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What's the Safest Party Drug?
Researchers find the drug least likely to send you to emergency room.
27 May, 2017
Credit: Getty Images
<p class="p1">A large new study claims that among recreational drugs, magic mushrooms seem to be the safest to use. This was based on the statistic that only <strong>.2%</strong> of nearly 10,000 people who used psilocybin-containing mushrooms in 2016 went to emergency room.</p> <p class="p1">The annual <a href="https://www.globaldrugsurvey.com/wp-content/themes/globaldrugsurvey/results/GDS2017_key-findings-report_final.pdf" target="_blank">Global Drug Survey</a> involved over <strong>120,000</strong> participants from 50 countries and concluded that as far as ending up in emergency rooms afterwards, taking MDMA, LSD, alcohol and cocaine made that <strong>five times</strong> more likely. The drug causing the most emergency visits - methamphetamine, followed by synthetic cannabis. </p> <blockquote>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">“Magic mushrooms are one of the safest drugs in the world,” said <strong>Adam Winstock</strong>, a consultant addiction psychiatrist and the founder of the Global Drug Survey in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/may/23/study-hallucinogenic-mushrooms-safest-recreational-drug-lsd" target="_blank">an interview</a> with <em>The Guardian</em>. </span></p>
</blockquote> <p class="p1"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODMzOTU3MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMzI4NTA1N30.E7tFK3jVHcPCQsTFZuFcHRZQvbNyEiwdsSj6MJo2f4c/img.jpg?width=980" id="0c146" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1768bbdbecbd2e110ddcb7cf6facf6fa" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">Winstock thinks the biggest danger with shrooms is eating the wrong ones. </span></p> <blockquote>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">“Death from toxicity is almost unheard of with poisoning with more dangerous fungi being a much greater risk in terms of serious harms,” <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/may/23/study-hallucinogenic-mushrooms-safest-recreational-drug-lsd" target="_blank">warned</a> the psychiatrist.</span></p>
</blockquote> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">He pointed out the need to be in a controlled safe environment and have “trusted company” to ensure a good, panic-free trip. He also warned of other dangers like taking psychedelic mushrooms with alcohol and possible confusion.</span></p> <blockquote>
<p class="p4"><span class="s1">“Combined use with alcohol and use within risky or unfamiliar settings increase the risks of harm most commonly accidental injury, panic and short lived confusion, disorientation and fears of losing one’s mind,” <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/may/23/study-hallucinogenic-mushrooms-safest-recreational-drug-lsd#img-2" target="_blank">said Winstock to <em>The Guardian</em></a>.</span> </p>
</blockquote> <p class="p4"><span class="s1">28,000 of the survey people admitted to taking magic mushrooms at some time in their lives. 81.7% of these did it in hopes of having a “moderate psychedelic experience” as well the “enhancement of environment and social interactions”.</span></p> <p class="p7">Interestingly, MDMA beat out the other drugs in <a href="https://www.globaldrugsurvey.com/past-findings/the-net-pleasure-index-results/" target="_blank">previous surveys</a> when compared using the Net Pleasure Index, designed to balance out the perceived positive effects of the drug with the negative. </p> <p class="p7"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODMzOTU3Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTMwMTI5N30.xF1wnISpYwR6DfSbPk8i8wm_lwZs1dI46jWsFGfyHUE/img.jpg?width=980" id="19e0b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ff4170ed29064d682c17fb8b392d23f1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p class="p7">It should also be noted that all these drugs are currently illegal in the U.S.</p> <p class="p7"><a href="http://bigthink.com/paul-ratner/one-dose-of-hallucinogenic-psilocybin-relieves-depression-in-80-of-patients-say-two-new-studies" target="_blank">Previous studies</a> also found the possible effectiveness of magic mushrooms in the treatment of depression.</p>
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Ketamine: A Club Drug That May Be the Future of Antidepressants
Studies and trials point to the potential of a rave drug becoming the newest antidepressant medication in decades.
