016, all of which examined the relationship between the use of psychedelics and personality changes.

The researchers focused on papers that specifically examined serotonergic drugs, drugs that have structures similar to that of the neurotransmitter serotonin, a brain chemical which has an influence on our moods and appetites, resulting in hallucinations, euphoria and a number of other sensations.

According to the review, individuals who took magic mushrooms, LSD or Ayahuasca, were found to have higher rates of ‘openness’. In psychological terms, openness — one of the five main personality traits — is made up of different facets including appreciation of new experiences, attentiveness to inner feelings and intellectual curiosity.

“Psychedelic drug users and non-users appear to differ in some personality traits,” the authors wrote in their review. “Psychedelics administered in controlled settings may induce personality changes, such as increased Openness and Self-Transcendence.”

Research indicated that even one psychedelic trip could lead to a change in personality that may last for months and years, but what are some concrete changes that may occur after tripping on LSD, DMT, or psilocybin.

A 2016 study in the Journal of Psychopharmacology found that psilocybin-assisted therapy sessions improved mood and reduced anxiety in 80 percent of people with advanced-stage cancer six months after the treatment.

Psilocybin is the primary mind-altering substance in psychedelic “magic” mushrooms. This substance can profoundly alter the way a person experiences the world by producing changes in mood, sensory and time perception, and sense of self.

And in a study published in the scientific journal Neuropharmacology, researchers found that depressed people had increased neural responses to fearful faces one day after a psilocybin-assisted therapy session, which positively predicted positive clinical outcomes.

In this open-label study, 20 individuals diagnosed with moderate to severe, treatment-resistant depression, underwent two separate dosing sessions with psilocybin. Psychological support was provided before, during and after these sessions and 19 completed fMRI scans one week prior to the first session and one day after the second and last. Neutral, fearful and happy faces were presented in the scanner and analyses focused on the amygdala.

Group results revealed rapid and enduring improvements in depressive symptoms post psilocybin. Increased responses to fearful and happy faces were observed in the right amygdala post-treatment, and right amygdala increases to fearful versus neutral faces were predictive of clinical improvements at 1-week.

The team found that depressive symptoms were significantly reduced in all patients at one week, and 47% showed a response at five weeks. There were decreases in blood flow to the temporal cortex, including the amygdala, and area associated with emotion processing, which correlated with the reduction in depressive symptoms.

Psilocybin with psychological support was associated with increased amygdala responses to emotional stimuli, an opposite effect to previous findings with SSRIs. This suggests fundamental differences in these treatments’ therapeutic actions, with SSRIs mitigating negative emotions and psilocybin allowing patients to confront and work through them.

Based on the results, the team proposed that psilocybin with psychological support is a treatment approach that potentially revives emotional responsiveness in depression, enabling patients to reconnect with their emotions.

Researchers in the US and Europe have shown that just one single dose of psilocybin has fast-acting antidepressant effects — generally within hours. These effects also appear to last much longer than traditional antidepressants. In one study, 80% of people diagnosed with terminal cancer and depression who received a single dose of psilocybin continued to show improvements in their mood after six months.

Also in September 2019, the Brooklyn Psychedelic Society hosted a Plant Parenthood event to educate moms and dads on how psychedelics can make a person a better — and more present — parent. A number of parents at the Plant Parenthood event said that psychedelics have helped them to overcome childhood trauma and keep it from interfering with how they relate to their own children now.

The Vienna Convention of 1971 suggested a scheduling system for all agreeing countries to adhere to, classifying drugs into categories of harm. 183 countries have now agreed to this convention, and it directly led to the creation of laws such as the US Psychotropic Substances Act and the UK’s Misuse of Drugs Act.

The Vienna Convention was designed to target the manufacturing of synthetic psychotropics like LSD and MDMA; however, psilocybin is a naturally occurring substance. Similarly to the legal status of the natural psychedelic ayahuasca, the legal status of psilocybin can be left up to interpretation in many countries, even those that are party to the Vienna Convention.

Despite this, most countries have decided to treat psilocybin as a schedule I drug, imposing unreasonable and harsh punishments for its possession and sale.

Now let’s examine another psychedelic, ayahuasca. Ayahuasca is an Amazonian plant mixture that is capable of inducing altered states of consciousness, usually lasting between 4 to 8 hours after ingestion. Ranging from mildly stimulating to extremely visionary, ayahuasca is used primarily as a medicine and as a shamanic means of communication, typically in a ceremonial session under the guidance of an experienced drinker.

The main ingredient of this jungle tea is a vine, Banisteriopsis caapi, which like the tea itself is also called ayahuasca (which means ‘vine of the soul’ or ‘vine with a soul’). The secondary ingredient is either chacruna (Psychotria viridis) or chagropanga (Diplopterys cabrerana), plants that contain a relatively high amount of the psychedelic substance dimethyltryptamine (DMT).

In a study published in the journal of Scientific Reports, researchers at University of Exeter and University College London reported that people who used ayahuasca in the past year reported lower levels of problematic alcohol use than those who had taken LSD or psilocybin mushrooms.

