Marijuana and medieval Muslim drug wars

The anti-marijuana movement is a major obstacle to ending the drug wars that have raged across continents for over fifteen centuries. Beginning in 5th century North Africa, religious factions targeted users of illicit substances in much the way prohibitionists do today. Drug users were scapegoated for social problems unrelated to their drug use while cannabis consumption itself was made a shibboleth—a means of exposing hidden identities, ethnicities, heresies, and political agendas.

Ritualized persecutions of ostracized individuals and groups that consume marijuana have ensured that drug laws remain repressive and dangerous. It’s a simple process. Scapegoating a material substance such as marijuana for society’s problems is only one short step away from condemning the people who consume it:

The Sufis were not the only group blamed for the destruction caused by hashish. The fabled Haydar was an older contemporary of Genghis Khan, and about the time of Haydar’s death, the Mongols were poised to invade the lands of Islam [13th century CE]. Blaming moral and material ills of any kind upon the machinations of foreigners and enemies is a common human trait. Thus the Mongols were a natural target for those searching for an explanation of what brought about a social evil assumed to have reached dangerous proportions in their times. – Franz Rosenthal, The Herb: Hashish Versus Medieval Muslim Society – (c. 1971), p. 54.

The religious theme runs deep in drug prohibition. President Richard Nixon’s henchman, John Ehrlichman—who admitted to counseling Nixon to use marijuana criminalization to crack down on alleged pot smoking political opponents—was a member of the Christian Science religion as was Nixon advisor H. R. Haldeman. Christian Science rejects any reliance on the medical or recreational use of drugs. It claims drugs interfere with spiritual healing, so it practices faith healing instead. Its members would literally rather die than consume a drug, and they do. Haldeman died of abdominal cancer in 1993 while refusing any medicinal treatments or painkillers, including marijuana.

Kevin Sabet, a founder (along with co-founders Patrick J. Kennedy and David Frum) of the anti-marijuana organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), is a member of the Baha’i faith, a Muslim sect founded in 1863 that currently comprises about 8-million members scattered throughout the world. In contrast to the tolerance shown by Sufism toward marijuana, Baha’i strongly forbids cannabis as well as alcohol consumption, except for medicinal purposes. Baha’i was founded by Bahá’u’lláh, who warned against any substance that induces “sluggishness and torpor” and harms the body. Abdu’l-Bahá, his son and successor, called hashish “the worst of all intoxicants” and described its effects as causing “disintegration of thought and the complete torpor of the soul.” Baha’i’s hostility toward marijuana consumers has been surpassed by persecution of the Baha’i themselves, particularly in Iran where the 1979 Islamic Revolution caused the deaths of about 200 Baha’i.

As Baha’i’s most celebrated disciple, Kevin (Abraham) Sabet, President and CEO of SAM, has a political science degree from Berkeley (2001) and a social policy degree from Oxford (2007). His medical opinions regarding marijuana are often exposed as demonstrably false when subjected to the rigors and conclusions of modern science. Sabet himself is not formally trained in any specific physical, biological, pharmaceutical or medical science. He is not a professional psychiatrist with an actual medical degree in psychiatry, even though he somehow managed to attain a position as Assistant Professor Adjunct of Psychiatry at Yale University, as well as an Adjunct Assistant Professorship at the University of Florida School of Medicine—Drug Policy Institute.

The narrow lens through which Kevin Sabet views marijuana is inherently Islamic, moralizing, self-aggrandizing, and self-enriching, not medical or scientific. He opposes policies that would expand scientific research on marijuana’s potential as a medical treatment. Both Sabet and Patrick Kennedy want each ingredient of medical cannabis to be pharmaceutically sourced, packaged individually, and distributed separately in pill or skin patch form, making the natural source, the marijuana flower in all its THC, CBD and aromatic terpene glory unavailable. Doing this would preclude any potential entourage effect that might occur among marijuana’s various constituents.

