drugs
How the CIA used LSD to fight communism
Before it fueled Woodstock and the Summer of Love, LSD was brought to America to make spying easier.
Not just COVID: mortality rates are up from homicides, drug overdoses, accidents
Some of these trends may be due, in part, to the lockdown.
Psilocybin and depression: “magic mushroom” drug could regrow lost brain connections
Psychedelics have been shown to help reduce depression. This study may show us why.
Single dose of psilocybin may treat migraines
Can the main psychoactive ingredient of magic mushrooms help treat the world's sixth most debilitating illness?
CBD provides pain relief through pharmacological and placebo effects
Cannabidiol (CBD) seems to reduce the unpleasantness of pain, a finding that surprised the researchers behind a new, first-of-its-kind study.
‘Mad honey’: The rare hallucinogen from the mountains of Nepal
Of the world's 300 honey varieties, none is stranger and more dangerous than mad honey.
Study measures marijuana’s carbon footprint—and it’s high
Growing marijuana in large, climate controlled warehouses is good for production but has a massive carbon footprint.
Archaeologists identify contents of ancient Mayan drug containers
Scientists use new methods to discover what's inside drug containers used by ancient Mayan people.
How high did our ancestors get? We might soon be able to tell.
Traces of heroin and cocaine have been found in the tartar of 19th-century Dutch farmers.
Ginger may guard against the progression of some autoimmune diseases
A new study on mice showed that ginger may counter certain autoimmune disorders such as lupus and antiphospholipid syndrome.
Chemists modify hallucinogen to treat depression and addiction
A new study explores the therapeutic potential of the psychedelic drug ibogaine, which has been used in Africa for centuries.
What will ‘psychedelic therapy’ look like when it’s legalized?
Psychedelic therapy will become legal in Oregon in 2023. That's thanks largely to a renaissance of psychedelic research that's changing attitudes on the substances' medical potential.
The magic of mushrooms: A mycological trip
A biologist-reporter investigates his fungal namesake.
California cave art linked to early use of hallucinogens
The Chumash people poked bits of psychoactive plants into cave ceilings next to their paintings.
How psychedelics help you “die before you die”
The heart of the religious ritual is mysticism, argues Brian Muraresku in "The Immortality Key."
Psilocybin rapidly promotes neuroplasticity in the brains of rats
The compound found in "magic mushrooms" has significant and fast-acting impact on the brains of rats.
Oregon decriminalizes drugs: Here are 3 metrics other states will track
It's "the biggest blow to the war on drugs to date," said Kassandra Frederique, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance.
Should we pay ex-drug users to help them get clean?
What is more important, that a treatment helps keep people healthy or that it meshes with our morals?
Scientists stumble across new organs in the human head
New cancer-scanning technology reveals a previously unknown detail of human anatomy.
The surprising future of vaccine technology
We owe a lot to vaccines and the scientists that develop them. But we've only just touched the surface of what vaccines can do.
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US, Russia, China won’t join global initiative to offer fair access to COVID-19 vaccines. Why not?
The U.S., China, and Russia are in a "vaccine race" that treats a global challenge like a winner-take-all game.
Study reveals alarming link between binge-drinking and anxiety
New research conducted on mice suggests repeated heavy drinking causes synaptic dysfunctions that lead to anxiety.
Ever wonder how LSD works? An answer has been discovered.
UNC School of Medicine researchers identified the amino acid responsible for the trip.
Taking pain relievers makes you more likely to take risks
Research from Ohio State finds that acetaminophen affects our emotions.
Study projects lifetime risk of death by gun violence and drugs in the US
By projecting lifetime risk, an alarming new medical study centers the human lives that will be lost due to gun violence and drug addiction in the United States.
How gene editing a person’s brain cells could be used to curb the opioid epidemic
Is CRISPR the solution?
Improving Olympic performance with asthma drugs?
A study looks at the performance benefits delivered by asthma drugs when they're taken by athletes who don't have asthma.
Drugs: What America gets wrong about addiction and policy
Addiction is not a moral failure. It is a learning disorder, and viewing it otherwise stops communities and policy makers from the ultimate goal: harm reduction.
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Will antidepressant medications ever require informed consent?
That question is at the heart of the new documentary, "Medicating Normal."