Johns Hopkins Medicine launched a new research center. Scientists will study the potential of magic mushrooms, LSD, and other drugs to treat mental health and addiction problems.
The Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research is the first of its kind in the United States and the largest in the world. The facility will focus on drugs that have been widely used since the 1960s hippy counterculture.
These drugs are ostracized from the world of legitimate science. They were initially used by doctors and researchers, yet these substances are said to have no medicinal value. Many of these substances have been inaccessible and impossible for scientists to research.
A group of private individuals has invested over $17 million in the center. The research center will focus on the application of these substances to treat opioid addiction, Alzheimer’s, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, and depression.
The Benefits of Psychedelics
“Psychedelics are a fascinating class of compounds,” said Roland Griffiths, the center’s director and a professor of behavioral biology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “They produce unique and profound change in consciousness,” he said. “The center will allow us to expand on research to develop new treatments for a wide variety of psychiatric disorders. And it will allow us to extend on past research in healthy people to improve their sense of well being.”
Scientists have studied psychedelic drugs at Hopkins since 2000. Back then, it was the first medical research facility to receive federal approval to conduct these studies with healthy volunteers. The chemical found in psychedelic mushrooms, psilocybin, was studied there. Researchers found that it can reduce anxiety, depression, and emotional distress in cancer patients. Studies found that it can help patients quit smoking. Other chemicals, such as Salvia and MDMA, have also been studied and found to have beneficial effects.
Real Potential As Medicine
Johns Hopkins commits to the exploration of innovative treatments for their patients. Its researchers have shown that psychedelics have real potential as medicine.
Sara Lappan, who is working on a study using psilocybin to treat cocaine addiction at the University of Alabama, said that the study aims to provide “an ability to change” because of the way people perceive themselves. It’s like giving them “10 years of therapy smashed into six hours,” she said. She hopes to use the scientific data to change the legal status of the drug, though no researcher wants to promote the recreational use of psilocybin.
There are currently no federally approved psychedelic drugs for medicinal purposes.
Promising Treatment
“Across the board there are really promising findings, said Lappan. The potential therapies will probably please supporters of psychedelics as research will not be restricted to individuals suffering from severe brain disorders.
The funding at Johns Hopkins is expected to support five years of research and a team of six neuroscientists, experimental psychologists, and clinicians. It will also fund five postdoctoral scientists and train graduate and medical students who want to pursue a career in psychedelic science.
In addition to the studies of new therapeutics, the center plan to investigate creativity and well-being among healthy volunteers and open up new ways to support human thriving.
“In addition to studies on new therapeutics,” Griffiths said in his statement, “we plan to investigate creativity and well-being in healthy volunteers that we hope will open up new ways to support human thriving.”
