Introduction to 'Beneficial Effects of Psychedelics with a Special Focus on Addictions'
Authors: Kortekaas R, J Breeksema J
PMID: 25600707 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews)
Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews - January 26, 2015 Category: Addiction Tags: Curr Drug Abuse Rev Source Type: research
Cannabis Concerns: Increased Potency, Availability and Synthetic Analogues.
Authors: Downey LA, Verster JC
PMID: 25584809 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews)
Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews - January 15, 2015 Category: Addiction Tags: Curr Drug Abuse Rev Source Type: research
Caffeine Consumption in Children, Adolescents and Adults.
Authors: Verster JC
PMID: 25584810 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews)
Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews - January 15, 2015 Category: Addiction Tags: Curr Drug Abuse Rev Source Type: research
Older Adults Prescribed Methadone: a Review of the Literature Across the Life Span from Opiate Initiation to Methadone Maintenance Treatment.
Authors: Doukas N
Abstract
Professionals currently working with methadone patients are facing challenges with the rise of polydrug use, HIV and Hepatitis epidemics, and treating a large volume of individuals who are older than ever before, presenting for the first time in their 50's, 60's and 70's. There have been two literature reviews conducted on this older population, but they can only provide a snap-shot view on the later stage of life of this unique group. A longitudinal literature review of the long-term opiate abuser who has transitioned into opiate replacement therapy will provide depth and illust...
Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews - January 10, 2015 Category: Addiction Tags: Curr Drug Abuse Rev Source Type: research
Drivers' Visual Scanning Impairment under the Influences of Alcohol and Distraction: a Literature Review.
Authors: Shiferaw B, Stough C, Downey L
Abstract
Alcohol intoxication and distraction are two of the leading factors associated with impaired driving and fatalities, especially among younger drivers. However, it is currently unclear how these conditions affect mechanisms of visual attention considered essential for driving. The present article first reviews the literature to provide an overview of visual attention as it relates to driving. Secondly, the effects of alcohol and distraction on neurocognitive mechanisms of visual attention are summarised to provide a background which informs discussion of sele...
Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews - January 10, 2015 Category: Addiction Tags: Curr Drug Abuse Rev Source Type: research
Salvinorin A and Related Compounds as Therapeutic Drugs for Psychostimulant-Related Disorders.
The objective of the present article is to present an overview of the preclinical evidence suggesting anti-addictive effects of salvinorin A and its analogues.
PMID: 25563442 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews)
Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews - January 10, 2015 Category: Addiction Tags: Curr Drug Abuse Rev Source Type: research
Psilocybin-occasioned Mystical Experiences in the Treatment of Tobacco Addiction.
Authors: Garcia-Romeu A, Griffiths RR, Johnson MW
Abstract
Psilocybin-occasioned mystical experiences have been linked to persisting effects in healthy volunteers including positive changes in behavior, attitudes, and values, and increases in the personality domain of openness. In an open-label pilot-study of psilocybin-facilitated smoking addiction treatment, 15 smokers received 2 or 3 doses of psilocybin in the context of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for smoking cessation. Twelve of 15 participants (80%) demonstrated biologically verified smoking abstinence at 6-month follow-up. Participants who we...
Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews - January 10, 2015 Category: Addiction Tags: Curr Drug Abuse Rev Source Type: research
A Qualitative Report on the Subjective Experience of Intravenous Psilocybin Administered in an fMRI Environment.
This article documents the phenomenology of psilocybin when given in a novel manner (intravenous injection) and setting (an MRI scanner). The findings of the analysis are consistent with previous published work regarding the subjective effects of psilocybin. There is much scope for further research investigating the phenomena identified in this paper.
PMID: 25563444 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews)
Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews - January 10, 2015 Category: Addiction Tags: Curr Drug Abuse Rev Source Type: research
A Review of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) in the Treatment of Addictions: Historical Perspectives and Future Prospects.
