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All ICEERS’ studies are peer-reviewed, published in indexed and high-impact journals and follow the strictest methodological and ethical standards.
This study explores historical and recent literature regarding endogenous DMT, with a special interest in the most controversial topics. It also delves into technical aspects that are not discussed in other reviews, in order to offer new insights.
This study gathered data regarding the occurrence of adverse events in all reported randomized, placebo-controlled trials with healthy and clinical populations involving ayahuasca administration (n = 108 ayahuasca administrations).
This study assessed endocannabinoid (anandamide, AEA; 2-arachidonoylglycerol, 2-AG) plasma levels in healthy volunteers and in volunteers with social anxiety disorder (SAD) after a single oral dose of ayahuasca or placebo.
We have analyzed all randomized, double-blind, and controlled trials that assessed the antidepressant effects of psilocybin and LSD in clinical populations to date.
This study evaluates the impact of regular ayahuasca ceremony participation on health by assessing the health status of 377 participants in ayahuasca ceremonies in the Netherlands using validated health indicators.
This article aims to outline the basis of an alternative proposal to the traditional approach to drug policy and drug dependence in Spain.
This study was carried out by means of a survey to assess quality of life, perceived social support, prison life and cannabis use in a sample of inmates in Spanish prisons.
The polypharmacology paradigm, as it has been named, suggests that promiscuous drugs could be safer and more effective than highly selective ones. This is especially relevant with regards to complex diseases, like most mental health problems and neurodegenerative diseases, and for natural products, including psychoactive ethnobotanicals.
The aim of this article is to extend the point of view that takes into consideration cultural context to the traditional and communalistic use of psychoactive plants. Genuine medical systems have been developed, generally carried out in ritual or ceremonial settings, but these practices have often been vilified as a result of social stigma or drug policies.
It is the first study in a new line of research focused on how psychoactive plants can have an impact on the damage caused by climate change. Cannabis, as an eco-friendly product, could replace the use of chemical pesticides for pest control.
This study aimed to serve as a contribution to the existing literature about Cannabis Social Clubs (CSCs) and their potential as harm-reduction and risk-minimization agents for cannabis use.
This study investigates the effects of ayahuasca in volunteers with social anxiety disorder in a randomized, single-dose, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group clinical trial. Volunteers participated in an experimental session that included a simulated public-speaking test.
This study updated the previous systematic review evaluating quantitative preclinical and human studies assessing the efects of ayahuasca and its alkaloids on drug use and other psychological and cognitive measures related to substance use disorders.
The aim of this study was to determine how CBD could counteract the subjective and psychotomimetic effects of THC in a contextual setting, expecting that participants under the effects of THC would show greater subjective and psychotomimetic effects when compared with CBD and placebo, and that THC-CBD coadministration would counteract subjective and psychotomimetic effects of THC.
The aim of this study was to perform an updated (2015-2020) systematic review of literature of the serious adverse events and fatalities associated with ibogaine administration. Special attention was given to those cases in which ibogaine was combined with other drugs, since previously concomitant use of other drugs was associated with serious adverse reactions and/or fatalities.
The aim of this study was to assess the risk profile of ayahuasca use in a religious context. After reviewing the literature to identify important concerns and common adverse effects, the authors developed an instrument that inquired about the frequency of the following effects: anxiety, diaphoresis, diarrhea, disorientation, distress, dizziness, drowsiness, dry mouth, headache, irritability, nausea, restlessness, shivers, tachycardia, tinnitus, tremor, and vomiting.
This article presents data from two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials that evaluated the effects of ayahuasca on personality traits in healthy volunteers. Considering the evidence of associated changes in personality in other classic hallucinogens, and the antidepressive and anxiolytic effects of ayahuasca, the hypothesis was that ayahuasca would produce increases in Openness and Conscientiousness scores and decreases in Neuroticism scores.
This paper, led by Maja Kohek, ICEERS’ associate researcher, about her field work on the ritual use of cannabis in a self-managed community, presents various examples of non-problematic drug use observed in a community in Catalonia, where a variety of psychoactive substances are used in ritual settings.
