2018: A watershed year for psychedelic science
Drug Science Policy and Law – January 01, 2019
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
The year 2018 profoundly transformed Psychedelics and Drug Studies. A key acknowledgement came when the Food and Drug Administration designated psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy a "breakthrough therapy" for depression. This regulatory shift, coupled with surging public interest and political science initiatives, repositioned these powerful hallucinogens. The momentum ignited diverse academic research themes, spanning psychology, social science, and even environmental ethics, solidifying the field's long-term outlook beyond just chemical synthesis and alkaloids.
Abstract
While interest in the study of psychedelic drugs has increased over much of the last decade, in this article, we argue that 2018 marked the true turning point for the field. Substantive advances in the scientific, public, and regulatory communities in 2018 significantly elevated the status and long-term outlook of psychedelic science, particularly in the United States. Advances in the scientific community can be attributed to impactful research applications of psychedelics as well as acknowledgement in preeminent journals. In the public sphere, Michael Pollan’s book How to Change Your Mind was a commercial hit and spurred thought-provoking, positive media coverage on psychedelics. Unprecedented psychedelic ballot initiatives in the United States were representative of changes in public interest. Finally, regulatory bodies began to acknowledge psychedelic science in earnest in 2018, as evidenced by the designation of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy to “breakthrough therapy” status for treatment-resistant depression by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In short, 2018 was a seminal year for psychedelic science.