This show originally aired on March 3, 2022.
Mind-altering drugs are increasingly being studied for their potential to treat depression, post-traumatic stress, substance use and other brain disorders.
Though these substances are mostly still illegal and considered by the federal government to be of no medicinal value, advocates are optimistic about the prospective mental health benefits of psychedelics – especially for individuals who haven’t had success with more conventional treatment options.
What does research tell us so far about the medicinal value of psilocybin, ketamine, MDMA and LSD?
What conditions could they be used to treat and how would it work? How much success have researchers had using psychedelics for treatment-resistant disorders?
Do psychedelics operate differently in the brain than addictive drugs?
How experimental are these kinds of treatments? What are the risks? How much is still unknown?
How does their use in medicinal settings square with U.S. drug policy?
Guests:
- Jerrold Rosenbaum, MD, psychiatrist and director of the Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics at Massachusetts General Hospital
- Mason Marks, MD, JD, assistant professor at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law, and a senior fellow and lead of the Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation (POPLAR) at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School
- Lynnette A. Averill, Ph.D., associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine, clinical research psychologist at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, co-director of the Emerge Research program at Baylor, Yale and the National Center for PTSD, subject matter expert for Texas House Bill 1802 and co-founder of the Source Research Foundation and Reason for Hope
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*This interview was recorded on Wednesday, March 3.