Scientific Reports
April 7, 2022
Grant Jones, Jocelyn A. Ricard, Joshua Lipson et al.
56 citations
People who have used psilocybin at some point in their lives have 30% lower odds of having opioid use disorder, based on data from a large U.S. national survey. No other classic psychedelic substances—such as LSD, peyote, or mescaline—showed a similar association. Psilocybin use was also linked to lower odds of meeting seven of the 11 diagnostic criteria for opioid use disorder. These findings suggest psilocybin may hold promise as a treatment, but clinical trials are needed to establish causality.
Scientific Reports
June 22, 2022
Grant Jones, Joshua Lipson, Matthew K. Nock
31 citations
Lifetime use of psilocybin, peyote, or mescaline is associated with lower odds of current nicotine dependence, while lifetime LSD use is linked to higher odds. Analyzing 214,505 participants from the 2015–2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, multivariable logistic regression showed psilocybin use corresponded to reduced odds of nicotine dependence (adjusted odds ratio 0.87–0.93). Peyote and mescaline use also reduced odds on multiple subdomains of the Nicotine Dependence Syndrome Scale (adjusted odds ratio 0.79–0.91). LSD use was associated with increased odds (adjusted odds ratio 1.17–1.24). These observational findings suggest potential for tryptamine and phenethylamine psychedelics in smoking cessation research, but causal relationships require experimental testing.
Frontiers in Psychology
May 23, 2022
Tomas Frymann, Sophie Whitney, David B. Yaden et al.
26 citations
Two new psychometric scales, the Integration Engagement Scale (IES) and the Experienced Integration Scale (EIS), were developed to measure different aspects of psychedelic integration—the period after acute drug effects. The IES captures positive behavioral engagement with integration, while the EIS captures internal feelings of being integrated. Scale items were refined with input from experts and clinicians using the Iterative Process Model. Content validity, internal structure, and reliability were assessed through expert surveys, cognitive interviewing, convergent validity analysis, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The data indicate the scales are valid and reliable measures of behavioral and experiential forms of psychedelic integration.
Scientific Reports
February 11, 2023
Grant Jones, Joshua Lipson, Erica Wang
2 citations
Social functioning problems are common in mental health disorders, but effective treatments are limited. Analyzing data from a large U.S. national survey (2015–2019, over 214,000 adults), lifetime use of MDMA/ecstasy was linked to lower odds of three social difficulties: dealing with strangers (9% lower odds), participating in social activities (10% lower odds), and being prevented from social activities (16% lower odds). Lifetime mescaline use was also linked to lower odds of difficulty with strangers (15% lower odds). Other psychedelics showed no benefit or were associated with increased social difficulties. The authors note that experimental studies are needed to determine if these relationships are causal.
Behavioral Sciences
February 23, 2026
Joshua Lipson, Hannes Kettner, Robin Carhart-Harris et al.
Mood before taking a psychedelic substance and factors like social connectedness, mindfulness, and spirituality influence how the experience unfolds. People with higher baseline depression and anxiety tend to have more challenging experiences but not more mystical ones, while those with greater wellbeing report more mystical and fewer challenging experiences. Mindfulness and spirituality are linked to more mystical experiences, and social connectedness and mindfulness are linked to fewer challenging ones. Mystical and challenging experiences were weakly but positively correlated overall.