Sabet’s Big Pharma style prescription drug preferences are distinctly American. Europeans and many people of other nations don’t object to combining or taking their medications in the form of herbal supplements or natural ingredients. They are more likely to visit a local drug compounder to obtain their drugs in some more preferable or convenient form. They’re willing to swallow a dry magic mushroom they grew at home in preference to taking a boring and expensive pill at a psychiatric clinic.

Smoking or vaporizing marijuana is the quickest, most efficient, and most convenient means of consuming marijuana’s active ingredients. Sabet’s lifelong crusade to penalize herbal marijuana consumers for how and why they consume marijuana has helped initiate thousands of needless criminal arrests. It has resulted in premature and unnecessarily agonizing deaths for those who were subsequently denied marijuana for use as a palliative. Like many religious extremists throughout history, Kevin Sabet doesn’t appear to concern himself with the harm that he, his organizations, and his ideologies produce.

In contrast to Baha’i, religions that use intoxicants in their religious practices for spiritual healing and to enhance the soul include Catholicism that uses wine, the Native American Church that uses peyote, Rastafarianism that uses cannabis, Hinduism that uses cannabis and soma, Bwiti that uses iboga (Gabon, West Africa), ancient Greek religions that used opium and other psychoactives, Amazonian indigenous religions that use ayahuasca, and Mazatec (Mexico) that uses psilocybin mushrooms. Under some U.S. federal laws each of the named religions in theory has a federal legal right to practice their religions using their chosen sacramental herbs, even though infidels, atheists, secularists, Mongols (Tibetan Buddhists), Israelites, and heathens who might want to claim cannabis or another drug as their own personal sacrament currently do not enjoy a federal legal right to possess either cannabis, psilocybin, peyote, ibogaine, LSD, or MDMA (Ecstasy).

The marijuana legalization movement shows no sign of weakening as more people throughout the world add cannabis to their shopping lists. Cannabis consumers encourage drug peace, not drug wars. A workable drug peace will necessitate an absolute separation of church and state on issues regarding drugs and their use. Dominionistic sects and religions such as Catholicism, Baha’i, Mormonism and Evangelicalism that reject recreational use of marijuana so they can dominate other religious groups or citizens must not be given a legal, social, or moral standing in either determining or undermining the alternative lives and successful social adaptations of others regarding their drug use. Ending the drug war means drug use by adults who are fully and truthfully educated about drugs must be treated as a fundamental human right in the fight to preserve domestic tranquility and the rights of citizens everywhere to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

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17 Responses to Marijuana and medieval Muslim drug wars

  1. Shane from Slidell says:

    Let us not forget that the dictator who ruined Equatorial Guinea–Francisco Macias Nguema–was also an iboga addict who was severely mistreated at the hands of Spanish colonists when that country was part of Spain. Nguema also witnessed the colonial authorities kill his own father, which in turn, led to him becoming openly racist and anti-intellectual. When he got into power in 1969, Macias chased all the intelligentsia out of Equatorial Guinea, banned the use of the word intellectual, banned western medicine, stifled as much free speech as possible, stole property from landowners, and even banned religion outside of the worship of himself.* Years of drug use and general paranoia led to his nephew Teodoro to overthrow him in a coup d’etat in 1979. Now, this doesn’t mean that psychedelics/hallucinogens should be banned because of the actions of Africa’s equivalent of Pol Pot, but this part of African history needed to be mentioned. *=That is only a small part of what that man did.

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    Concussions and traumatic brain injuries are successfully treated using the psychedelics psilocybin and DMT:

    17-Sep-2025 — Concussion and other traumatic brain injuries impact an estimated 69 million people every year, as a result of sport collisions, falls, road accidents and interpersonal violence. There are few treatments, and no approved and effective pharmacotherapies.

