Psychology

Healing with the psychonauts: psychedelic medicine goes mainstream

All of this comes not a moment too soon. Studies show that psychedelics have extraordinary efficacy in treating the illnesses that currently plague America: trauma, addiction, depression, anxiety, isolation, disaffection, and crippling fear of death. Forty years after going underground, the conversation around psychedelics is coming back into the open…  Psychedelics went underground but did not go…

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Medicine/Healing

The whole fungus: fine

The first state-level drug decriminalization bill Has been introduced by in Maryland, USA…where elected officials and a broad range of stakeholders [convened] on a forum on decriminalization. [H.B. 488 : Drug Use and Possession Penalty Changes], [H.B. 515 : Substance Use Treatment at Need in ERs and Hospitals], and [H.B. 519 : Safe Consumption Programs].…

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Psychology

Skyrocketing rates of fentanyl deaths led to the deadliest year for opioid overdoses ever

The new figures aren’t surprising to opioid policy experts such as Leo Beletsky, an associate professor of law and health sciences at Northeastern University. “They indicate that, in many places around the U.S., the response continues to miss the mark.” Beletsky [said]. “These data are devastating, and further underscore the need for an all-hands-on-deck approach…

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Psychology

Magic mushrooms can help quit smoking

The active compound found in magic mushrooms is called psilocybin and was administered to a handful of smokers. The six-year study aimed to uncover the mechanism in the brain that makes it so difficult to kick the habit ‘Cigarette smoking is today a huge public health scourge and there are no effective reliable treatments,’ said…

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Psychology

Can psychedelic drugs heal?

Adele Lafrance, PhD, of Laurentian University, highlighted a study of 159 participants who reported on their past use of hallucinogens, level of spirituality and relationship with their emotions. Using hallucinogens was related to greater levels of spirituality, which led to improved emotional stability and fewer symptoms of anxiety, depression and disordered eating, the study found.…

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Psychology

Effects of psychedelic DMT ‘similar to near-death experiences’

All volunteers were screened and overseen by medical staff throughout the study.​Improving understanding of the neurobiology of dying “may have implications for how we view this most inevitable and universal phenomenon, potentially promoting a greater familiarity with and healthy acceptance of it”, the authors added. Original Article (BBC):Effects of psychedelic DMT ‘similar to near-death experiences’Artwork…

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Psychology

The scientific reason people in crisis benefit from ayahuasca

More than 150 studies on ayahuasca now appear on PubMed, the federal database of peer-reviewed research. People generally know serotonin as a neurotransmitter that regulates emotions and serves as a mood stabilizer. Serotonin transporters are proteins that aid in the facilitation of serotonin throughout the nervous system, and what McKenna and his team discovered in…

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Medicine/Healing

FDA may soon allow MDMA prescriptions for PTSD

Last August 2017, the agency streamlined that process by deeming MDMA a “breakthrough therapy,” meaning it “may demonstrate substantial improvement” over current options. ​ MDMA, which was banned by the Drug Enforcement Administration in 1985, could be available by prescription as soon as 2021. The rehabilitation of MDMA, a.k.a. “ecstasy” or “molly,” is directly related to…

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Psychology

Is it time to do away with job applicant drug testing?

Drug-war passions are fading … in that shifting social context, companies and public employers, including the military, might want to take a second look at whether pre-employment drug testing actually does the job it was designed to do. It’s possible, though far from certain, that hiring applicants who test positive for opioids is riskier than…

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