Journal of Psychopharmacology
October 8, 2020
Rotem Petranker, Thomas Anderson, Larissa J. Maier et al.
57 citations
In a large online survey of 6,753 people who had microdosed psychedelics in the past year, most reported enhanced mood, creativity, focus, and sociability, and the most common challenge was 'None'. Contrary to expectations, having an approach-intention—microdosing to achieve a specific goal—predicted fewer rather than more benefits. Most participants did not test their substances. The perceived benefits greatly outweighed the challenges, but double-blind, placebo-controlled experiments are needed to confirm these self-reported effects.
Human Psychopharmacology Clinical and Experimental
May 1, 2017
Leigh Coney, Larissa J. Maier, Jason Ferris et al.
18 citations
Most people who use LSD analogues (AL-LAD, 1P-LSD, ETH-LAD) have also tried LSD, and in the UK and US a higher proportion reported using analogues in the past year than LSD alone. Users described the effects as psychedelic, obtained the drugs online, and took them orally. The time to peak effect (2 hours) and duration (8 hours) were similar to LSD, but ratings for pleasurable high, strength, comedown, urge to use more drugs, value for money, and risk of harm were all significantly lower for the analogues compared with LSD. The authors suggest future studies should confirm these findings with chemical testing and dose measurement.
Journal of Psychopharmacology
May 7, 2018
Balázs Szigeti, Adam Winstock, David Erritzøe et al.
17 citations
Neuroimaging studies of people who regularly use ecstasy have focused on unusually heavy users, not typical users. A systematic review of 10 imaging studies that measured serotonin transporter levels in recreational ecstasy users found that the average number of pills taken per session and sessions per month corresponded to the top 5-10% of users in the Global Drug Survey, a large international self-report database. Imaging participants consumed, on average, 720% more pills per year than the Global Drug Survey participants. This suggests that conclusions from these brain imaging studies likely overestimate the extent of serotonergic alterations experienced by the majority of people who use ecstasy.
April 12, 2020
Rotem Petranker, Thomas Anderson, Larissa J. Maier et al.
14 citations
preprint
A large survey of 6,753 people who microdosed LSD or psilocybin at least once in the past year found that the most commonly reported benefits were enhanced mood, creativity, focus, and sociability, partially replicating earlier findings. Most participants reported no challenges from microdosing, and the majority did not test their substances for purity. Contrary to expectations, microdosing with the intention of approaching a desired goal predicted fewer rather than more benefits. The authors conclude that the reported benefits outweigh the challenges, but emphasize that double-blind, placebo-controlled experiments are needed to confirm these self-reported effects.