    New research from the Christie Lab at the University of Victoria (UVic) reveals the promise of two psychedelic compounds—psilocybin and 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT)—for healing these injuries, by enhancing neuroplasticity and reducing inflammation within the brain. […]

    “When someone receives a blow to the head, this sets off a cascade of events in the brain,” says Allen, one of the authors of the review and a UVic postdoctoral fellow in neuroscience. “One of these is inflammation, which can initially help brain tissue to repair.” However, when this inflammation is prolonged, it can lead to long term problems such as learning and memory deficits, depression and anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

    “These conditions share features such as impaired neuroplasticity that keep patients trapped in rigid loops of thought and behavior,” says Allen. This can occur even with mild traumatic brain injuries—what we call concussion. And many people who play sports or serve in the military experience concussions repeatedly.

    “Our review concluded that classical psychedelics have the potential to reduce inflammation in an injured brain, while also increasing neuroplasticity and helping the brain to reorganize, creating new neural pathways to compensate for lost or damaged connections,” says Christie, director of the UVic’s Concussion Lab.

    “By reopening windows of plasticity and inducing mind-expanding experiences, psychedelics also help prevent the development of depression, anxiety, and other psychiatric disorders associated with brain injury, and offer pathways to recovery.” […]

    AAAS Public Science News Release: Psychedelics offer healing for concussion, traumatic brain injuries

    Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry: Examining the potential of psilocybin and 5-MeO-DMT as therapeutics for traumatic brain injury

    Authors: Zoe Plummer, Josh Allen, Justin Brand, Leah M. Mayo, Sandy R. Shultz, Brian R. Christie.

  5. Servetus says:

    Psilocybin mushrooms and fiber caps evolved two different chemical means of producing psilocybin:

    September 24, 2025 — Researchers found that magic mushrooms and fiber caps independently evolved different biochemical pathways to create psilocybin. This convergence shows nature’s ingenuity, but the reason why remains unknown—possibly predator deterrence. Beyond evolutionary mystery, the discovery provides new enzyme tools for biotech, with promising applications for producing psilocybin-based medicines. […]

    “This concerns the biosynthesis of a molecule that has a very long history with humans,” explains Prof. Dirk Hoffmeister, head of the research group Pharmaceutical Microbiology at Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (Leibniz-HKI). “We are referring to psilocybin, a substance found in so-called ‘magic mushrooms’, which our body converts into psilocin – a compound that can profoundly alter consciousness. However, psilocybin not only triggers psychedelic experiences, but is also considered a promising active compound in the treatment of therapy-resistant depression,” says Hoffmeister. […]

    Tim Schäfer, lead author of the study and doctoral researcher in Hoffmeister’s team, explains: “It was like looking at two different workshops, but both ultimately delivering the same product. In the fiber caps, we found a unique set of enzymes that have nothing to do with those found in Psilocybe mushrooms. Nevertheless, they all catalyze the steps necessary to form psilocybin.”

    The researchers analyzed the enzymes in the laboratory. Protein models created by Innsbruck chemist Bernhard Rupp confirmed that the sequence of reactions differs significantly from that known in Psilocybe. “Here, nature has actually invented the same active compound twice,” says Schäfer.

    However, why two such different groups of fungi produce the same active compound remains unclear. “The real answer is: we don’t know,” emphasizes Hoffmeister. “Nature does nothing without reason. So there must be an advantage to both fiber cap mushrooms in the forest and Psilocybe species on manure or wood mulch producing this molecule – we just don’t know what it is yet.”

    “One possible reason could be that psilocybin is intended to deter predators. Even the smallest injuries cause Psilocybe mushrooms to turn blue through a chemical chain reaction, revealing the breakdown products of psilocybin. Perhaps the molecule is a type of chemical defense mechanism,” says Hoffmeister. […]

    ScienceDaily: Mushrooms evolved psychedelics twice, baffling scientists — A new study shows that different types of mushrooms use completely different methods to produce the psychoactive substance psilocybin

    Angewandte Chemie – Journal of the German Chemical Society: Dissimilar Reactions and Enzymes for Psilocybin Biosynthesis in Inocybe and Psilocybe Mushrooms

    Authors: Tim Schäfer, Fabian Haun, Dr. Bernhard Rupp, Prof. Dr. Dirk Hoffmeister.

