The Drug Science Podcast

This week’s episode features Dr Gabor Maté, a Hungarian-Canadian physician who’s main interests include childhood development and trauma, and their impact on lifelong physical and mental health.  Professor Nutt and Dr Maté talk about the inseparable nature of our body and mind. How do they affect each other? How can psychedelics offer therapeutic potential to both mental and physical conditions?  Dr Gabor Maté was born in Hungary and emigrated to Canada as a young child. Following years of clinical practice, now retired, he travels around the world to speak about how life experiences shape our physical and mental health. In his books including the most recent “In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction” he explores the relationship between “early adversity” i.e. stress, childhood neglect or abuse and susceptibility to addictions, autoimmune diseases, cancer and many others. He is also widely recognised for his perspectives on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.  Additionally, after being a part of an Ayahuasca retreat program Dr Gabor Maté advocates the therapeutic potential of this and other psychedelic substances in the treatment of a variety of mental and physical conditions. Gabor Mate’s website In the Realm of Hungry Ghost The six realms of Buddhist cosmology Vancouver harm reduction program Ayahuasca Psilocybin Psilocybin and depression: Psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression: fMRI-measured brain mechanisms by Robin Carhart-Harris et al., 2017 Ayahuasca retreat with Dr. Gabor Maté and Richard Condon Scleroderma patient article:Ayahuasca Let Me Walk Again United Nation’s Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971 When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress Stress and the risk of multiple sclerosis Childhood Trauma in Multiple Sclerosis Psychedelics for psychological and existential distress in palliative and cancer care Become a Drug Science Community member ★ Support this podcast ★

Peter Krykant previously used intravenous drugs whilst living homeless in Birmingham. His lived experience has shown him the benefits of drug consumption rooms; to prevent the spread of bloodborne diseases and protect people who use drugs from accidental overdose.Seven weeks ago, Peter set up the first UK drug consumption room which attracted the attention of the BBC and the local police force. Scotland's Lord Advocate and the Chief Constable of Police Scotland has made it clear that such activities violate national law. However, the local police force has not intervened with Peter’s operation. Peter is advocating to expand these services to multiple localities with the inclusion of trained medical professionals at each site. This intervention offers a unique insight to gather observational data on UK intravenous drug use. It could be the stepping stone needed to tackle the increasing number of UK drug-related deaths. Peter Krykant twitter Birmingham rough sleepers’ team Methadone Diazepam Drug Death summit 27th Feb Scotland 2020 Copenhagen Drug Consumption Room Naloxone CrowdFunder page Site 2 – Gazebo Scotland's Lord Advocate and the Chief Constable of Police ScotlandHeroin assisted-treatment Methadone programmesRonnie CowanAlison ThewlissChangeGrowLiveSafe Consumption GlasgowBecome a Drug Science Community Member: https://www.donate.drugscience.org.uk/Twitter: @ProfDavidNutt @Drug_ScienceA Fascinate Productions podcast for Drug Science ★ Support this podcast ★

After discovering that there was very little literature review regarding the impact of psychedelics on the philosophy of the mind, philosopher Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes started to research how these drugs have impacted western philosophy. On this episode of the podcast, Peter examines the cultural history of the philosophy of psychedelics and how they’ve shaped philosophers’ perceptions of consciousness and reality. Dr Peter Sjöstedt-H is an Anglo-Scandinavian philosopher of mind who specializes in the thought of Whitehead, Nietzsche, and Spinoza, and in fields pertaining to panpsychism and altered states of mind. Following his degree in Continental Philosophy at the University of Warwick, he became a Philosophy lecturer in London for six years and after which he pursued his PhD (on ‘Pansentient Monism’, examined by Galen Strawson and Joel Krueger) at the University of Exeter – where he is now a research fellow and associate lecturer. Peter is the author of Noumenautics, the TEDx Talker on ‘psychedelics and consciousness‘. Are altered states of consciousness mere hallucinations or indicative of fundamental truths of reality? William James Philosophy of psychedelics conference Exploring Frameworks for Exceptional ExperienceHumphry DavyNitrous OxideArthur Heffter Thomas De Quincey Outsight project Epiphonemalism René DescartesPsychedelics heightened appreciation of nature Eliminative materialismDavid Luke podcastAndrew Gallimore - Alien Information TheoryCarl Hart – psychedelic exceptionalism Albert Hoffman Bertrand Russell - Mysticism and logicBecome a Drug Science Community Member: https://www.donate.drugscience.org.uk/Twitter: @ProfDavidNutt @Drug_ScienceA Fascinate Productions podcast for Drug Science ★ Support this podcast ★

