I spent months talking to psychedelic guides and researchers. What would a world in which psychedelics are legal look like? And what sort of cultural structures would we need to ensure that these drugs are used responsibly?
Carine Chen-McLaughlin smoked for more than 40 years. She didn’t want to be a smoker. She’d tried to stop dozens of times over the decades. But she always came back. Then she heard about a clinical trial to treat nicotine addiction with something a little unusual: psilocybin.
Nearly five years after a group of cancer patients were given a single dose of a psychedelic drug to ease depression and anxiety, new research finds that many of them are still feeling the positive effects.
The hallucinogenic chemical psilocybin produced in some mushrooms helped people with major depression in a study that also included supportive psychotherapy.
Regulators will soon grapple with how to safely administer powerful psychedelics for treating depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disabling condition that generates considerable morbidity, mortality, and both medical and indirect social costs. Treatment options are limited.