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  9. Servetus says:

    Symptoms of alcohol withdrawal may be reducible using a drug called “Compound 6”:

    30-Sep-2025 — By targeting a specific area of the brain, researchers at Washington State University may now hold the key to curbing the debilitating symptoms of alcohol withdrawal that push many people back to drinking.

    The new study found the answer to helping people get through alcohol withdrawal may lie in a region of the brain known as the cerebellum. In mice experiencing withdrawal, scientists were able to ease the physical and emotional symptoms by altering brain function in this brain region using both genetic tools and a specialized compound. The findings…could help pave the way for targeted therapies that make recovery more manageable. […]

    “Half the neurons in the brain are in the cerebellum,” said David Rossi, the study’s senior author, who is an associate professor in IPN and McLean’s advisor. “It’s increasingly clear this region is involved in far more than just motor control — it plays a role in addiction, emotional regulation and even social engagement.”

    Using mice as a model, the researchers found chronic alcohol exposure disrupts the cerebellum’s normal signaling, which essentially becomes rewired to function in the presence of alcohol. Once alcohol is removed, though, the brain enters a hyperactive state, which leads to withdrawal symptoms.

    The researchers tested two strategies to counteract withdrawal.

    The first strategy used a genetic approach in which the researchers inserted special receptors into cerebellar neurons. When activated, these receptors acted like an “off switch,” calming overactive cerebellar activity during withdrawal and improving motor coordination in mice. While this showed that restoring inhibition in the cerebellum could reduce withdrawal symptoms, the method relied on genetically modifying animals and isn’t currently a realistic option for people.

    The second strategy, however, points to a more practical path forward. The team tested a synthetic compound known as Compound 6, developed by chemists in Austria, that targets a receptor found only in the cerebellum. When given to mice in withdrawal, the drug eased emotional distress, or anxiety, without affecting the rest of the brain. It also showed low abuse potential, as mice not in withdrawal found it aversive.

    “Compound 6 gave us a way to target the cerebellum without genetic modification,” McLean said. “That makes it a much more realistic option for therapy, and it suggests this part of the brain could be a powerful target for treating alcohol withdrawal.” […]

    “What makes this approach exciting is that we’re looking at ways to target a very specific brain region and receptor, instead of applying a broad treatment that comes with side effects,” Rossi said. “If we can take away the worst part of withdrawal, even temporarily, people may be better able to succeed with counseling or other long-term treatments for AUD.” […]

    AAAS Public Science News Release: Study finds altering one area of the brain could rid alcohol withdrawal symptoms

    Neuropharmacology Selectively counteracting cerebellar adaptations to chronic alcohol exposure reduces acute alcohol withdrawal severity in C57BL6/N mice

    Authors: Nadia A. McLean, Samantha N. Shippell Stiles, Aspen E. Harder, Chloe M. Erikson, Gloria J. Lee, Dominik Schnalzer, Margot Ernst, Marko D. Mihovilovic, Giuseppe Giannotti, and David J. Rossi.

  10. Servetus says:

    Brain circuits affected by psilocybin function as a “dimmer switch” to offer relief from pain and adverse mental health conditions:

    2-Oct-2025 – Researchers at Penn Medicine have identified specific brain circuits that are impacted by psilocybin—the active compound found in some psychedelic mushrooms—which could lead to new paths forward for pain and mental health management options. Chronic pain affects more than 1.5 billion people worldwide and is often deeply entangled with depression and anxiety, creating a vicious cycle that amplifies suffering and impairs quality of life. The study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania- published today in Nature Neuroscience- offers new insight into ways to disrupt this cycle.

    “As an anesthesiologist, I frequently care for people undergoing surgery who suffer from both chronic pain and depression. In many cases, they’re not sure which condition came first, but often, one makes the other worse,” said Joseph Cichon, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care at Penn and senior author of the study. “This new study offers hope. These findings open the door to developing new, non-opioid, non-addictive therapies as psilocybin and related psychedelics are not considered addictive. […]

    In studies using mice with chronic nerve injury and inflammatory pain, researchers found that a single dose of psilocybin reduced both pain and pain-induced anxiety and depression-like behaviors, with those benefits lasting almost two weeks. Psilocybin acts by gently activating specific brain signals, called serotonin receptors (5-HT2A and 5-HT1A). “Unlike other drugs that fully turn these signals on or off, psilocybin acts more like a dimmer switch, turning it to just the right level,” said Cichon.