One of the main public health strategies adopted at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic consisted of implementing strict lockdowns to stop the transmission of the virus. Despite being an effective measure, the confinement and the associated social isolation create a stressful, potentially lengthy situations that has been proven to have several psychological consequences. Given the potential benefits that certain psychedelic drugs have shown for the treatment of psychological disorders, this study aimed to assess the impact of lifetime psychedelic drug use on mental health in relation to the first strict lockdown adopted by various countries (April-July 2020).
This cross-sectional study describes the social and health realities of a sample of Catalan therapeutic cannabis users with chronic illnesses, with the aim that professional pharmacists and other health professionals can learn in detail how this practice works.
The global mental health (GMH) movement aims to establish a world in which every human can access mental health services based on two fundamental principles: respect for human rights and evidence-based treatments. However, despite the vast anthropological literature supporting the importance of traditional health systems for the well-being of local communities, the recognition of traditional medicines and healers is highly marginalized within the GMH agenda.
The main objective of this pilot, proof-of-concept, randomized trial was to assess the effects of ayahuasca on the recognition of emotion in facial expressions (REFE), hypothesizing that ayahuasca would modify this parameter.
Over the course of one year, this prospective, observational non-controlled study, supported by ICEERS and the Beckley Foundation, examined the well-being and quality of life of 200 participants in a Shipibo healing program with ayahuasca, conducted by traditional healers. The results suggested that the Indigenous Shipibo healing work with ayahuasca has value to improve long-term well-being and quality of life for Westerners.
This study explores the extent to which one or other specific context, set, and setting may be more or less beneficial to the mental health and well-being of ayahuasca drinkers.
The volume of research on the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs has been increasing during the last decades. Partly because of the need of innovative treatments in psychiatry, several studies have assessed the safety and efficacy of drugs like psilocybin or ayahuasca for a wide range of mental disorders, including major depression.
This article provides a case series of challenging psychological experiences found in a subsample of subjects from a previously published study in which the authors recruited ayahuasca-naive participants and followed them for 6 months after their first ayahuasca use.
This study discusses the challenges and opportunities for policy makers regarding the use of classic hallucinogens or psychedelics in a therapeutic context, as they have become promising substances to treat depression, anxiety, and substance-related disorders.
In the drug development, the formation of highly selective ligands has been unsuccessful in the treatment of central nervous system disorders. Multi-target ligands, from the polypharmacology paradigm, are being proposed as treatments for these complex disorders, since they offer enhanced efficacy and a strong safety profile.
In order to summarize the current evidence on microdosing and help future studies, this study presents a systematic review exploring issues like the safety of microdosing, main reported benefits, and what aspects of these benefits might be attributed to a placebo effect.
The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate how THC and CBD alter the recognition of emotions in facial expressions analyzing all randomized control trials done to date regarding the effect of these substances on this measure of social cognition.
Drug policies in the European Union have not included positions on the regulation of cannabis, making it difficult for them to speak with one voice in this field. Member states implement divergent approaches to drug control, with a lack of consensus regarding drug policy reforms.
Research with natural products entails high complexity since natural molecules tend to display multitarget effects, or “pharmacological promiscuity.” Recent studies suggest that these effects could be a promising approach in the treatment of psychiatric disorders.
This article, published in the journal Methodological Innovations, reflects on the research experiences of the authors in studying Cannabis Social Clubs, providing insights for research in this area and within criminology and socio-legal studies more broadly.
On Sep 28, 2020, Maja Kohek and others published “Psychedelics in times of pandemic outbreaks,” a chapter of the book RESET: Reflexiones antropológicas ante la pandemia de COVID-19, where the authors propose considering the potential of psychedelics to help people deal with some of the challenges that we are facing in pandemic times.
The CSC model remains prohibited across the EU. CSC activists have thus by and large shaped the way CSCs operate, often adapting to domestic law particularities or law enforcement activities. In this article, we present and discuss the range of CSC practices from 13 different European countries, and what these represent for the consideration of the CSC model in current policy debates.
The need for innovative treatments in psychiatry could be responded to in part through the greater introduction of psychedelic psychotherapies, as they represent an integrative approach to mental health, involving the use of pharmacological tools that can be combined with enhanced psychotherapeutic interventions.
