Psychedelic drug use in healthy individuals: A review of benefits, costs, and implications for drug policy
This review (2017) shifts the usual focus from psychedelics as a potential treatment for mental health problems to psychedelics as a potential enhancer of well-being in healthy individuals. The author argues that the relatively low risk and high potential benefit of psychedelic drugs are incongruent with the stringent drug laws seen around the world.
Authors
- Elsey, J. W. B.
Published
Abstract
The potential of psychedelic drugs in the treatment of mental health problems is increasingly being recognized. However, relatively little thrust has been given to the suggestion that individuals without any mental health problems may benefit from using psychedelic drugs, and that they may have a right to do so. This review considers contemporary research into the use of psychedelic drugs in healthy individuals, including neurobiological and subjective effects. In line with findings suggesting positive effects in the treatment of mental health problems, such research highlights the potential of psychedelic drugs for the enhancement of wellbeing even in healthy individuals. The relatively low risk associated with usage does not appear to align with stringent drug laws that impose heavy penalties for their use. Some policy implications, and suggestions for future research, are considered.
Research Summary of 'Psychedelic drug use in healthy individuals: A review of benefits, costs, and implications for drug policy'
Introduction
Researchers and clinicians have increasingly revisited the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs after a long hiatus following restrictive drug laws in the 1960s. Earlier clinical work from the 1950s and 1960s produced many suggestive but methodologically imperfect findings that psychedelics could help mood, anxiety, and addictive disorders; more recent controlled studies have begun to corroborate beneficial effects. At the same time, bioethical debate about pharmacological enhancement in healthy people has largely focused on pharmaceuticals such as SSRIs, which produce limited and typically small mood-enhancing effects in non-clinical populations and require long-term use. Elsey sets out to fill a gap in contemporary discussion by reviewing evidence about psychedelic effects specifically in healthy individuals. The review aims to summarise what is known about the psychedelic state, underlying neurobiology, psychological and behavioural effects in non-clinical samples, possible adverse outcomes, and the policy implications of these findings in order to ground ethical and legal debates in the available empirical literature.
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Elsey, J. W. (2017). Psychedelic drug use in healthy individuals: A review of benefits, costs, and implications for drug policy. Drug Science, Policy and Law, 3. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050324517723232
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