    To pinpoint where the effects originated, researchers injected psilocin—the active substance into which the body converts psilocybin—into different regions of the central nervous system. The team used advanced fluorescent microscopy, a technique that uses glowing dyes to see and capture neuronal activity, to see chronic pain neurons spontaneously firing. When psilocin was injected directly into the prefrontal cortex of the brain, specifically the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a part of the brain that processes pain and emotions, it provided the same pain relief and mood improvements as when psilocybin was given to the whole body.

    Researchers also injected psilocin into the spinal cord, but it didn’t have the same calming effect. “Psilocybin may offer meaningful relief for patients by bypassing the site of injury altogether and instead modulating brain circuits that process pain, while lifting the ones that help you feel better, giving you relief from both pain and low mood at the same time,” said Cichon. […]

    The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (R35GM151160-01) and the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA) Chronic Pain Medicine Research Award. […]

    AAAS Public Science News Release: Psilocybin targets brain circuits to relieve chronic pain, depression — Penn researchers offer new insights into psilocybin’s ability to break the pain-depression cycle

    Nature Neuroscience: Single-dose psilocybin rapidly and sustainably relieves allodynia and anxiodepressive-like behaviors in mouse models of chronic pain

    Authors: Ahmad Hammo, Stephen Wisser & Joseph Cichon.

  11. Servetus says:

    MDMA therapy summarized and specified for multiple mental health conditions:

    14-Oct-2025 — A comprehensive peer-reviewed invited review published today in Psychedelics by Dr. Kenji Hashimoto and colleagues (Dr. Mingming Zhao and Dr. Jianjun Yang) synthesizes the evolving landscape of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, examining robust clinical evidence in treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder while identifying promising applications in autism spectrum disorder, eating disorders, and existential distress. The review traces the complex journey from early therapeutic promise through prohibition to current regulatory challenges, providing critical analysis of safety profiles and novel resilience mechanisms mediated by the gut-brain axis. […]

    The authors identify consistent patterns across diverse clinical applications, with PTSD trials showing particularly robust outcomes. Phase II and III studies demonstrated remission rates approaching 80 percent in treatment-resistant cases, with benefits persisting for years following treatment. The synthesis reveals how MDMA-assisted therapy achieved significant symptom reductions where conventional approaches failed, though regulatory approval remains pending due to methodological concerns about blinding integrity and psychotherapeutic protocol standardization.

    Beyond PTSD, the review synthesizes emerging evidence in autism spectrum disorder, where controlled trials demonstrated significant reductions in social anxiety. The authors analyze how MDMA’s oxytocin-mediated effects may specifically address core social deficits in autism. Similarly promising signals emerge from studies in eating disorders with comorbid PTSD and in patients experiencing existential distress from life-threatening illness. […]

    A particularly innovative contribution involves the authors’ synthesis of recent discoveries regarding MDMA-induced resilience through vagus nerve-dependent gut-brain signaling. The review integrates findings from multiple preclinical studies demonstrating that MDMA pretreatment prevents stress-induced behavioral and neurobiological changes through modulation of gut microbiota composition and bile acid metabolism. These mechanisms appear distinct from acute therapeutic effects, suggesting MDMA may confer lasting stress resilience through peripheral as well as central pathways.

