Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 8, 2025
Valerio Ricci, Domenico De Berardis, Sheikh Shoib et al.
4 citations
Frequent recreational ketamine use among young adults is linked to more psychotic-like experiences, such as unusual thoughts and perceptions. In ten participants aged 18–24 who used ketamine multiple times weekly, higher use frequency correlated with more such experiences, while other drugs like THC, MDMA, and alcohol did not significantly contribute. The findings suggest ketamine's action on NMDA receptors may produce symptoms resembling schizophrenia. The small sample and reliance on self-report limit the conclusions, and more research is needed to confirm causality and long-term effects.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 1, 2024
Kelan L Thomas, Robert Jesse, Nicky J Mehtani et al.
4 citations
Policymakers are increasingly using clinical trial data to justify deprioritizing, decriminalizing, or legalizing psychedelic substances, but personal possession limits written into law often lack scientific grounding. This commentary argues that allowable amounts should be based on moderate-high doses shown safe and effective in clinical trials, common naturalistic use, and dose-equivalence studies. The authors provide a table of evidence-informed moderate-high doses for seven psychedelics to guide consistent and equitable policy limits, aiming to replace arbitrary thresholds with scientifically justified ones.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 1, 2023
Ismael Apud, Juan Scuro, Luisina Rodríguez et al.
4 citations
People who use ayahuasca in a neo-shamanic group and a Santo Daime church in Uruguay differ in personality and acute psychological effects. Santo Daime members scored lower on Neuroticism-Anxiety, Dependence, Low Self-Esteem, Anger, and Restlessness, possibly due to the protective effects of a structured church religion or because some neo-shamanic participants were undergoing treatment. During rituals, the neo-shamanic group reported stronger somesthesia and perception, linked to their high-arousal setting. Chemical analysis found typical alkaloids with no adulterants; the neo-shamanic sample had a higher β-carbolines-to-DMT ratio, which may explain the stronger somesthetic effects. Personality and acute effects correlated only in the neo-shamanic group, suggesting a more individualistic tradition.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 1, 2023
Daniel J Kruger, Julie Barron, Moss Herberholz et al.
4 citations
In a survey of 1,221 people who use psychedelics outside clinical settings, three-quarters supported decriminalization and legalization. Participants strongly favored allowing individuals to legally grow and possess psychedelic plants and fungi for personal use. Support was higher for natural over synthetic substances, for self-production and consumption over gifting, and for gifting over sales. Administration with therapeutic support was preferred over use without it. Participants worried about pharmaceutical-style policies, including patents on both natural and synthetic psychedelics. Most respondents lived in Michigan, but geographical differences were small. People who identified as psychedelic guides, educators, or therapists differed slightly but extensively from others. The authors suggest policymakers consider these preferences to ensure safe and equitable access and appropriate medical support.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 1, 2019
Scott Kellogg
4 citations
Addiction is reframed as a form of slavery, drawing on the Latin root 'addictus', and personal freedom is proposed as an alternative treatment goal rather than simply stopping substance use. Freedom is defined as creating a complex inner and social life, making choices from multiple options, and pursuing long-term goals. This liberation model is embedded in a biopsychosocial framework, with biomedical, psychological, and social interventions each promoting freedom. Identity projects and harm reduction philosophies are central to this transformative journey.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
December 1, 2006
Frederick R Dannaway, Alan Piper, Peter Webster
4 citations
The article examines historical evidence for the use of psychoactive ergot preparations in religious systems, focusing on Persian, Greek, Jewish, and Islamic sources. Poems, hadith, and scriptural writings suggest an entheogenic heritage among ancient sects that exchanged philosophical and ritual influences across regions. Esoteric Shia and Sufi writings in particular indicate a "celestial botany" employing psychoactive plants for initiatory and ritual purposes. The second part addresses research methods for rendering ergot alkaloids nontoxic and entheogenic, arguing that without a chemical demonstration of such a preparation, theories about ergot in mystery traditions remain speculative.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 1, 1989
H A Senn
4 citations
Shamanism is typically defined by five features: a call via illness or accident, a method for entering altered states of consciousness, the quality of those states, a healing process, and psychic feats. The life and work of Carl Jung exemplified all five, including childhood dreams and waking fantasies, active imagination for inducing altered states, contact with unconscious forces and archetypes, a dual personality, dialogue with the inner world, use of these discoveries for healing, and reported psychic abilities like clairvoyance and out-of-body experiences.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
March 5, 2025
Ethan Mills, Jai Whelan, Sarah Mcgruddy et al.
