Magic mushrooms could be effective treatment for cocaine addiction, study shows

Results from a new clinical trial show that a single dose of psilocybin could be an effective treatment for cocaine addiction. The study, published in Jama Network Open this month, showed that 19 participants who received a single dose of psilocybin were more likely to abstain from cocaine than 17 participants who received a placebo of diphenhydramine, a common antihistamine. Participants in both groups worked with a therapist to process their experiences. Dr Peter Hendricks, a behavioral health professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and lead author of the study , said finding a treatment for cocaine use disorder is especially urgent for a number of reasons. As of now, there are no FDA-approved medications for addiction to cocaine or other stimulants, like methamphetamine. Overdoses involving stimulants are killing more and more Americans . According to the latest UN global drug report , cocaine deaths are rising globally as cocaine production reaches an all-time high. Over a decade ago, Hendricks was looking for ways that psilocybin could help keep people out of jail. A large, local Birmingham dataset showed “that cocaine use was the single strongest predictor of criminal justice involvement and recidivism”, Hendricks said. This is particularly true for low-income Black men, who made up the majority of participants in the study. …