This study is aimed to gain more insight into the purity and content of iboga samples available on the market. Consequently, we can evaluate the claims made by the vendors about the characteristics of their products.
This study investigates the physical and psychological aspects of the experience with ibogaine, extracting categories that can be used to improve the assessment of the subjective effects of ibogaine and other psychedelics.
Since ayahuasca use is expanding worldwide, the aim of this study was to observe the effects of ayahuasca on psychological and mental health variables in naïve users in order to help medical practitioners to understand possible adverse effects and potential therapeutic uses.
This study examined a sample of therapeutic members of Social Cannabis Clubs who used cannabis to treat a chronic disease, with a prospective assessment of quality of life, mental health and personality variables.
This study investigated the long-term effects of ayahuasca in participants who were grieving the death of a loved one, following a sample of subjects with a history of grief who willingly attended ayahuasca ceremonies at an ayahuasca center in Peru.
In this commentary, we expand the information available on the original article by briefly reviewing data from recent placebo-controlled, double-blind, cross-over clinical trials showing evidence that administration of single (or few) doses of LSD and psilocybin was associated with rapid and sustained reductions in depressive and anxiety symptoms in patients with end-stage cancer and other life-threatening diseases (e.g., Bechterew’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Celiac disease).
This article reviews the previous preclinical, experimental and clinical studies available in the scientific literature in order to provide further translational evidence of the antidepressant effects of ayahuasca.
Assessing the health status of ayahuasca users has been challenging due to the limitations involved in randomized clinical trials and psychometric approaches. The main objective of this study is the implementation of an approach based on public health indicators.
In Spain, cannabis users are turning to Cannabis Social Clubs (CSCs) as an alternative for obtaining supplies of the substance, free from the risks of the illegal market. The current study aims to establish the profile of a sample (N = 155) of Spanish CSC members and identify the impacts that these clubs have had on their consumption.
In order to study the patterns of use, the desired effects and the mental health status of individuals who make use of natural psychoactive drugs, ICEERS conducted detailed research through an online questionnaire that collected responses from 564 NPD users from 52 different countries.
Recent preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated the potential of serotoninergic hallucinogens in the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders and drug dependence. Thus, the purpose of this study was to present a systematic review of the effects of these substances in the recognition of facial expressions, which is one of the main factors involved in social cognition.
This article represents chapter 8 of the book Advances in Psychedelic Medicine: State-of-the-Art Therapeutic Applications, edited by M. Winkelman and B. Sessa, and published by ABC-CLIO as part of a project called Psychoactive Plants and Public Health.
A more integrative treatment is required that combines pharmacological tools with psychosocial interventions. Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy could satisfy this need, offering pharmacological action along with enhanced psychotherapeutic interventions.
This exploratory study seeks to shed light onto how current Cannabis Social Clubs in Barcelona are operating and on whether and how their affiliation with a federation has shaped their practices. In particular, it aims to uncover the differences and similarities between federated and non-federated clubs and investigates whether federated ones adhere in practice to their respective codes of conduct.
This study summarizes the most compelling evidence from clinical research with serotonergic psychedelics, performing a systematic review of systematic reviews where efficacy, tolerability, and safety have been assessed regarding the management of mood, anxiety, and substance-use disorders.
In October 2016, the authors were contacted by a 39-year-old man, Scotty Enyart, who claimed that ayahuasca improved his aphantasia. He was diagnosed with poor visual imagery in elementary, middle, and high schools.
This report, written by Constanza Sánchez (ICEERS) and Michael Collins (Drug Policy Alliance) and published by the Global Drug Policy Observatory, offers international audiences valuable insights into recent developments in Spanish drug policy, with an emphasis on reforms at the regional level, tensions with the central government, and potential lessons applicable to other countries and contexts.
The underlying psychological processes related to the use of ayahuasca in a psychotherapeutic context are not yet well described in the scientific literature, but there is some evidence to suggest that psychological variables described in psychotherapies could be useful in explaining the therapeutic effects of the brew.
Psychedelics can have a positive impact on some dimensions of personality traits, opening a new field of therapeutic possibilities, where personality and associated brain modifications could be the basis of future therapeutic change.