Psychologist Dr David Luke, is a Senior Lecturer studying states of transpersonal consciousness. It is well known that psychedelic drugs can induce altered states of consciousness but is this approach too heavy handed to derive benefit from a transpersonal experience? Activities such as yoga, meditation and sensory deprivation can induce this altered state of consciousness but how can we apply what we have learnt from psychedelic neuropsychopharmacology to evaluate these non-drug induced states? Can religious or spiritual experiences influence an individual’s perception of reality? Dr David Luke is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Greenwich. His research focuses on transpersonal experiences, anomalous phenomena and altered states of consciousness, especially via psychedelics, having published more than 100 academic papers in this area, including ten books, most recently Psychedelic Mysteries of the Feminine (2019). When he is not running clinical drug trials with LSD, doing DMT field experiments or observing apparent weather control with Mexican shamans he directs the Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness salon and is a co-founder and director and the current chair of Breaking Convention: International Conference on Psychedelic Consciousness.William James  James Fadiman Stanislav GrofAnechoic chamberHolotropic Breathwork Carbogen Inhalation TherapySynesthesiaBreaking Convention Extinction Rebellion Global Drug Survey AphantasiaBecome a Drug Science Community Member: https://www.donate.drugscience.org.uk/Twitter: @ProfDavidNutt @Drug_ScienceA Fascinate Productions podcast for Drug Science ★ Support this podcast ★

In 1971, the war on drugs went international when the UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances was signed into international law. This Convention broadened the scope of previous UN drug legislation, facilitating the prohibition of almost any drug imaginable at the time. However, in the past 50 years, various countries across the world have been rejecting this narrative and even the UN itself has agreed that the war on drugs has been a failure. Drugs are here to stay and it was foolish to think that they could be removed from society. An influential cog in this new approach to drug policy are a group called - Transform. Transform take a pragmatic and evidence-based approach to drug policy. Lobbying for harm reduction and alternatives to prohibition. Steve Rolles is Senior Policy Analyst for Transform Drug Policy Foundation, a UK based think tank and charity focused on drug policy and law reform. Lead author on a range of Transform publications including 2009’s ‘After the War on Drugs: Blueprint for Regulation’, Steve has been a regular contributor to the public debate on drug policy and law for over 15 years; in the media, at UK and international events, and at various UN and Government forums around the world. Steve was recently an adviser for the Uruguayan Government in developing their new cannabis regulation model, and was also lead drafter and technical coordinator for the recent ‘Taking control: Pathways to Drug Polices that Work’ report from the Global Commission on Drug Policy. Previously Steve worked for Oxfam and the Medical Research Council, having studied for his Geography BSc at Bristol University and Development Studies MSc at Manchester University.Transform Danny Kushlick Mexico Unido Contra DelincuenciaPortugal decriminalisation Cannabis legalisation in Canada Cannabis legalisation in Uruguay Altered States report William Hague advocating for cannabis reform Global Commission on Drug Policy Lib Dem cannabis report UN common position on drugs UN task team report on the past 10 years of drug policy Latin America cocaine warLuxembourg cannabis reformBecome a Drug Science Community Member: https://www.donate.drugscience.org.uk/Twitter: @ProfDavidNutt @Drug_ScienceA Fascinate Productions podcast for Drug Science ★ Support this podcast ★

