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Interest in psychoactive substances, including psychedelics, is rapidly expanding in medical, academic, and other popular fields. Despite the classifications established within the psychopharmacological scientific community, certain plants, animals,...

Cannabis is one of the most common intoxicants used worldwide. Cannabis is widely consumed worldwide and can lead to visual alterations. However, most of the available information on its effects comes from studies conducted in developed countries, wh...

Adolescent mental health conditions, particularly treatment-resistant depression (TRD), represent a growing public health challenge associated with high morbidity, functional impairment, and elevated suicide risk. Psychedelic-assisted therapies have...

Cannabis and its derivatives are increasingly popular. The public perception of “cannabis” is commonly related to abuse potential with no sharp distinction to “marijuana”, “cannabinoids”, “hemp”, and ca...

Kähönen argued that the harms associated with psychedelics have been overstated, while evidence for the latter’s moral enhancing effects was disregarded, in my earlier commentary. Here, I respond to these arguments and maintain that t...

In a recent Psychoactives article, Bor Luen Tang argues against psychedelic moral bioenhancement (PMBE)—the use of classic psychedelics such as psilocybin to foster moral growth in healthy individuals [...]

Background: This review examines the prevalence of substance abuse and related disorders in South Pacific nations. Methods: The review focused on data included in reports published since 2000 from countries like Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Fre...

Serotonergic psychedelics, particularly psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and dimethyltryptamine (DMT), are increasingly recognised as powerful tools to advance the understanding of consciousness and its relation to brain activity. Psyche...

Methamphetamine is a highly addictive stimulant with severe health and psychosocial consequences. Over recent decades, genetic and molecular research on methamphetamine use disorders has expanded considerably, yet a comprehensive synthesis of this gr...

Today’s research highlights the therapeutic potential of the hallucinogen psilocybin in the treatment of pathologies associated with mood, cognitive, and affective dysregulation. These domains of function are regulated by the serotonergic syste...

Opioid misuse and suicide among youth remain pressing public health challenges. This scoping review examined studies published between 2020 and 2024 on associations between opioid misuse and suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, or non-suicidal self-i...

Medetomidine, a potent central acting α2 agonist, has emerged as a fentanyl adulterant in the non-medical opioid supply. Its use has been linked to a novel withdrawal syndrome that is often resistant to conventional treatment protocols. Four ca...

Cannabis use (CU) motives among older adults (OA) could be an important indicator of broader mental health. OA ages 60+ (N = 78) reported on CU, alcohol consumption, and mood and anxiety. Coping, enhancement, social, conformity, expansion, and routin...

Psychedelic-assisted therapy offers rapid and profound benefits for treatment-resistant psychiatric conditions but remains constrained by the need for intensive, clinic-based administration. Concurrently, advances in digital health technologies have...

Czechia has recently approved the medical use of psilocybin, marking a pivotal shift in the country’s drug policy landscape. This development paves the way for regulated therapeutic applications of psilocybin within clinical settings, while sim...

States like Hawai‘i are decriminalizing psychedelics based on emerging evidence linking their use to improved psychological well-being. Yet, in many cultural contexts, stigma surrounding mental illness may lead individuals to pursue non-traditi...

Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) profoundly impacts individuals and society, driven by neurobiological adaptations that sustain chronicity and relapse. Emerging research highlights neuroinflammation, particularly microglial activation, as a central mechani...

Dementia is a progressive neurodegenerative disease which is characterised by cognitive decline, memory loss, and behavioural changes. Patients suffering from dementia often experience emotional distress, sadness and depression which also impacts the...

Psychedelic substances have experienced a resurgence of clinical interest in recent years, particularly for their promising effects in the treatment of psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety. While evidence regarding their role in chron...

This review synthesizes preclinical evidence on the behavioral and neurobiological effects of cannabis exposure during prenatal and adolescent developmental periods, with a focus on anxiety, social behavior, learning and memory, and associated brain...

Numerous individuals suffer from mental health issues including depression and anxiety, resulting in substantial societal burden. Data suggests individuals are choosing to self-medicate with Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS); however, this phenomen...

This study estimates the prevalence of co-use of alcohol and cannabis, assesses the sociodemographic risk factors of co-use, and examines the associations between mental health and heavy episodic drinking (HED) and alcohol–cannabis co-use in Ca...

Despite growing evidence supporting the efficacy of LSD-assisted psychotherapy in treating major depressive disorder (MDD), identifying reliable psychopharmacological biomarkers remains necessary. Oxytocin, a neuropeptide implicated in social bonding...

Shaboo is a street name commonly used in parts of Asia, particularly the Philippines and Thailand, to refer to methamphetamine, a powerful and highly addictive stimulant. Its long-term effects are related to chronic exposure to the drug effects, prim...

