May 7, 2019 – Psychedelic Use

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Anchor lead: Can a novel psychedelic drug have broader clinical use than more common agents? Elizabeth Tracey reports

Psilocybin and other drugs of this type are increasingly being found useful clinically, helping alleviate anxiety for end stage cancer patients or overcoming addiction. Now research by Alan Davis and colleagues at Johns Hopkins shows another, faster acting substance may also be useful.

Davis: What I found with this new investigation looking at a novel psychedelic substance called 5MEO-DMT, which is a substance found in a variety of plants and also in one specific version of toad. What we found is there are people using this substance who use the substance in a group setting. They use it with specific procedures that help guide a more ceremonial process and that people in that group reported that it helped alleviate problems related to depression and anxiety after use.  :30

Davis says much more research needs to be done on 5MEO-DMT to see where it may fit in the clinical armamentarium, but says the substance adds one more option that may be the best fit for some. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.