MDMA increases feelings of social connectedness — but so does meth; Medical codes for psychedelic-assisted therapy; Portland, Maine considers psychedelics resolution
Plus: New survey suggests psychiatrists have increasingly positive attitude towards psychedelics
Happy Friday, and welcome back to The Microdose, an independent journalism newsletter brought to you by the U.C. Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics.
MDMA increases feelings of social connectedness — but so does meth
MDMA is known for increasing feelings of social connection in humans, as well as other animals. According to a new study from University of Chicago researchers, its much-maligned chemical cousin, methamphetamine, might do the same.
The paper, published this week in the journal Scientific Reports, describes the researchers’ two studies. In study 1, 18 participants came in for two separate day-long sessions. They were given a dose of MDMA on one day and a placebo on the other. After giving the drug more than an hour to take effect, participants had a 45-minute conversation with an assigned and sober partner. Afterwards they filled out surveys about how connected they felt to that conversational partner directly after chatting and a week later. Study 2 was identical, except instead of MDMA, participants were given a dose of methamphetamine, the “MA” in MDMA. Participants in both studies reported feeling closer to the conversational partner when given either drug than when given a placebo.
In the paper, the authors report being surprised at their own results. Researchers have long theorized that MDMA’s ability to increase prosocial behavior might be related to the fact that the drug increases oxytocin levels, sometimes called the “love hormone.” Meth does not change oxytocin levels, yet participants given meth also felt closer to their conversational partners. The authors write that perhaps both drugs increase the quality or quantity of verbal interaction rather than creating true closeness. They conclude that the finding “raises questions about the nature of closeness and connection.” The study also raises the possibility that “drugs other than MDMA might also facilitate psychotherapy by affecting the quality of the patient-therapist connection,” they write.
Medical codes for psychedelic-assisted therapy
MDMA and psilocybin may receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the next couple years for use in conjunction with therapy to treat PTSD and depression. In the meantime, the healthcare field is attempting to figure out how psychedelic-assisted therapy could be billed to insurance companies. In June 2023, the American Medical Association (AMA) approved three new codes related to psychedelic therapy within what’s called the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT), a language for coding medical services. This week, mental health advocacy group BrainFutures released a report on using medical codes to categorize services and procedures related to psychedelic-assisted therapy.
In the report, BrainFutures explains how medical codes are used and what the three codes released by the AMA in June don’t cover. For instance, while the new CPT codes cover hourly monitoring and intervention by healthcare professionals, there are currently no codes that cover 90-minute preparation and integration sessions, which are regarded by clinicians as vital parts of the psychedelic-assisted therapy process, and are commonly employed in clinical trials. The report also suggests that future developments could affect medical codes and insurance coverage, like the creation of new psychedelic-like drugs that induce shorter trips.
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New survey suggests psychiatrists have positive attitude towards psychedelics
In a new paper published in Psychedelic Medicine, a group of psychiatrists polled their colleagues about their attitudes towards hallucinogen-assisted therapies. The last time the group conducted a similar survey was in 2016. In comparing the results of the two surveys, the authors report “significantly increased optimism regarding the therapeutic promise of hallucinogens.”
To recruit participants for the study, the researchers invited 1000 randomly selected members of the American Psychiatric Association — and 131 completed the recent survey. (That’s less than half the response rate of the 2016 study, in which 324 responded.) While 42 percent of the 2016 respondents agreed that hallucinogens could help treat psychiatric disorders, that number jumped to 81% in the most recent survey. This new survey also asked respondents how likely they were to incorporate hallucinogens into their practice, and half said they had moderate to strong intentions of doing so if the drugs receive regulatory approval.
VISIONS Act critiques
Last week, we reported on the introduction of the federal VISIONS Act, which would prohibit the federal government from spending money to prevent state and local governments from implementing laws that allow the “use, distribution, sale, possession, research, or cultivation of psilocybin.” In a recent post on Harris Bricken’s Psychedelic Law Blog, attorney Vince Sliwoski analyzed the act, which he describes as “a spending bill prohibition, like the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment for medical cannabis.”
Addressing psilocybin access through federal spending rules (as opposed to legislation or regulation) could be useful, Sliwoski says, as it’s easier than trying to change the drugs’ Schedule I status. But appropriations legislation like the VISIONS Act must be renewed each year. Sliwoski also calls the legislation “shortsighted” for including only psilocybin; he writes that other drugs, including DMT, ibogaine, and mescaline, could have been included.
The State of Psychedelics: Portland, Maine City Council considers psychedelic resolution
Last week, the Health and Human Services Committee of the Portland, Maine City Council voted to pass a resolution that would make the prosecution and enforcement of laws related to psychedelic plants and fungi the lowest priority in the city government, and would require that no city funds be dedicated to prosecuting people for personal use of psilocybin, psilocin, ibogaine, or DMT.
Washington Post opinion columnist Leana Wen warns readers against self-medicating with psychedelics.
For NPR, journalist and UC Berkeley - Ferriss Psychedelic Journalism fellow Deena Prichep reports on chaplains’ growing role in the psychedelics world.
Detroit police raid psychedelic church Soul Tribe Ministries, reports the Detroit Metro Times.
Employees who have used psilocybin work fewer overtime hours, according to a paper published in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs in late July. (Coincidentally, we missed this while we were on vacation this summer, but better late than never.)
You’re all caught up! Have a great weekend. We’ll be back in your inbox on Monday with a new issue of 5 Questions.
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