For some, they are the means to an otherworldly party. For others, dangerous “one-way” tickets to the problems that deserve their illegal status. But regardless of how people see them and whether they like to admit it to politicians and legislators, psychoactive drugs are beginning to show great potential as effective therapies for various mental health problems , and may also be a key to expanding our understanding of consciousness.

Discovering the Therapeutic Use of Certain Drugs

Ketamine

Take for example the case of Ketamine , or “Special K” as it is colloquially known in the United Kingdom. Today, Ketamine is widely used in clinical settings as an anaesthetic in both animals and humans, but several studies are also highlighting its remarkable ability to treat depression, bipolar disorders and suicidal behaviour. Not only that, but they act extraordinarily quickly, showing potent antidepressant effects in as little as two hours.

Cannabis, MDMA, LSD

But that’s not all: cannabis has shown potential in the treatment of ADHD and insomnia. The active component of hallucinogenic mushrooms, psilocybin, could be useful in the treatment of addictions, obsessive-compulsive disorders and depression. In addition, MDMA may provide relief for those with post-traumatic stress disorder and Parkinson’s disease, and LSD may relieve anxiety, alcoholism or even inflammatory disorders. A rather impressive list that opens the door to reflection on the use of these substances in the medical field.

Distrust of drugs as possible therapy

Unfortunately, despite these promising preliminary studies, there is a major barrier in this field of research: the attitudes towards drugs , at least in the UK, make it very difficult to carry out this type of study. Not only are agencies reluctant to provide money for such experiments, but restrictions and regulations are equally difficult to circumvent.

Despite this, there are some trying to carry out human experiments on psychedelic drugs , especially LSD, Ketamine and psilocybin. In parallel to investigating their potential therapeutic use, scientists also hope that studying how they affect the brain in controlled environments will unravel some of the mysteries of consciousness.

Experiments with LSD

One of those scientists who is willing to delve deeper into the human mind through these drugs is David Nutt , from Imperial College in London, a renowned professor of neuropsychopharmacology and former chief medical advisor to the British government. Given the continued struggle of academics to secure research funding, and the caution of financial institutions when it comes to research involving human use of illicit substances, Nutt is currently addressing the public through the Walacea science platform start-up of crowdfunding to continue his LSD research, which has resulted from a collaboration with Imperial College London and the Beckley Foundation.

“Despite the incredible potential of this drug to expand our understanding of the brain, political stigma has silenced the research,” Nutt said in a news release, referring to the fact that since LSD was banned there has only been one clinical test with LSD. “We must not play politics with promising science that has so much potential for benefit”

LSD seems to increase our brain’s creativity

To date, Nutt has already administered moderate doses of LSD to 20 subjects and conducted imaging studies of its effect on the brain using a combination of the FMRI and MEG . Both monitor brain activity , but the latter takes “snapshots” of brain activity, while the MEG more closely resembles a video recording.

These indicate that LSD may behave in a similar way to psilocybin, reducing blood flow to the control centers and thus dampening their activity, which ultimately improves brain activity . In doing so, psilocybin seems to favour that regions of the brain that are often separated start to communicate with each other, which could be the reason why we see an increase in creativity when using this substance. In any case, we won’t know if LSD works in a similar way until the second part of the experiment is completed, and that requires the audience to pick their pockets.