A novel method for quantitative analysis of subjective experience reports: application to psychedelic visual experiences.

Introduction: Psychedelic compounds such as LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, and DMT can dramatically alter visual perception. However, the extent to which visual effects of psychedelics consistently vary for different substances is an open question. The visual effects of a given psychedelic compound can range widely both across and within individuals, so datasets with large numbers of participants and descriptions of qualitative effects are required to adequately address this question with the necessary sensitivity.

Preventing overdoses involving stimulants: the POINTS study protocol.

Background: In recent years, overdoses involving illicit cocaine, methamphetamine, and other stimulants have increased in the U.S. The unintentional consumption of stimulants containing illicit fentanyl is a major risk factor for overdoses, particularly in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Preventing Overdoses Involving Stimulants: The POINTS Study Protocol.

Background: In recent years, overdoses involving illicit cocaine, methamphetamine, and other stimulants have increased in the U.S. The unintentional consumption of stimulants containing illicit fentanyl is a major risk factor for overdoses, particularly in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Access to, Experience with, and Attitudes towards Take Home Naloxone: An Online Survey.

The opioid public health crisis continues to burden individuals, communities, and economies. Public health opinion has emphasized the need for increased access to harm reduction services, but there is a dearth of information on the views and experiences of people who use opioids. Our study aimed to investigate the prevalence of naloxone use, attitudes, and experiences with naloxone among an online community of people who use drugs.

Implementation and Uptake of the Massachusetts Drug Supply Data Stream: A Statewide Public Health-Public Safety Partnership Drug Checking Program.

Context: The illicit drug supply is rapidly evolving. Equally important to gathering drug supply data for monitoring is timely sharing of information with people who use drugs, the providers who care for them, law enforcement partners, and public health stakeholders so that efforts to avoid harmful substances, take preventive actions, and better target interventions can occur.

Program: The Massachusetts Drug Supply Data Stream (MADDS) is the country's first statewide community drug checking program.

Classic Psychedelic Coadministration with Lithium, but Not Lamotrigine, is Associated with Seizures: An Analysis of Online Psychedelic Experience Reports.

Introduction: Psychedelics show promise in treating unipolar depression, though patients with bipolar disorder have been excluded from recent psychedelic trials. There is limited information on the use of classic psychedelics (e. g.

Persisting Reductions in Cannabis, Opioid, and Stimulant Misuse After Naturalistic Psychedelic Use: An Online Survey.

Background: Observational data and preliminary studies suggest serotonin 2A agonist psychedelics may hold potential in treating a variety of substance use disorders (SUDs), including opioid use disorder (OUD).

Aims: The study aim was to describe and analyze self-reported cases in which naturalistic psychedelic use was followed by cessation or reduction in other substance use.

Methods: An anonymous online survey of individuals reporting cessation or reduction in cannabis, opioid, or stimulant use following psychedelic use in non-clinical settings.

Cessation and reduction in alcohol consumption and misuse after psychedelic use.

Background: Meta-analysis of randomized studies using lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) for alcohol use disorder (AUD) showed large, significant effects for LSD efficacy compared to control conditions. Clinical studies suggest potential anti-addiction effects of LSD and mechanistically-related classic psychedelics for alcohol and other substance use disorders.

Aims: To supplement clinical studies, reports of psychedelic use in naturalistic settings can provide further data regarding potential effects of psychedelics on alcohol use.

Neurochemical models of near-death experiences: A large-scale study based on the semantic similarity of written reports.

The real or perceived proximity to death often results in a non-ordinary state of consciousness characterized by phenomenological features such as the perception of leaving the body boundaries, feelings of peace, bliss and timelessness, life review, the sensation of traveling through a tunnel and an irreversible threshold. Near-death experiences (NDEs) are comparable among individuals of different cultures, suggesting an underlying neurobiological mechanism. Anecdotal accounts of the similarity between NDEs and certain drug-induced altered states of consciousness prompted us to perform a large-scale comparative analysis of these experiences.

The Varieties of the Psychedelic Experience: A Preliminary Study of the Association Between the Reported Subjective Effects and the Binding Affinity Profiles of Substituted Phenethylamines and Tryptamines.

Classic psychedelics are substances of paramount cultural and neuroscientific importance. A distinctive feature of psychedelic drugs is the wide range of potential subjective effects they can elicit, known to be deeply influenced by the internal state of the user ("set") and the surroundings ("setting"). The observation of cross-tolerance and a series of empirical studies in humans and animal models support agonism at the serotonin (5-HT) receptor as a common mechanism for the action of psychedelics.

Corrigendum: The Experience Elicited by Hallucinogens Presents the Highest Similarity to Dreaming within a Large Database of Psychoactive Substance Reports.

[This corrects the article on p. 7 in vol. 12, PMID: 29403350.

The Experience Elicited by Hallucinogens Presents the Highest Similarity to Dreaming within a Large Database of Psychoactive Substance Reports.

Ever since the modern rediscovery of psychedelic substances by Western society, several authors have independently proposed that their effects bear a high resemblance to the dreams and dreamlike experiences occurring naturally during the sleep-wake cycle. Recent studies in humans have provided neurophysiological evidence supporting this hypothesis. However, a rigorous comparative analysis of the phenomenology ("what it feels like" to experience these states) is currently lacking.

Comparative Analysis of Opioid Queries on Erowid.org: An Opportunity to Advance Harm Reduction.

Background: Many individuals who use opioids turn to online resources to gather information on effects, availability, and safety.

Objective: Describe opioid index page views on Erowid.org to assess trends in public interest in particular opioids.

Experiences of Kratom Users: A Qualitative Analysis.

Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) is a psychoactive plant that has been used since at least 1836 in folk medicine in Southeast Asian countries. More recently, kratom has become widely available in the West and is used for both recreational and medicinal purposes. There has, however, been little scientific research into the short- and long-term effects of kratom in humans, and much of the information available is anecdotal.

Use patterns and self-reported effects of Salvia divinorum: an internet-based survey.

Background: There is growing use of Salvia divinorum (SD), a psychoactive plant that produces hallucinogen-like effects through a kappa opioid receptor (KOR) mechanism. Little is known about KOR agonist effects in humans and about users of SD.

Objectives: To characterize the reasons, methods, and reported consequences of SD use.