He discussed pitfalls in clinical trials with psychedelic drugs, including the importance of concurrent psychotherapy, expectancy, and placebo effects, and the peculiar problem that participants who do not receive the expected drug can react negatively, a phenomenon known as nocebo effect. Overtime, Davis says the website had a significant impact on shifting psychedelics from vilified, mind-altering drugs to potential therapeutics that could transform the field of mental health. While there were some other spots on the early web where drug discussions took place, Erowid “rapidly became the most predominant”, says Davis. Differentiating Erowid from the others was a “respect for information, which really did change the psychedelic subculture, psychedelic and dissociative drugs national institute on drug abuse nida remarkably, in the ’90s and 2000s”. They must assess the role of set and setting and the importance of the psychedelic or mystical experience that may accompany use of the drugs.
What is the relationship between psychedelic and dissociative drugs and mental illness?
But some also worry about the kind of information available on Erowid, as it includes details on preparing and using drugs that could prove to be harmful. But perhaps most intriguing of all are the 45,000-plus trip reports in the “Experience Vault”. These hallucinatory tales, with titles such as “Tripping Alone on 1.5 Grams From Hell”, “The Weekend At The Edge Of The Universe” and “The Thumbprint”, where an unfortunate soul loses their mind on a drug related to LSD called AL-LAD, do not just make for idle internet fodder.
- Some people who use psychedelic or dissociative drugs report having a mystical experience, a change in perception that may include feeling a strong sense of awe and of unity with everything that exists.
- He discussed pitfalls in clinical trials with psychedelic drugs, including the importance of concurrent psychotherapy, expectancy, and placebo effects, and the peculiar problem that participants who do not receive the expected drug can react negatively, a phenomenon known as nocebo effect.
- Learn more about clinical research and how to participate in a NIDA-funded or NIDA-conducted clinical trial.
- This year marks the 30th anniversary of the scrappy, grassroots project, which hosts data on everything from caffeine to cannabis to paracetamol (also known as Tylenol) to heroin, like a Wikipedia on all things pharmaceutical.
- NIDA is a biomedical research organization and does not provide personalized medical advice, treatment, counseling, or legal consultation.
To be diagnosed with a substance use disorder, a person must meet specific diagnostic criteria for continued substance use despite negative consequences. Some people who use psychedelic or dissociative drugs report having a mystical experience, a change in perception that may include feeling a strong sense of awe and of unity with everything that exists. This new and potentially meaningful experience may inspire brain changes that may affect a person’s emotions, outlook and behavior.
Are psychedelic and dissociative drugs being studied as potential medical treatments?
Information provided by NIDA is not a substitute for professional medical care or legal consultation. In June 2022, NIDA’s Office of Translational Initiatives and Program Innovations also announced a new program to support small businesses to develop psychedelic-based therapies for substance use disorders. And if their enthusiastic reception was any indication, it appears that the NIH is primed to start anew on research on molecules, receptors, and neural systems that mediate the actions of psychedelic drugs.
Such drugs include the synthetic hallucinogen LSD and natural products such as mescaline (peyote cactus) and psilocybin (“magic mushrooms”). Developing an FDA-approved e-cigarette for smoking cessation could improve public health. Now, Erowid has more than 5,000 citations on Google Scholar, a repository for academic research – with government agencies, law enforcement, medics, data scientists, anthropologists, chemists, historians and scholars of digital culture all taking a keen interest. “Erowid really represents the spirit of a devoted data nerd, a librarian with a love of dry, organised, clear information on the one hand – but also this sense of courage and creating an inventive space for culture generation,” Davis says.
Unlike later internet fixtures such as social media, web forums or Reddit, Erowid says these experiences are carefully curated by trained volunteers to comb through submissions, and researchers cite the platform’s quality control as a key factor for its usefulness. Davis and others say Erowid’s large-scale data-led approach made the website a useful repository for all sorts of information that would find their way into official assessments on toxicology, interactions between drugs or even just molecular breakdowns of chemical compounds. Like other subcultures, the early internet allowed people with previously niche interests to find one another for the first time.
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Learn how science has deepened our understanding of drug use and its impact on individual and public health. With the growth of the online drug market, new entrants to the psychoactive pantheon are being created all the time. That means there is very little literature available on these compounds, so user experiences on Erowid can provide a helpful steer for medical professionals. Among Erowid’s many citations are studies into the effects of new “research chemicals”, the grey-area-legal “designer drugs” that number in their thousands. “They used digital technology and the early internet to create a space for something that didn’t exist before – and the space itself changed psychedelic culture dramatically,” adds Erik Davis, an author who has written extensively about psychedelic counterculture, and friend to the founders. “Erowid created an environment for people to connect and share information, but also one for younger people, experimenting for the first time, to meet the equivalent of the older brother who’s already into the scene.”