Ayahuasca users also reported higher levels of well-being than both their psychedelic-using peers and those who don’t use psychedelics at all.

This published piece of research on ayahuasca is the largest and most authoritative piece study on this matter to date. The findings suggest this “Shaman’s Brew” might also offer a treatment for depression.

Researchers used an online Global Drug Survey data of over 96,000 participants which measured the Personal Wellbeing Index (a tool used by researchers around the world which examines things such as personal relationships, connection with the community, and a sense of achievement.

Of the respondents, 527 were ayahuasca users, 18,138 LSD or psilocybin mushrooms users, and 78, 236 did not take any psychedelic drugs.

“These findings lend some support to the notion that ayahuasca could be an important and powerful tool in treating depression and alcohol use disorders,” said lead author Will Lawn, PhD, of University College London, in a statement. “Recent research has demonstrated ayahuasca’s potential as a psychiatric medicine, and our current study provides further evidence that it may be a safe and promising treatment.”

This paper doesn’t include any new experimental results, rather it compiles survey results in a way that provides more evidence that ayahuasca could potentially be therapeutic for people suffering from mental health issues.

Researchers also wrote that long-term ayahuasca use does not seem to negatively affect cognitive abilities, and it isn’t associated with addictive use or worsening mental health issues.

Secondary analyses of a randomized placebo-controlled trial in which individuals with treatment-resistant depression were administered one dose of ayahuasca or placebo, suggest that ayahuasca may show potential as an intervention for suicidality.

Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that use of the synthetic psychedelic 5-methocy-N,-N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) appears to be associated with unintended improvements in self-reported depression and anxiety when given in a ceremonial group setting. 5-MeO-DMT is a psychedelic that is found in the venom of Bufo Alvarius toads, in a variety of plants species, and can be produced synthetically.

In a survey of 362 adults, approximately 80% of respondents reported improvements in anxiety and depression after use. These improvements were related to more intense acute mystical effects during the 5-MeO-DMT experience, as well as increases in rating of the personal meaning and spiritual significance of the experience. Improvements were also related to stronger beliefs that the experience contributed to enduring well-being and life satisfaction. These results were published in The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse.

A University of Toronto-affiliated paper has explored the potential of psychedelics to improve the quality of life of patients and alleviate suffering in end-of-life care. Also in a study published in Cell Reports, researchers at the University of California, Davis, administered several psychedelics, including DMT, LSD, MDMA and psilocin to flies and rats, in which they concluded that these substances resulted in neurons forming more synapse connections in their brains.

Also, scientists have found that a treatment involving a one-off shot of ketamine could help heavy drinkers substantially reduce alcohol consumption. The scientists said that ketamine can be used to “rewrite” drink-related memories. The findings raise the prospect that the therapy could in future be developed into an entirely new form of treatment for alcohol addiction.

Two studies from Johns Hopkins University and New York University found that psilocybin therapy decreased anxiety and depression levels in patients with life-threatening cancers and several psychiatric disorders. Patients also reported other beneficial effects, such as a reconnection to life, increased confidence, and acknowledgement of cancer’s place in life.

High-dose psilocybin produced large decreases in clinician- and self-rated measures of depressed mood and anxiety, along with increases in quality of life, life meaning, and optimism, and decreases in death anxiety. At 6-month follow-up, these changes were sustained, with about 80% of participants continuing to show clinically significant decreases in depressed mood and anxiety.

After the 1970s Controlled Substance Act criminalized all psychedelics, research on psychedelics was halted for decades, imagine what we would have learned from these substances and the advances we would have made regarding the mental health epidemic and existential crises spreading all around the world.

Hopefully, this all is changing with the efforts of different organizations at the forefront of this promising endeavor. For example, psilocybin is now being studied to relieve treatment-resistant depression at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) as part of a global Phase II clinical trial.

“It is a medication that can change or alter perceptions, cognition, thinking, and how minds see the environment,” said Sudhakar Selvaraj, MD, PhD, an assistant professor in the Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth. “This therapy, if it works, could help at least a portion of people get relief from their depression and get back to day-to-day life.”

Also a group of private donors has given $17 million to start the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins Medicine, making it what’s believed to be “the first such research center in the US and the largest research center of its kind in the world.”

Canada’s Field Trip Ventures has announced they are financing the world’s first psychedelic mushroom research center, which will be located on the campus of the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica where the mushrooms are legal. This announcement comes only weeks after Johns Hopkins Medical announced the launch of their center. Most of the work being done at Johns Hopkins is focusing on pure, synthetically produced psilocybin and studying its effects in a therapeutic setting. Field Trip will be studying the magic mushrooms themselves and all the chemicals they contain, including psilocybin.

‪With the efforts of a growing number of entities interested in researching the healing effects of cannabis and psychedelics, in addition to advocating for the legalization of these important tools, progress has been achieved in many fields. Hopefully, this continues until we, as human beings, fully appreciate the power of these substances.

Disclaimer: Like all other substances, the effects of psychedelics and cannabis may differ from one individual to another. Thus, taking psychedelics could lead to bad results for some people. One should always be careful when handling such substances and research the topic even further to cover both the benefits and harms.