3 citations
An online survey of 997 people in Aotearoa New Zealand who had used a classical psychedelic found that worst experiences differed substantially from best experiences across emotional, cognitive, and relational domains, while typical experiences more closely resembled best experiences. Motivations for use changed after the initial experience, and motivations associated with different experience types varied. A higher number of psychedelic use occasions, along with therapeutic and growth-oriented motivations, were significant predictors of positive psychological health impact. Consequences of psychedelic use were mostly positive, with best experiences resulting in the most benefit. The findings highlight the potential of psychedelic experiences for personal growth and wellbeing.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 1, 2025
Ana Cláudia Mesquita Garcia, Lucas Oliveira Maia, Everson Meireles et al.
3 citations
The Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) is a valid and reliable tool for Brazilian samples, measuring two factors: religious well-being (RWB) and existential well-being (EWB). The RWB factor showed superior psychometric performance, including better group differentiation and internal consistency. A U-shaped association emerged between psychedelic use and spiritual well-being: people who never used psychedelics reported the highest RWB and EWB scores, followed by frequent users, while occasional users scored lower. This pattern highlights the need for more research on the complex relationship between psychedelics and spiritual well-being.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 1, 2024
David Wyndham Lawrence, Alex P DiBattista, Christopher Timmermann
3 citations
Among 227 naturalistic DMT experiences that felt familiar, the familiarity was not attributed to a prior psychedelic experience. Most (97.4%) included features of a mystical experience, 16.3% involved ego-dissolution, and 11.0% a profound sense of death. A new questionnaire identified five themes of familiarity: feeling or knowledge gained; place or environment; the act of going through the experience; transcendent features; and familiarity imparted by an entity encounter. Two stable participant classes emerged: one class more often reported familiarity from an entity encounter and from the feeling or knowledge gained. The sense of familiarity during DMT appears non-referential to past psychedelic use.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 1, 2024
A Wirsching, T Bostoen, A C Huizink
3 citations
The Dutch 30-item Revised Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ30) is a reliable and valid tool for assessing mystical experiences induced by psychedelics. In an online survey of 322 Dutch-speaking adults who retrospectively reported profound psychedelic experiences, confirmatory factor analyses supported both a four-factor structure and a model with a total score as a second-order latent variable. Factor scores showed good internal reliability (alpha between .81 and .94) and were higher among participants who reported having had a mystical experience, supporting construct validity. MEQ30 scores also predicted meaningfulness, spiritual significance, and positive changes in well-being, life satisfaction, and behavior, offering preliminary evidence of predictive validity.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 1, 2019
David E Smith
3 citations
This review describes the central role that this journal, and its founder Dr. David Smith, has played in documenting the second wave of psychedelic research. As modern culture enters a third wave of the psychedelic revival, the journal has witnessed and supported research exploring the therapeutic uses of psychedelics. The article traces this historical trajectory, highlighting how the journal has served as a key platform for scholarship on psychedelic medicine and therapy across these eras.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
June 1, 2004
James B Hittner, Susan B Quello
3 citations
Ibogaine, an alkaloid from the African shrub Tabernanthe iboga, has been used medicinally and ceremonially in West Central Africa. Anecdotal reports and recent studies suggest it alleviates withdrawal symptoms and reduces drug cravings. However, articles typically neglect psychological and environmental factors that could improve treatment outcomes. This review proposes theory-driven pretreatment and posttreatment recommendations to enhance ibogaine's effectiveness. It also demonstrates, through reanalysis of published results, the value of successive model fitting analyses to examine associations between pretreatment variables and posttreatment outcomes. To aid future reviews, the authors recommend a minimum set of patient- and treatment-related variables be included in all ibogaine studies with human participants.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 1, 1989
H Wautischer
3 citations
Voluntary trance or meditation can extend perception beyond ordinary spatial and temporal boundaries. The validity and reliability of such experiences for science are no different from those of ordinary perception. Early Greek philosophy's shift from myth to logos neglected subtle qualities of reason once seen as gateways to divine revelation. Scientific methodologies cannot account for such revelation, and no scientific criteria exist to utilize these phenomena. Shamanic experiences are intersubjectively accessible and could support rational theories with appropriate methodologies, but science currently treats them as merely psychological and thus valueless for empirical research. The article examines reevaluating "rational" and "consciousness" to expand scientific methodologies to include volitionally altered perceptions.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
July 2, 2025
Brian S Barnett, Miranda Arakelian, Jeremy Weleff et al.