This article reviews LSD's storied history from its discovery, to its use as a research tool, followed by its widespread association with the counterculture movement of the 1960s, and finally to its rebirth as a medicine with potential benefits in the treatment of addictions. LSD's pharmacology, phenomenology, effects at neurotransmitter receptors, and effects on patterns of gene expression are reviewed. Based upon a review of the literature, it is concluded that further research into LSD's potential as a treatment for addictions is warranted.
PMID: 25563445 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews)
Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews - January 10, 2015 Category: Addiction Tags: Curr Drug Abuse Rev Source Type: research
Psychedelics as Medicines for Substance Abuse Rehabilitation: Evaluating Treatments with LSD, Peyote, Ibogaine and Ayahuasca.
Authors: Winkelman M
Abstract
Substances known as psychedelics, hallucinogens and entheogens have been employed in ethnomedical traditions for thousands of years, but after promising uses in the 1950's and 1960's they were largely prohibited in medical treatment and human research starting in the 1970's as part of the fallout from the war on drugs. Nonetheless, there are a number of studies which suggest that these substances have potential applications in the treatment of addictions. While these substances are generally classified as Schedule I, alleging no established medical uses and a high drug abuse p...
Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews - January 10, 2015 Category: Addiction Tags: Curr Drug Abuse Rev Source Type: research
Crisis Intervention Related to the Use of Psychoactive Substances in Recreational Settings - Evaluating the Kosmicare Project at Boom Festival.
We present evaluation research that aims to contribute to the transformation of the project into an evidence-based intervention model. It relies on harm reduction and risk minimization principles, crisis intervention models, and Grof's psychedelic psychotherapy approach for crisis intervention in situations related to unsupervised use of psychedelics. Intervention was expected to produce knowledge about the relation between substance use and mental health impact in reducing potential risk related to the use of psychoactive substances and mental illness, as well as an impact upon target population's views of themselves, the...
Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews - January 10, 2015 Category: Addiction Tags: Curr Drug Abuse Rev Source Type: research
Ayahuasca, Psychedelic Studies and Health Sciences: The Politics of Knowledge and Inquiry into an Amazonian Plant Brew.
This article offers critical sociological and philosophical reflections on ayahuasca and other psychedelics as objects of research in medicine, health and human sciences. It situates 21st century scientific inquiry on ayahuasca in the broader context of how early modern European social trends and intellectual pursuits translated into new forms of empiricism and experimental philosophy, but later evolved into a form of dogmatism that convenienced the political suppression of academic inquiry into psychedelics. Applying ideas from the field of science and technology studies, we consider how ayahuasca's myriad ontological rep...
Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews - January 10, 2015 Category: Addiction Tags: Curr Drug Abuse Rev Source Type: research
What can neuroscience tell us about the potential of psychedelics in healthcare?
Authors: Mackenzie R
Abstract
Health-related psychedelic research should focus on helping us flourish, not just remedying ill-health or addiction. We don't know enough about how psychedelics could enhance human flourishing. Factors promoting health-through-flourishing include finding meaning in life, spiritual practices, comfortable levels of social bonds, emotionally/physically satisfying sex in a long-term monogamous relationship and control over one's daily life. Psychedelic research could find more. Neuroscience anchors psychedelic research into disease and disorder, eg addiction, PTSD, migraine, anxie...
Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews - January 10, 2015 Category: Addiction Tags: Curr Drug Abuse Rev Source Type: research
Driving while Hungover: The Necessity of Biomarkers of the Alcohol Hangover State.
Authors: Verster JC, van de Loo AJ, Downey LA
PMID: 25416959 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews)
Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews - November 30, 2014 Category: Addiction Tags: Curr Drug Abuse Rev Source Type: research
Neuropsychological aspects of dual diagnosis.
We describe the differences in neuropsychological performance found in these patients and the implications for clinical treatment and psychosocial functioning. Finally, we propose possible working ideas for future studies in order to improve our present knowledge of the neuropsychological aspects of DD.
PMID: 21054263 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] (Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews)
Source: Current Drug Abuse Reviews - November 14, 2014 Category: Addiction Tags: Curr Drug Abuse Rev Source Type: research