Pain is a protective mechanism that can be classified into acute and chronic types. Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew rich in dimethyltryptamine or DMT (a 5-HT_2A receptor agonist), and harmine (a monoamine-oxidase (MAO) inhibitor) used for religious a...

Canada’s national surveillance shows an 11% year-over-year decline in deaths from opioid and other unregulated drug poisonings, and a 10% drop in related hospitalisations in 2024. In stark contrast, Québec, home to more than nine million...

Background: Persisting symptoms after concussion is a complex syndrome warranting exploration into further treatment options. Emerging research highlights the potential of classic psychedelics, such as psilocybin, in managing neuropsychiatric conditi...

Psychedelic treatments are emerging as promising interventions for many mental health conditions. These interventions are not offered in a standardized fashion across studies and between different healthcare centers. Beyond differences in substances...

Ketamine and esketamine are two closely related compounds with fast-acting antidepressant properties that have reshaped the treatment landscape for individuals with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Originally developed as anesthetic agents, both...

Food can help release and promote neurotransmitters. As a result, the food’s effect in this regard is of great interest to individuals who have experienced dysregulation of the brain reward circuit due to addiction to drugs or other substances....

Chronic pain is a prevalent public health concern in the United States, frequently managed with over-the-counter (OTC) painkillers without professional medical supervision. This study investigates household-level patterns of over-the-counter painkill...

Introduction: Cannabis use disorder (CUD) is being increasingly diagnosed in the United States, but access to treatment remains unequal, particularly in New York. Identifying the factors that contribute to disparities in receiving treatment for CUD a...

Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) has an estimated prevalence between 1 and 2.3%. Existing treatments may not be suitable or effective for all people with OCD, and there is increasing interest in whether these individuals may benefit from the...

Psychedelic plants and fungi have been traditionally used in many cultures as part of ritual ceremonies and ancient medicinal treatments. In some regions, these psychoactive plants have already entered mainstream discourse through popular literature...

While research on psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) continues to show promise, challenges in its clinical application persist. One relevant domain includes how supervision might enhance both client and trainee outcomes. Current data suggest that, de...

Both Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and depression are leading causes of disability despite T2DM being largely preventable and depression being among the most treatable mental health conditions. Diabetes and depression have a bidirectional associati...

Psychoactive substances, including illicit drugs, prescription medications, and novel psychoactive compounds, are frequently analyzed in biological and in non-biological samples. Interpreting results is paramount for ensuring proper medical treatment...

Psychedelic substances have recently emerged as a promising method for treating mental health conditions, despite a history of stigmatization and restriction in use. The present review synthesizes existing literature on the therapeutic potential of p...

The history of cannabis research spans centuries, with a focus on isolating and understanding its active compounds. Although plants like opium and coca yielded active alkaloids relatively early, cannabis posed unique challenges due to its active subs...

Objective: To provide a state of the art on the use, role, and function of music during psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) with ayahuasca. Introduction: Ayahuasca is a medicinal brew with psychoactive qualities used by indigenous communities througho...

Since its origins, the debate on the interaction between religions and psychoactives has been strongly influenced, both positively and negatively, by prejudices, policies, fashions and trends that had little to do with scientific research. Stigma and...

Accumulating psychedelic research has demonstrated a potential for improving mental health and wellbeing, yet studies in the context of eating disorders (EDs) are limited. This study aims to explore the subjective effects of psychedelic experiences t...

Depression is common among patients suffering from cancer, but is often challenging to diagnose due to the overlap of symptoms with cancer and its treatments. Additionally, treating depression in cancer patients is challenging because of the confusio...

Several authors have advanced the idea that psychedelics such as psilocybin might be effective means for achieving moral bioenhancement (MBE). Here, I discuss some reservations on this assertion from both neuropharmacological and bioethical perspecti...

The author surveyed researchers about United States federal grant applications for therapeutic psychedelic research and their funding success. An anonymous survey was sent to corresponding authors of the 50 most-cited psychedelic research articles pu...

Dexamphetamine (DEX) is widely used in treatments, but concerns persist about its potential for addiction. This review aimed to assess the risks of DEX addiction by examining the existing literature. Originally planned as a systematic review, it was...

Background: To estimate the prevalence of co-occurring obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) with substance use disorder (SUD) in the general population. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted on the prevalence of comorbid OCD a...

Adolescence is a phase characterized by reckless and risky behaviors, including the initiation and use of various illicit substances such as cannabis and alcohol. When ingested or administered, these substances affect mental processes by delivering p...

The authors would like to make the following corrections to this published paper [...]

In post-mortem (PM) investigations, forensic toxicologists attempt to identify legal or illegal substances present before death and determine how they contributed to the cause of death. A critical challenge is ensuring that PM sample concentrations a...