The Drug Science Podcast

In this episode of the Drug Science Podcast, world-renowned author Michael Pollan and Prof David Nutt discuss gardening.Of course, this being the Drug Science podcast, there’s no mention of sunflowers or strawberries. Instead, these two icons of psychopharmacology discuss the cultivation and everything else you might want to know about psychoactive plants with a particular focus on Opium, Caffeine and Mescaline.Michael Pollan, a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine since 1987, Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and Director of the Knight Program in Science and Environmental Journalism, is one of the nation’s most influential writers and scientific and environmental investigative journalists. His many award-winning, best-selling books include: The Botany of Desire; The Omnivore’s Dilemma; In Defense of Food; and, most recently, How to Change Your Mind.Who is Michael Pollan? Michael Pollan, a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine since 1987, Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and Director of the Knight Program in Science and Environmental Journalism, is one of the nation’s most influential writers and scientific and environmental investigative journalists. His many award-winning, best-selling books include: The Botany of Desire; The Omnivore’s Dilemma; In Defense of Food; and, most recently, How to Change Your Mind.Michael Pollan’s latest book -> This is your mind on plantsHow to change your mind Opium Caffeine MescalineJim HogshirePapaver SomniferumHarper’s magazineJohn ‘Rick’ MacArthurPurdue Pharma OxycontinBentley compounds Bees and CaffeineRoland Griffiths Caffeine researchThe enlightenment coffeehouses VoltaireDenis DiderotHonoré de BalzacRoland GriffithsPeyote Aldous Huxley The Doors of Perception  American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978San PedroMuscimolIbotenic Acid  ★ Support this podcast ★

This week’s episode features Doctor Sheila Vakharia and Professor Alex Stevens, together with Professor Nutt they will be talking about decriminalization and drug policies in the US and the UK. Has both countries’ drug policies arisen from colonialism and social class hierarchy? What are the consequences of the policies that can be witnessed today? Are there any reasons for drug criminalisation?  Sheila P Vakharia, PhD is Deputy Director of the Department of Research and Academic Engagement for the Drug Policy Alliance, a US organisation advocating for decriminalisation of drug use. Prior to joining DPA, Dr. Vakharia was an Assistant Professor of Social Work at Long Island University, and had also worked as a clinical social worker in both abstinence-only and harm reduction settings. Her research interests include harm reduction therapy, drug policy reform, drug user stigma, overdose prevention, and social work education. She is currently on the Board of Directors of HAMS Harm Reduction Network and Filter magazine. She has written op-eds for the Philadelphia Inquirer on the overdose crisis and NY Daily News on drug-induced homicide laws and stimulants. Professor Alex Stevens has worked on issues of drugs, crime and health in the voluntary sector, as an academic researcher and as an adviser to the UK government. He has published extensively on these issues, with a focus on the sociology of drugs and crime, on risk behaviours by young people, on the use of evidence in policy and on quasi-compulsory drug treatment. His published works include a book on ‘Drugs, Crime and Public Health‘, studies of decriminalisation of drugs in Portugal, of the right to use drugs, on gangs and on the ethnography of policy making.Professor Stevens’ interest in drugs and crime dates back to his time working with UK charity Prisoners Abroad, which provides advice and information to British prisoners held in foreign prisons, and as European project manager and coordinator of the European Network of Drug and HIV/AIDS Services in Prison for Cranstoun Drugs Services. Drug Policy AllianceWar on drugsCannabisHarm reductionDecriminalization in OregonCrack house statute legal definition An article about what this statute actually means HIV crisis in the 1980sOpium WarsPharmacy Act 1868OpioidsDoctor shoppingHeroinMetamphetamineFentanylMethadoneBuprenorphineUprooting the Drug War ★ Support this podcast ★

Michael Mithoefer, MD is a Clinical Investigator and acting Medical Director of MAPS Public Benefit Corporation. Together with his wife Annie, they completed the first phase 2 clinical trial of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD in 2009 and a subsequent study of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD in military veterans, firefighters and police officers. They are now supervising therapists in the ongoing MAPS Phase 3 trials of MDMA-assisted Psychotheapy for PTSD, leading training in MDMA- assisted psychotherapy for therapists interested in working on clinical trials, and providing FDA-approved MDMA sessions for research therapists.  Michael is Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina, is a Grof certified Holotropic Breathwork Practitioner, has been a Certified Internal Family Systems Therapist, and has been board certified in Psychiatry, Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine.  Annie is a registered nurse as well as a Grof-certified Holotropic Breathwork Practitioner, is trained in Hakomi Therapy, and has 25 years experience working with trauma patients, with an emphasis on experiential approaches to therapy. Tune in to this episode to find out about their pioneer work with MDMA and their most recent research! MDMA-assisted psychotherapyMDMAPsychedelicsStanislav GrofBreathworkEMDRNeurofeedbackFrancine ShapiroFDARick DoblinMAPSIRB DEACAPS-5 - Clinician Administered PTSD ScaleExposure therapyCognitive-behavioral conjoint therapyCandice MonsonAmygdalaRelax beliefs under psychedelics (REBUS)PTSDEMA - European Medicines AgencyPsilocybinAyahuasca ★ Support this podcast ★