This document was submitted as an official contribution to the work of the 40th Meeting of the Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) of the World Health Organization (WHO). Since this meeting, the documentation has been available on an earlier basis according to established rules of proceedings.
Serotonergic psychedelics act as agonists at cortical 5-HT2A receptors, expressed in fronto-temporo-parieto-occipital areas. This study reviews all previous scientific literature regarding the effects of serotonergic psychedelics in modulating users’ personality.
In the present article, we review basic and clinical evidence supporting the possible beneficial effects of ayahuasca (and other serotonergic or classical hallucinogens) in the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders in general, with a focus on social anxiety.
In this article, we trace the operations of power, i.e., how different forms of power combine, compete and resist each other in the emergence, later evolution and the present dynamic of the international drug control regime (IDCR). We confirm the assumption that the prohibition in the IDCR, as well as other features of the system, has been the result of a series of political decisions taken by a specific group of powerful states at the center of global capitalist economy, and the USA as the system hegemon above all.
This article, intended for mental health professionals, reviews the most recent human studies about the effects of ayahuasca, a natural psychoactive concoction used for centuries by indigenous groups from Northwestern Amazonian countries.
The article reviews the therapeutic use of cannabis, from the direct consumption of the plant to the use of one or more of its components or even of compounds synthesized in a laboratory.
The legal status of cannabis and the entire state response to ensure this status have generated an imaginary in which solutions are often polarized. This chapter discusses, based on scientific evidence and the analysis of epidemiological data, the social and health effects caused by prohibitionist policies on cannabis in order to differentiate them from the direct harm caused by cannabis.
This report, written by Mariano García de Palau, medical director of Kalapa Clinic, and José Carlos Bouso, scientific director of ICEERS, constitutes chapter 15 of the book Efectos terapéuticos de los cannabinoides, edited by the Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Neuroquímica of the Complutense University of Madrid and coordinated by José Antonio Ramos Atance.
The principal objective of this study was to explore the effects of ayahuasca on grief and to compare its potential therapeutic benefits with peer-support groups in a sample of grieving people. This study was a mixed method, cross-sectional study, using an online survey method.
This study presents the case of a successful detoxification from long-term methadone dependence using low, repeated, and increasing doses of ibogaine. It means the first case report describing an ibogaine treatment with low and cumulative doses in order to quit a methadone maintenance treatment.
There is a renewed interest in incorporating personality variables in criminology theories in order to build models able to integrate personality variables and biological factors with psychosocial and sociocultural factors. The aim of this article is the assessment of personality dimensions that contribute to the prediction of antisocial behavior in adolescents.
This paper aimed to describe and compare the legal frameworks and (self-) regulatory practices of Cannabis Social Clubs in Spain, Belgium and Uruguay. Aspects included in the comparative analysis are the domestic legal framework, the establishment procedures or practices, the characteristics of the formal organisation and management of the clubs, and their cannabis cultivation and distribution procedures.
The aim of this study was to present a systematic review of the cases in which psychotic events occurred after the acute effects of ayahuasca and DMT. The authors attempted to identify all studies available to review up to 16 August 2016 in which a possible association between ayahuasca/DMT intake and psychotic disorders was reported.
Las sendas de la regulación del cannabis en España is a collectively authored book, promoted by the Regulación Responsable platform, where the different prisms of cannabis are addressed, with special emphasis on sociocultural, educational and legal aspects. Chapter 12 of this polyphonic work is dedicated to the endocannabinoid system and the pharmacology of cannabis.
This study aimed to conduct a systematic literature review of human studies that investigated the antiaddictive effects of ibogaine or of its main active metabolite, noribogaine.
This letter to the editor, published in Human Psychopharmacology Clinical and Experimental vol. 32, is a reply to the commentary by Barret and Griffiths (2016) regarding our Spanish version of the MEQ‐30 (Bouso, Pedrero‐Pérez, Gandy, & Alcazar‐Corcoles, 2016).
In recent decades, the use of ayahuasca — a β-carboline- and dimethyltryptamine-rich hallucinogenic botanical preparation traditionally used by Northwestern Amazonian tribes for ritual and therapeutic purposes — has spread from South America to Europe and the USA, raising concerns about its possible toxicity and hopes of its therapeutic potential. Thus, it is important to analyze the acute, subacute, and long-term effects of ayahuasca to assess its safety and toxicity.