25 March, 2017
Early risers take part in a Morning Glory 'Rave Your Way Into The Day!' morning dance experience at Village Underground on September 4, 2013 in Shoreditch, London, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
<p class="p1">A powerful anesthetic, used as an animal tranquilizer and an illicit club drug, has been receiving growing attention for its potential to treat depression. A number of <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/how-club-drug-ketamine-fights-depression-1.19862#/b1">studies</a> point to the possibility that <strong>ketamine </strong>(known in the club scene as “special K”) can become the next big thing in anti-depressant medications. </p> <p class="p1">While it’s not approved by the FDA for treating depression, numerous clinics have sprung up to treat patients “off-label”, with low doses of the drug, while drug manufacturers are ramping up research and development.</p> <p class="p1">Yale professor of psychiatry Dr. Sanacora, who has used ketamine to treat hundreds of patients suffering from severe depression, said in a <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/03/20/520169959/ketamine-for-severe-depression-how-do-you-not-offer-this-drug-to-people" target="_blank">recent interview with NPR</a> that he feels an obligation to use the drug. </p> <blockquote>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">"If you have patients that are likely to seriously injure themselves or kill themselves within a short period of time, and they've tried the standard treatments, how do you not offer this treatment?" <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/03/20/520169959/ketamine-for-severe-depression-how-do-you-not-offer-this-drug-to-people" target="_blank">said Sanacora</a>.</span></p>
</blockquote> <p class="p5">He also says a survey of U.S. and Canada clinics showed that “over 3,000” patients have already been treated.</p> <p class="p5">How effective can ketamine be? It has been shown to relieve the kind of depression that no other drugs can affect. It's lifted even suicidal depression in just hours. With studies into ketamine going on for over a decade, a <a href="http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2605202" target="_blank">recent statement</a> from the American Psychiatric Association says there is “compelling evidence” that it works, although its effects have been described as “transient.” </p> <p class="p5">There is definitely more research to be done, especially considering the absence of large-scale trials.</p> <blockquote>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">“We don't know how much or how often it should be given for it to be effective or safe,” said psychiatry and neuroscience Professor James Murrough, in a review of ketamine <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/nrd.2017.16.epdf?referrer_access_token=Vl8_ZM4WQzQ-lgYdCimkRdRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0PlQwPAAA8RbAve4nMonCpSJjJRHclel7JUgHqSdPFfvspo2AHX9CBhA3EYNWrUC6x09rdE4LY-gA4BHiEhBKvvf6nV6NrJqs2K1brtmGoeuGdpE-9dvKAL-9yA3Bx49xIyxJM_2cUj6Rag5ibI0PhMeQ6ewH211Z9wWtFl_mgGggd7iVSVeMu-oYTh7IjsfbTEHRiApuPoVsIunAVnGvJEZpoY7ihD5leTAfS44qc7RJL0xuJUXqj2cCIxK4EaPP5-3UlXZwsKPsmcdaRC_AC9V6e82hH8FL_CQm0647jtvQ%3D%3D&tracking_referrer=www.npr.org" target="_blank">published in <em>Nature Reviews Drug Discovery</em></a><em>.</em></span> </p>
</blockquote> <p class="p5">Murrough is concerned that we don’t know the long-term effects of taking the drug. It also tends to wear off, necessitating more to be taken. Another big issue — how to avoid the often-unpleasant “high” from the drug, leaving only its therapeutic qualities. Professor Sanacora shares those <a href="http://news.yale.edu/2017/03/01/ketamine-eases-severe-depression-questions-dosage-duration-remain" target="_blank">concerns</a>:</p> <blockquote>
<p class="p5">“In a nutshell, I feel confident telling patients who have had little help from previous treatments that ketamine provides meaningful relief from some of their worst symptoms for at least a few days or even weeks,’’ said Dr. Sanacora. “But I can’t tell them with any degree of certainty how long the benefit can be sustained or how safe it is to repeatedly administer the medication over periods of months or years. "</p>
</blockquote> <p class="p5">But even with reasonable cautions, ketamine’s promise is very much real, as it can lead to a totally new kind of medication. </p> <blockquote>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">"There's warranted caution that's balanced with an optimism that says we've never had a new medication for depression since the era of Prozac," <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/03/20/520169959/ketamine-for-severe-depression-how-do-you-not-offer-this-drug-to-people" target="_blank">says Murrough</a>.</span> </p>
</blockquote> <p class="p5">While most current antidepressants target the neurotransmitters <em>serotonin </em>and <span class="s2"><em>noradrenaline</em></span>, ketamine works on <strong><em>glutamate</em></strong>. Before ketamine was studied, the role of this pathway in depression was not known. </p> <p class="p5">Will we see a ketamine drug soon? </p> <p class="p5">A <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/how-club-drug-ketamine-fights-depression-1.19862#/b1" target="_blank">2016 study on mice</a> found that the compound <span class="s3"><em>hydroxynorketamine</em></span> may be responsible for ketamine’s success in treating depression<span class="s3"><em>. </em> The scientists involved are going to human trials next. </span></p> <p class="p5"><span class="s3">A compound formed from ketamine called <em>esketamine</em> is now in the final testing stage before being considered by the FDA. Other ketamine-like drugs are also in development.</span></p> <p class="p5">When used in clubs, ketamine is usually injected or snorted to create strong feelings of detachment. The more it’s taken, leading down what’s called a “K hole,” the more feelings of disassociation it will cause. For that reason, <a href="http://ketamine.com/10-times-you-should-say-no-to-ketamine/" target="_blank">it can also be dangerous</a>, with potential to cause temporary amnesia, confusion, increased heart rate, aggression and impaired motor function. There have also been cases of ketamine overdosing leading to date rape (due its paralyzing effects) or even death. In other words - don’t try this at home and wait for the science to catch up.</p> <p class="p5">Check out this Big Think interview with neurobiologist and psychiatric Dennis Charney, who explains how ketamine works differently than other antidepressants:</p> <div class="video-full-card-placeholder" data-slug="can-ketamine-treat-depression-2" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
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