“Emerging evidence from randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials suggests psychedelic compounds such as 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (mdma), psilocybin, and lysergic acid diethylamide (lsd), when administered as an adjunct to psychotherapy, that is, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (pap), may be beneficial for treating substance use disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder (ptsd), depression, anxiety, and other psychiatric conditions. previous ethnopsychopharmacological research has identified ethnoracial differences in the metabolism, safety, and efficacy of psychotropic drugs, yet no studies have directly investigated the impact of ethnoracially based differences in psychedelic drug pharmacology. although there is an extensive global history of psychedelic use among peoples of various cultures, ethnicities, and intersectional identities, psychedelic research has been conducted almost exclusively on white populations in north america and western europe. the failure to include black, indigenous, and people of color (bipoc) in psychedelic research trials neglects the ethnic, racial, and cultural factors that may impact individual responses to pap and thereby prevents generalizability of findings. this article investigates the impact of biological and social factors related to culture, ethnicity, and race on pharmacological responses to pap, as well as clinical outcomes. the limitations of ethnopsychopharmacology are discussed, and the authors present expected cultural, clinical, and public health benefits of expanding funding for this area. this work will draw attention to the unique and individualized needs of ethnoracially diverse clients in therapeutic settings and is intended to inform future pap trials.”

“The original version of this article unfortunately mischaracterized the pharmacology of ibogaine. the corrected text is as follows: the recent report in nature from cameron et al. (2021)4 offers tantalizing evidence that non-hallucinogenic psychedelic compounds may possess beneficial actions. the authors started with ibogaine, a powerful hallucinogenic plant alkaloid with low affinity for serotonin and dopamine transporters, as well as kappa opioid receptors4,5. they then synthesized a novel analog of ibogaine called tabernanthalog (tbg). tbg is shown to have unique pharmacological properties and to lack many of the negative side effects of ibogaine.”

“Unsuccessfully treated posttraumatic stress disorder (ptsd) is a serious and life-threatening disorder. two medications, paroxetine hydrochloride and sertraline hydrochloride, are approved treatments for ptsd by the food and drug administration (fda). analyses of pharmacotherapies for ptsd found only small to moderate effects when compared with placebo. the multidisciplinary association for psychedelic studies (maps) obtained breakthrough therapy designation (btd) from the fda for 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (mdma)-assisted psychotherapy for treatment of ptsd on the basis of pooled analyses showing a large effect size for this treatment. this review covers data supporting btd. in this treatment, mdma is administered with psychotherapy in up to three monthly 8-h sessions. participants are prepared for these sessions beforehand, and process material arising from the sessions in follow-up integrative psychotherapy sessions. comparing data used for the approval of paroxetine and sertraline and pooled data from phase 2 studies, maps demonstrated that mdma-assisted psychotherapy constitutes a substantial improvement over available pharmacotherapies in terms of safety and efficacy. studies of mdma-assisted psychotherapy had lower dropout rates compared to sertraline and paroxetine trials. as mdma is only administered under direct observation during a limited number of sessions, there is little chance of diversion, accidental or intentional overdose, or withdrawal symptoms upon discontinuation. btd status has expedited the development of maps phase 3 trials occurring worldwide, leading up to a planned submission seeking fda approval in 2021.”

“Author(s): david ehrensteinvideo from a new technique reveals the chaotic motion of a fluid flowing through a pile of gravel.[physics 14, 10] published fri jan 22, 2021”