2 citations
In 2023, a survey of 109 U.S. psychiatry residents found that most had limited formal education on psychedelics during training but strongly desired more instruction. 83.49% believed psychedelics hold promise for psychiatric disorders, though fewer (55.96%) saw similar potential for substance use disorders. Nearly 40% reported that psychedelic-related educational or research opportunities influenced their residency program rankings, and a similar proportion said the possibility of treating patients with psychedelics influenced their decision to pursue psychiatry. Higher knowledge scores and stronger belief in therapeutic potential were linked to greater influence on program ranking. The findings suggest a need to expand psychedelic-focused education in residency.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
July 2, 2025
Grace Stockwell, Nicholas R Hoeh, Francesca Fogarty et al.
2 citations
In-depth interviews with 12 people receiving ketamine-assisted therapy for treatment-resistant depression reveal that preparation of mind-set—including openness, clear intentions, mindfulness, and understanding how the therapy works—supports therapeutic benefit. Comfort in the setting, fostered by learning about the therapist's personal experiences, a strong therapeutic alliance, and feeling safe, helps patients 'let go.' External cues like music can guide a spiritual journey. Caution is warranted when trauma surfaces and letting go leaves patients feeling vulnerable. These contextual processes inform future clinical trials and improve the efficacy of ketamine-assisted therapy.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
February 13, 2025
Stanisław Adamczyk, Małgorzata Paczyńska, Anastasia Ruban et al.
2 citations
Psychedelics can cause profound changes in cognition, emotion, and perception, but the intensity of these effects varies widely. A cross-sectional online survey of 862 psychedelics users (701 had used LSD and 553 had used psilocybin mushrooms) examined how internal and external contextual factors relate to the intensity of ego dissolution. Those who used psychedelics for spiritual or self-healing purposes reported more intense ego dissolution, while those motivated by curiosity reported less intense experiences. The social context and physical environment were not strongly linked to the reported intensity. This suggests that internal mindset, rather than external setting, may be more influential in naturalistic use.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 7, 2025
Matthew R Hicks, Heather Zwickey, Ryan Bradley
2 citations
A 43-year-old man seeking treatment for alcoholism and depression was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. Over three years, a series of low-dose ketamine therapy sessions combined with integrative approaches led to resolution of severe alcoholism, a reduction in violent thoughts, and decreased depression symptoms. The case suggests that, with additional precautions, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy can produce clinical improvements in depression, alcohol abuse, and antisocial personality traits.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
November 22, 2024
Wesley C Ryan, Boris D Heifets
2 citations
In an addiction psychiatry practice offering intramuscular ketamine with psychotherapy for depression, 70 patients received 1,114 sessions over nearly seven years. Induction produced an 82% response, and improvement remained above 80% after six months of maintenance sessions given every 21 days at a mean dose of 1.13 mg/kg. Many patients (38%) stayed in treatment for at least a year. Dropouts were mostly due to logistical reasons (50%); side effects accounted for only 9.7%. One case of ketamine use disorder required residential treatment. Nausea was the main side effect managed with medication. Maintenance ketamine-assisted psychotherapy extended benefits for mood, anxiety, and substance use and was generally well tolerated.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
October 23, 2024
Jessica L Maples-Keller, Courtland S Hyatt, Nathaniel L Phillips et al.