Today’s episode features Ollie Ollerton, a former UK Special Forces soldier and directing staff (DS) of Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins. Mr Ollerton has always been involved in the social cause, serving in the army as well as supporting multiple charities. Thanks to the publicity from SAS: Who Dares Wins he has been, among others, raising awareness of the mental health of soldiers. By the means of supporting Heroic Hearts charity he also advocates for the use of psychedelics such as ayahuasca for the treatment of PTSD which often affects his serving colleagues. Ollie also authored multiple books in which he tells the story of his career and mental journey of overcoming PTSD himself. Upon Ollie’s return to the UK in 2014 after 13 years overseas he started developing a concept to allow his training and experience to benefit others. BREAK-POINT provides leadership and development courses to the public and corporate sector also supporting veterans suffering the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD.Ollie is a trained PRISM practitioner, a character assessment tool based on neuroscience that assists him and his team to provide the most engaging and rewarding corporate events focusing on mindset, teamwork and leadership. Along with another member of the SAS team, Ollie and Foxy have launched an app called the BATTLE READY 360 programme that focuses on mindset, nutrition and exercise. Ollie’s second book BATTLE READY launched in April 2020 straight into The Times Best Seller Top Ten, following the amazing success of BREAK-POINT in May 2019 which was a Times Number One Best Seller.Heroic Hearts retreat for veterans Heroic heartsOllie Instagram United Kingdom Special ForcesSAS: Who Dares WinsBattleboxPTSDAyahuascaBreak point ★ Support this podcast ★

Friederike Meckel is a German psychotherapist who also trained as a medical doctor. Her career involved multiple techniques in psychotherapy including Holotropic Breathwork, hypnotherapy and family constellation work. Most notably however, regarding the subject of our podcasts, by the means of setting a private underground practice in Zurich, Switzerland she developed her own way of psychotherapy using psychoactive substances. In this week’s episode, she describes the very innovative approaches to her work focusing on patient’s deeper understanding of themselves. Make sure to listen in if you want to find out more!Underground MDMA-, LSD- and 2-CB-assisted individual and group psychotherapy in Zurich: Outcomes, implications and commentary - Article by Friederike Meckel Fischer and Ben SessaDepth psychology Holotropic breathworkHypnotherapySystemic therapyTranspersonal therapyBehaviour therapyFamily constellationsMDMALSDPsilocybin2C-BDMTDr Joe DispenzaMindfulnessTherapy with Substance: Psycholytic Psychotherapy in the Twenty-First Century - book by Friederike Meckel FischerStanislav GrofPeter Gasser ★ Support this podcast ★

Julia Buxton is British Academy Global Professor. Her research focuses on illicit drug markets and the impact of counter narcotics policies on development, gender equality and security. In her career she’s led projects and worked with multiple universities around the world including the Central European University in Budapest. Outside of Europe, she has geographical expertise on Latin America and is a specialist on Venezuela.  Now, back in England, she’s working on The Global Drug Survey project, inquiring about the drug policy preferences of drug users themselves. With this innovative approach she’s joining the conversation on drugs on the political scene in the UK.  Tune into this week’s episode to find out about how drug policies that are older than the Internet, Thatcherism and HIV treatment contribute to inequalities arising between different countries and genders. Shownotes:OpioidsCannabisOpen Society FoundationsJonathan SorosUN Sustainable Development GoalsViktor OrbanPopulismSyrian refugee crisis in HungaryNativismThe Impact of Global Drug Policy on Women: Shifting the Needle - book by Julia Buxton Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD)Ingrid WalkerJudith AldridgeDarknet“Do Darknet Drug Markets Make the Bad Guys Less Bad?” Aldridge Asks Keir StarmerNicola SturgeonHeroin CocaineGreenwich biosciences  ★ Support this podcast ★

Richard ‘Rick’ Doblin is the founder and director of Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) - a non-profit research organisation established in 1986.  Somewhere between getting an undergraduate degree in psychology and a doctorate in public policy, Rick, having had discovered psychedelics, began his fight against unjustified criminalisation of psychedelic drugs.  Rick’s main goal has been making MDMA a FDA-approved medicine, tune in to this week’s episode to find out about his progress!MAPS latest MDMA study in Nature MedicineDrug Science live podcast recording with Professor David Nutt!  Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)MDMACuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam War Carl JungLSDMescalineJohn Lilly Programming & Metaprogramming in the Human Biocomputer: Theory & ExperimentsRealms of the Human Unconscious: Observations from LSD Research by Stanislav GrofIsolation tankStanislav GrofPrimal therapyNew Genesis: Shaping a global spirituality by Robert MullerLaura HuxleyIsland by Aldous HuxleyDMTPsilocybinPost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)AyahuascaSpinal tapDissociative identity disorder ★ Support this podcast ★