Mobeen Azhar has been a journalist for 17 years investigating the societal harms related to the ‘war on drugs’. Upon returning to his hometown of Huddersfield, Mobeen started to uncover grizzly story behind the roadside execution of Yassar Yaqub.  Described in court as a 28-year-old office clerk, Yassar Yaqub was shot dead by police on an M62 slip road on a cold and wet January evening in 2017. Celebrated by his family as a loving son and beloved father, his death lead to protests on the streets of West Yorkshire and in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement a ‘Justice 4 Yassar’ campaign was born. But with rumours of drug empires, money laundering and high-performance cars, just days into his reporting of the case, Mobeen realises that there is a much bigger story in town. With violence on the streets and a town that is terrified to talk, Mobeen attempts to find out where the truth really lies in a journey that forces him to face some ugly truths about his community and hometown. Hometown  Justice for Yassar Neil WoodsBecome a Drug Science Community Member: https://www.donate.drugscience.org.uk/Twitter: @ProfDavidNutt @Drug_ScienceA Fascinate Productions podcast for Drug Science ★ Support this podcast ★

A special treat this week as the two titans of psychopharmacology discuss the medicinal chemistry of psychedelics. Dr Nichols is the Founding President of the Heffter Research Institute, an organisation designed to promote research of the highest scientific quality with psychedelics in order to contribute to a greater understanding of the mind leading to the improvement of the human condition, and to alleviate suffering.Professor Nutt and Dr Nichols answer some burning questions of psychedelic science such as: What will come to market first, LSD, Psilocybin or MDMA? Could microdosing be dangerous? Is there such a thing as DMT tolerance? David E. Nichols, is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC. He is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the Purdue University College of Pharmacy, and was the Robert C. and Charlotte P. Anderson Chair in Pharmacology, where he carried out teaching and research for 38 years prior to his retirement in 2012. A major focus of his research was on substances known as hallucinogens, known more popularly as psychedelics. Widely published in the scientific literature and internationally recognized for his research on centrally active drugs, he has studied all of the major classes of psychedelic agents, including LSD and other lysergic acid derivatives, psilocybin and the tryptamines, and phenethylamines related to mescaline. Among scientists, he is recognized as one of the foremost international experts on the medicinal chemistry of psychedelics.Shulgin Mescaline MDMA LSD Psilocybin Entactogen vs Empathogen Drugs Enforcement Agency Salvia Heffter Research Institute Arthur Heffter Psilocybin for depression trial Psilocybin for OCD Yale study Psilocybin-assisted Group Therapy for Demoralization in Long-term AIDS SurvivorsN,N-dimethyltryptamine and the pineal gland: Separating fact from mythA Model for the Application of Target-Controlled Intravenous Infusion for a Prolonged Immersive DMT Psychedelic ExperienceFen-phen Weightloss drug Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Tryptamines Found in Hallucinogenic Mushrooms: Norbaeocystin, Baeocystin, Norpsilocin, and AeruginascinBecome a Drug Science Community Member: https://www.donate.drugscience.org.uk/Twitter: @ProfDavidNutt @Drug_ScienceA Fascinate Productions podcast for Drug Science ★ Support this podcast ★