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“The courage that Earth and Fire had to move in public at a time of fear and suspicion in the dominant culture, really went a major way towards destigmatising the field of psychedelics,” says Doblin. And so this small, Web 1.0 side project that predated Wikipedia – with its stubbornly retro aesthetics unchanged for decades and tiny coterie of full-time staff – brought psychonauts together to create a whole new space. In doing so, it shifted the culture, played its part in legitimising psychedelics in the eyes of the broader public, and has an outsized impact to this day. Really, says Leor Roseman, senior lecturer and psychedelic researcher at Exeter University in the UK, it’s this “medicalisation” of psychedelics that has allowed substances to become “a conversation in every household and not just a taboo”.
Now, the Experience Vaults are a “fascinating record of human experience, and that’s incredibly valuable”, Davis adds. Back in 1995, when Erowid was founded, psychedelics were very much of the underground. This was a hostile time for drug reform, just over a decade since US president Ronald Reagan had expanded the war on drugs. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the scrappy, grassroots project, which hosts data on everything from caffeine to cannabis to paracetamol (also known as Tylenol) to heroin, like a Wikipedia on all things pharmaceutical. Users post information about purifying street drugs, rolling joints and the health implications of drug misuse.
How many people use hallucinogens*?
Today, researchers are seeing a surge of clinical trials nationwide using psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin and LSD, according to David Goldman, Clinical Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). While researchers debate how to describe and classify psychedelic and dissociative drugs and other drugs with similar properties, they generally group these drugs according to how they work in the brain.3 Some people use the term “hallucinogens” to refer to all or some psychedelic and dissociative drugs. Because of a lapse in government funding, the information on this website may not be up to date, transactions submitted via the website may not be processed, and the agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted. Updates regarding government operating status and resumption of normal operations can be found at opm.gov. NIDA supports and conducts research to learn whether some of these drugs may help treat substance use disorders in medical settings.
The World Health Organisation reads Erowid, as does the UK government, which has cited the Vaults on the harms of methoxetamine and zopiclone. The US Drug Enforcement Administration keeps an eye on Erowid as well, and has cited the Experience Vault in proposals to regulate new substances. A UK House of Lords committee report even cites an essay, hosted on Erowid, about the psychoactive properties of nutmeg. “Erowid is one of the few websites where emergency workers or doctors can find information on new substances,” says Nicolas Langlitz, a professor of anthropologist at the New School for Social Research in New York City. “Erowid serves as a substitute for scientific research,” he says, adding that some scraps of toxicology data may be available elsewhere but, as far as effects on humans go, Erowid’s a goldmine. Common to all these papers are those user-submitted reports in the Experience Vault.
- “Erowid serves as a substitute for scientific research,” he says, adding that some scraps of toxicology data may be available elsewhere but, as far as effects on humans go, Erowid’s a goldmine.
- Really, says Leor Roseman, senior lecturer and psychedelic researcher at Exeter University in the UK, it’s this “medicalisation” of psychedelics that has allowed substances to become “a conversation in every household and not just a taboo”.
- Differentiating Erowid from the others was a “respect for information, which really did change the psychedelic subculture, remarkably, in the ’90s and 2000s”.
- Updates regarding government operating status and resumption of normal operations can be found at opm.gov.
This study had followed a slow but steady resurgence in research with psychedelics in the preceding two decades on major depression, cancer-related existential distress, and substance-use disorders, funded mostly by philanthropy. Today, the psychedelic science industry is reportedly worth $3bn (£2.25bn) and only growing. A clinical research renaissance is currently underway into the effects of powerful hallucinogens like ketamine, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), “magic” mushrooms and MDMA (also known as molly or ecstasy), exploring their potential to treat afflictions like depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction.
They have become vital for academic research, especially for esoteric and illegal substances where clinical data does not exist or is challenging to obtain. A typical approach is to administer these drugs in one to three sessions, combined with counseling, in a relaxing setting designed to help the patient be receptive to new perceptions, thoughts, and feelings, including mystical-type experiences. Also aiding in the psychedelic renaissance was the growing recognition of the importance of clinical setting. Goldman additionally mentioned a well-conducted study by researchers at Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut) and the University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, New Mexico) on the use of psilocybin and alcohol-use disorder. Goldman led the inaugural meeting of this interest group with a talk titled “State of Psychedelics,” in which he discussed the history and nature of psychedelic drugs and summarized their diverse effects, mechanisms, and origins from plants, fungi, and even toads. Psychedelics were mostly of interest to the countercultural community of self-styled “psychonauts” – willing human guinea pigs who, with chemical aids, dived into their own psyches and reported the results.
While some debate remains on how to describe these drugs and how specific drugs are classified, researchers generally classify them according to how they work in the brain. While short-term positive and negative mood changes are common with psychedelic and dissociative drugs, more research is needed to better understand the long-term effects these substances may have on mental health. NIDA conducts and supports research to better understand how often and to what extent people experience tolerance, withdrawal, and other substance use disorder symptoms related to the use of psychedelic and dissociative drugs.