The subjective effects of psychedelic drugs are probably their most difficult aspect to measure. Therefore, we used novel psychometric data for the MEQ, HRS, and ARCI questionnaires, proposing preliminary new versions and/or alternative interpretations of the data.
The objective of the report is to provide the necessary medical-scientific answers for policy-makers to promote alternative policies on medical cannabis, describing only the variety of applications of the plant and its derivatives in the medical field, according to the available evidence.
This article presented the validation and scoring of Plutchik’s Impulsivity Questionnaire in a sample of Spanish American adolescents. The questionnaire had already been translated and validated using a sample of Spanish adults.
This study aimed to obtain preliminary evidence about the possible relationship, in the realm of subjective effects, between ketamine sessions and near-death experiences. As ketamine produces dissociative experiences, the possible relationships between its use and the possible occurrence of post-traumatic symptomatology are also explored.
The first study in the “Lessons in Drug Policy” series explores and documents the formulation of drug policies at the sub-state level in Catalonia, first conducting a brief historical review of the social reality of drugs in Spain to contextualise why there are some specific drug policies and not others, and why these policies differ depending on the different territories of the State.
Psychedelic agents have a long history of use by humans for their capacity to induce profound modifications in perception, emotion and cognitive processes. Despite increasing knowledge of the neural mechanisms involved in the acute effects of these drugs, the impact of sustained psychedelic use on the human brain remains largely unknown. Molecular pharmacology studies have shown that psychedelic 5-hydroxytryptamine (5HT)2A agonists stimulate neurotrophic and transcription factors associated with synaptic plasticity. These data suggest that psychedelics could potentially induce structural changes in brain tissue.
This study, entitled “Ayahuasca and the Treatment of Drug Addiction,” constitutes the chapter number 6 in the book The Therapeutic Use of Ayahuasca (pp. 95-109), published by Springer in November 2014 as part of a project called Psychoactive Plants and Public Health. Beatriz Caiuby Labate and Clancy Cavnar were the editors of this volume.
This study compares the metabolism and disposition of DMT in a sample of recreational users. Urine samples were obtained after intake via two different administration routes: oral ingestion, and smoked intake.
This chapter presents preliminary data obtained at the Instituto de Etnopsicología Amazónica Aplicada (IDEAA), placed at the Brazilian Amazon basin. The aim was to describe an observational study on the variations on personality, psychopathology, and neuropsychological measures in individuals treated with ayahuasca in this setting.
Drug users have played an important role in generating a theoretical and practical body of experience and knowledge, thus framing themselves within the philosophy of peer-to-peer work, which has favored the inclusion of traditional therapeutic practices in modern medical practices.
Ethnobotanical hallucinogens are tools that serve to establish bridges between cultures, producing a mutual enrichment between the cultures where the use of these plants originated and those in which they are being implanted.
Injecting drug users are a population likely to benefit from risk reduction strategies, bearing in mind that not all injecting is necessarily problematic use and that not every person who injects is addicted.
Over the last twenty years, the harm reduction strategy has transformed how society and its members relate to drug use, beginning with an underground, uncomfortable and revealing discourse, and ending with the recognition of its effectiveness by the highest European institutions.
This study represents chapter number 30 of the book De riesgos y placeres: manual para entender las drogas (Of risks and pleasures: a manual for understanding drugs). Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AASs) are a group of drugs synthetically derived from testosterone, a natural male hormone, that exhibit anabolic (muscle building) and androgenic (masculinizing) effects, with different potency for each effect depending on the product.
Ayahuasca, a South American psychotropic plant tea containing the psychedelic 5-HT2A receptor agonist N,N-dimethyltryptamine, has been shown to increase regional cerebral blood flow in prefrontal brain regions after acute administration to humans. Despite interactions at this level, neuropsychological studies have not found cognitive deficits in abstinent long-term users.
To study the impact of repeated ayahuasca use on general psychological well-being, mental health and cognition, here we assessed personality, psychopathology, life attitudes and neuropsychological performance in regular ayahuasca users (n = 127) and controls (n = 115) at baseline and 1 year later.
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