The US opioid crisis is a result of a fractured and fragmented healthcare service. Federal and state policy created a system whereby doctors were rewarded for prescribing highly addictive substances. This epidemic was compounded when the same federal and state government suddenly restrained these prescriptions, forcing people into the black market. Now underground drug dealers control this oversaturated demand, from Mexican smugglers to Chinese clandestine chemists…the harms of opiates are rising every day. Bryce Pardo is an associate policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. His work focuses on drug policy with a particular interest in the areas of cannabis regulation, opioid control, and new psychoactive substance markets. Recently, he has provided Congressional testimony about his research on illicit supply of fentanyl to several subcommittees within the U.S. House of Representatives. Prior to joining RAND, he served five years as a legislative and policy analyst at the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) within the Organization of American States (OAS) where he worked directly with policymakers and practitioners. He has independently consulted with multi-lateral institutions, including the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Pardo also served as lead analyst with BOTEC Analysis Corporation to support the Government of Jamaica in drafting medical cannabis regulations. The Future of Fentanyl and Other Synthetic OpioidsRAND Corporation RAND Drug Policy Research Centre Heroin Oxycodone Oxycontin  2010 additive added to prescription opiates so they couldn’t be crushed or snorted Golden triangle Fentanyl BuprenorphineMethadone Vivitrol Heroin Assisted Treatment Supervised consumption facility Isotonitazene CarfentanilBecome a Drug Science Community Member: https://www.donate.drugscience.org.uk/Twitter: @ProfDavidNutt @Drug_ScienceA Fascinate Productions podcast for Drug Science ★ Support this podcast ★

Tobacco and alcohol are the largest sources of preventable death in the world. Our current treatments are only 15% effective at best. However, psilocybin-assisted therapy has achieved an astonishing 80% success rate in clinical trials. Professor Matthew Johnson is paving the way for this new an innovative treatment to address one of the most damaging social burdens of modern society, drug addiction. It is important to note that Professor Johnson’s research is not looking at casual habitual smokers, but instead, long-term, treatment resistant tobacco users.  Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D., Professor at Johns Hopkins, has worked with psychedelics since 2004. He published psychedelic safety guidelines in 2008, the first psychedelic treatment of tobacco addiction in 2014, and with colleagues published the largest study of psilocybin in cancer distress in 2016. His 2018 psilocybin review recommended Schedule IV upon medical approval. He is Principal Investigator on upcoming psilocybin studies treating opioid addiction and PTSD, and LSD research treating chronic pain. Matt and the Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Research Unit are examining the long-term behavioural changes resulting from a single psilocybin session and cognitive behavioural therapy. Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Research Unit Professor Matthew Johnson Smoking cessation study Smoking cessation research Roland Griffiths Episode Healthy normals research  Smoking cessation behaviours three months following acute insular damage from stroke IbogaineBreathwork for treating PTSD Twitter - @Drug_Researcher Become a Drug Science Community Member: https://www.donate.drugscience.org.uk/Twitter: @ProfDavidNutt @Drug_ScienceA Fascinate Productions podcast for Drug Science ★ Support this podcast ★

This week, Professor Nutt speaks to journalist Johann Hari @johannhari101 about the ‘war on drugs’. It is now widely accepted that the ‘war on drugs’ has failed, with many people believing it can never succeed. Despite this, politicians from around the world continue to follow this mantra as an effective strategy to reduce drug-related harms. The reason why… politics. Currently, it is politically damaging to support the legalisation of drugs because public discourse has been led to believe that legalisation will cause anarchy and chaos. Contrarily, what we have now is a complete lack of control. Legally regulating the supply of drugs is the only way to bring order to this chaos. Johann Hari is the author of two New York Times best-selling books. His first, ‘Chasing the Scream: the First and Last Days of the War on Drugs’, is currently being adapted into a major Hollywood film by Oscar-winning director Lee Daniels, and into a non-fiction documentary series. His first TED talk, ‘Everything You Think You Know About Addiction is Wrong’, has been viewed more than 40 million times across all platforms. He has written over the past decade for some of the world’s leading newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Guardian, the Spectator, Le Monde Diplomatique, the Melbourne Age, and Politico. He is a regular panellist on HBO’s Realtime With Bill Maher.Chasing the Scream Lost ConnectionsProfessor Nutt fired Portugal decriminalisation Bud OsbornSafe injection facilities Philip Owen – coffin Billie Holiday Strange Fruit Ruth DreifussNeil Woods episode Swiss experiment Crispin Blunt episode Harry Anslinger Become a Drug Science Community Member: https://www.donate.drugscience.org.uk/Twitter: @ProfDavidNutt @Drug_ScienceA Fascinate Productions podcast for Drug Science ★ Support this podcast ★