2 citations
A randomized, placebo-controlled trial with 34 healthy adults examined whether a single dose of MDMA alters five-factor model personality traits and affective states 48 hours later. No statistically significant changes were observed for the four pre-registered hypotheses, but medium effect sizes emerged: trait Openness increased (d = .79) and Positive Affect increased (d = .51) compared to placebo. These preliminary findings suggest MDMA may produce short-term shifts in openness and positive mood, warranting larger, longer-term studies to clarify how such changes might inform MDMA-assisted therapy.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
May 2, 2024
Dave Rojas, Diane C Zelman, Alexander O Hauson et al.
2 citations
In a diverse and low-income sample of 15 individuals receiving ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, culture, race, ethnicity, LGBTQIA+ identity, stigma, and financial barriers were highly salient to the treatment experience. Four major themes emerged: insufficient financial resources, race/ethnicity and LGBTQIA+ identity, stigma, and culture and ritual. The findings indicate that issues of race, culture, stigma, ritual, and socioeconomic status must be incorporated into treatment planning and outcome research for psychedelic therapies.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 1, 2024
Alaina K Holt, Alyssa K Rudy, Ashlee N Sawyer et al.
2 citations
A survey of e-cigarette users found that devices originally intended for nicotine are now commonly used to consume other drugs, especially cannabinoids. Respondents averaged 27.4 years old, mostly male (73%). Vape pens were the most common device type. Cannabinoids were the most reported drug class for both lifetime and past 30-day use. Other drugs reported include herbal supplements, amphetamines, caffeine, kratom, vitamins, opiates, DMT, fentanyl, and ketamine. Vaping alone was the most common context, followed by with friends, at home, and at social events; less common contexts included driving, at work, and at school. The results can inform future national surveys and public safety efforts.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 1, 2016
Michael A Darracq, Stephen L Thornton, Alicia B Minns et al.
2 citations
A 19-year-old woman had two seizures and dangerously low sodium after taking "ecstasy" at a rave. Laboratory analysis of her blood and urine showed she had taken both MDMA and 3,4-DMA, and that her body produced very low levels of MDMA's CYP2D6 metabolites, indicating impaired metabolism through that pathway. The case suggests that combining MDMA with 3,4-DMA can lead to severe toxicity, including hyponatremia and seizures. Healthcare providers should be aware that people using illicit drugs may take multiple substances, and that such combinations can cause serious harm.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
October 21, 2025
Anna Bradford, Ethan Freedman, Rachel E Dinero
1 citation
A systematic review of 19 studies on psychedelic drug use and intimacy found overwhelmingly positive effects in laboratory settings, including improved relationship satisfaction, connectedness, emotional disclosure, empathy, and reduced social anxiety. In studies relying on retrospective self-reports, six of ten identified positive experiences such as enhanced relationship quality and closeness, while four reported negative experiences including disconnection, social anxiety, relationship dissatisfaction, and distrust. The review highlights that more research is needed to determine ideal settings for use and long-term impacts on intimacy.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
July 6, 2025
Khalid E Ahmed, Dima Abu Nasrieh, Haneen A Banihani et al.
1 citation
Most Jordanian physicians and medical students have limited familiarity with psychedelics and ketamine as mental health treatments. A survey of 1,985 respondents showed that LSD was the most recognized substance, while fewer identified psilocybin or MDMA. Attitudes varied by age, gender, and prior familiarity, but not by professional status. Three attitude groups emerged: 1,000 opposers, 677 cautious individuals, and 308 supporters. The findings indicate a need for targeted education to improve understanding of these emerging therapies within Jordan's medical community.