Together with Professor David Nutt they will be talking about the beauty behind psychoactive substances as well as the, equally interesting, stories from Lady Feilding’s life journey. Drug Science live podcast recording with Professor David Nutt!  If you want to find out how to travel to Ceylon for 25 pounds do have a listen! Amanda Feilding is the Founder and Executive Director of the Beckley Foundation, and is widely recognised as a leading force behind the current Psychedelic Renaissance. By establishing key Research Programmes at some of the world’s most prestigious institutions (including Imperial College London, Maastricht University, Sant Pau in Barcelona, IDOR and UFRN in Brazil), she has propelled the field forward over the last 20+ years, conducting landmark studies, such as the world’s first psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression study (on which Compass Pathways based their business), the world’s first LSD, MDMA and DMT brain imaging studies, plus the initiation and collaboration with Johns Hopkins on the first study using psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy to overcome nicotine addiction. She has also co-authored over 80 research papers.Since its inception in 1998, the Beckley Foundation has been at the forefront of exploratory research into psychedelics and cannabis, and evidence-based global drug policies. Through a series of pivotal international seminars at the House of Lords (starting in 2000) with leading figures from around the world in different fields, from science to politics, plus over 60 much-cited books, reports and papers, and numerous meetings with thought-leaders, academics, and policy-makers at the UN and governments around the world, Amanda has ensured that the Beckley Foundation has been at the forefront of global drug policy reform, particularly in the field of cannabis and the psychedelics. Through her work with the Beckley Foundation, Amanda is bridging the gap between science and policy, creating a positive feedback loop, with the aim of building and harnessing our knowledge of the benefits of currently prohibited compounds to optimise human health, wellbeing and potential. Drug Science live podcast recording with Professor David Nutt! CannabisLSDTimothy LearyBart HughesPsychedelic Microdosing LSD’s impact on brain interconnectivity Beckley FoundationMdmaJoseph “Joey” MellenAlbert HofmannSir Colin BlakemorePsilocybinThe Beckley/Imperial Psychedelic Research Programme The effects of psilocybin and MDMA on between-network resting state functional connectivity in healthy volunteersAlexander “Sasha” ShulginAyahuascaDefault mode networkBrain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)Neuroplasticity ★ Support this podcast ★

This week’s episode features Carl Hart, professor of neuroscience and psychology at Columbia University in New York. Professor Nutt and Professor Hart discuss drug addiction and its political context in the US. Are drug policies racist? Were they made to help or to harm? What does the declaration of independence has to do with drug criminalization?  Coming from an impoverished area in Miami, Florida professor Hart used to believe drugs are the reason for problems he observed in his neighbourhood and hence gained specific interest for addictions in his scientific career. Now, however he is debunking drug addiction himself and acknowledging structural injustices both in drug policies as well as the jurisdictional system in the US as a whole. Besides being featured in the movie “The House I Live In” on the War on Drugs campaign, he’s given talks for TEDMED, Talks@Google, The Reason Foundation, The Nobel Conference and many others. Professor Hart has also authored books in which he criticizes the criminalization of drugs and advocates the positive effect of recreational drug use. In this week’s episode we’re going to find out about his most recent one - “Drug use for grownups - chasing liberty in the land of fear.” Shownotes:Cocaine self-administration study in ratsNicotine self-administration in rats study The dopamine theory of addiction review DopamineSerotoninNorepinephrine Julis Axelrod  NicotineExtinction burstHigh Price - book by professor Carl HartHouse I live in Crack cocaineEcstasyDrug use for grown-ups: chasing liberty in the land of fear - book by professor Carl HartOregon drug decriminalization PeyoteOpioidsPsychedelicsMarihuana/ CannabisMap of US states which legalised the use of marihuana  ★ Support this podcast ★

Robin Heads the Psychedelic Research Group within the Centre for Psychiatry at Imperial College London, where he has designed several functional brain imaging studies with psilocybin, LSD, MDMA  and DMT, plus a clinical trial of psilocybin for treatment resistant depression. He has over 50 published papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals; two of which were ranked in the top 100 most impactful academic articles of 2016. Robin’s research has featured in major national and international media and he has given a popular TEDx talk.Does MDMA impact sleep?What does the brain look like under the influence of LSD?How do psychedelics change the quality of brain activity? Can psilocybin be used to treat depression? Psilocybin vs Escitalopram for Major Depressive Disorder  Stanislav Grof LSD PsychotherapyRobin’s first paper – Waves of the Unconscious Amanda FeildingRobin’s PhD Drugs live – Channel 4Psilocybin LSD MDMADMTPsychedelic resting states The entropic brainHomological scaffolds of brain functional networksThe Stoned Ape theory DMT Neural Correlates of the DMT experience Psilocybin for Treatment-Resistant Depression Serotonin and brain function: a tale of two receptors ★ Support this podcast ★