A man demonstrates lighting up a freebase methamphetamine pipe. (Photo by Younes Mohammad / Middle … [+] Some forms of mental health disorders, particularly addiction, are difficult to treat via conventional behavioral approaches, given that the brain forms powerful connections that are hard to beat . Could pinpointing a serotonin receptor with the help of psychedelics be the key to overcoming powerful addictions such as methamphetamine abuse?
A team of researchers associated with the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee were recently awarded a five-year, $2.4 million research grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to determine how psychedelics could be used as a therapeutic to treat methamphetamine addiction. The NIH grant, announced Tuesday , allows researchers to explore a new approach to treating methamphetamine addiction. The team of researchers includes John McCorvy, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW); Adam Halberstadt, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California San Diego (UCSD Invesco S&P Spin-Off ETF 0.0% ) and Director of the UCSD Center for Psychedelic Research; and Kevin Murnane, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Neuroscience and Director of Basic Science Research for the Louisiana Addiction Research Center at Louisiana State University (LSU) Health Shreveport .
According to recent data from NIDA, overdose-related deaths in the United States involving stimulants—primarily methamphetamine—have grown significantly since 2015, when 5,716 deaths were linked to the drug. In 2022, NIDA reported 34,022 overdose deaths involving psychostimulants, representing a nearly 500% increase over the past seven years. Injections are also increasing. The number of admissions to treatment centers reporting methamphetamine injection as a route of delivery more than doubled over the past decade , according to NIDA data in 2023.
Researchers will explore the potential role of psychedelics in treating methamphetamine abuse such as psilocybin, which already demonstrates promise in treating behavioral health conditions such as addiction, anxiety, depression, alcoholism, and nicotine dependence. Passport: Explore the finest destinations and experiences around the world in the Forbes Passport newsletter.
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Can Psychedelics Curb Meth Abuse? Study Aims To Learn With $2.4 Million Grant