    Dr. Hashimoto and colleagues analyze how subdiaphragmatic vagotomy abolishes both MDMA-induced oxytocin release and its resilience-enhancing effects, establishing the vagus nerve as critical for therapeutic action. The synthesis connects these findings to epidemiological data associating MDMA use with reduced depression and suicidality at population levels, though the authors carefully note limitations in establishing causality from observational studies. […]

    AAAS Public Science News Release: MDMA psychiatric applications synthesized: Comprehensive review examines PTSD treatment and emerging therapeutic indications

    Genomic Press: MDMA in Psychiatry: From PTSD to emerging indications, safety, and future directions

    Authors: Ming Ming Zhao, Jian-Jun Yang, Kenji Hashimoto

  12. Servetus says:

    Research in China offers summary and new insights into treating stress-related disorders using novel neurobiological mechanisms such as psychedelic compounds:

    CHANGCHUN, Jilin, CHINA, 14 October 2025 — A peer-reviewed viewpoint article published today in Psychedelics by Prof. Xiaohui Wang and colleagues examines the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances for treating stress-related psychiatric disorders through novel neurobiological mechanisms. The analysis synthesizes current evidence on how compounds like psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and MDMA could fundamentally alter treatment paradigms for depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). […]

    The authors emphasize that chronic stress represents a major contributor to psychiatric illness worldwide, with persistent activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis leading to structural brain changes. Traditional treatments including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and cognitive behavioral therapy, while helpful for some patients, leave many with residual symptoms or significant side effects. This treatment gap has renewed scientific interest in psychedelics, substances that were extensively studied before regulatory restrictions in the 1970s halted most research.

    Prof. Wang and colleagues outline how psychedelics primarily act through serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptors, highly expressed in brain regions controlling mood, emotion, and cognition. This receptor activation promotes neuroplasticity and functional connectivity that could counteract structural damage from chronic stress exposure. The authors note that preclinical studies demonstrate psilocybin can upregulate brain-derived neurotrophic factor and enhance dendritic arborization in the prefrontal cortex, processes critical for mood regulation. […]

    The analysis extends beyond serotonergic effects to examine anti-inflammatory properties that may provide additional therapeutic benefit. Preliminary evidence suggests psilocybin decreases pro-inflammatory cytokines, offering potential protection against stress-related brain changes. The authors propose that concurrent monitoring of immune markers and cortisol could clarify whether these mechanisms work synergistically.

    MDMA presents a distinct profile as an entactogenic agent, functioning as a monoamine-releasing compound that promotes emotional openness and reduces fear responses. The authors emphasize its therapeutic signal derives from acute prosociality and enhanced memory reconsolidation during psychotherapy sessions, rather than classical psychedelic phenomenology. This pharmacological state enables patients to access traumatic memories without overwhelming fear responses. […]

    The viewpoint acknowledges substantial hurdles before mainstream integration becomes feasible. Current Schedule I classification severely restricts research and therapeutic implementation, though evolving policy experiments in Oregon and Colorado suggest regulatory frameworks may emerge. The authors stress the need for specialized therapist training, noting psychedelic therapy differs qualitatively from traditional verbal psychotherapy approaches.

    Safety considerations include predictable adverse effects like nausea, headache, and cardiovascular changes requiring careful medical screening and monitoring. The authors advocate for standardized protocols, enhanced safety reporting, and strategies to manage expectancy effects that complicate efficacy interpretations. Longitudinal studies comparing psychedelic-assisted therapy with conventional treatments across psychiatric diagnoses remain essential. […]

    AAAS Public Science News Release: Psychedelics offer new therapeutic framework for stress-related psychiatric disorders … Viewpoint examines neuroplasticity and emotional processing mechanisms underlying psychedelic therapy potential

    Genomic Press: Psychedelics in the context of stress and psychiatric disorders: A new horizon in mental health treatment

    Authors: Shah Jin, Hongshuang Wang, Xiaohui Wang

  13. Servetus says:

    Time distortion in the use of psychedelics:

    21-Oct-2025 — Time perception forms the foundation of human consciousness, yet psychedelics can dramatically alter this fundamental aspect of experience. Users frequently report seconds feeling like hours, hours compressed into minutes, or complete dissolution of temporal boundaries. These phenomena extend beyond subjective curiosity, offering researchers crucial data about how the brain constructs our sense of time and self. […]

    The perspective article identifies key neurobiological mechanisms underlying these temporal distortions. Central to these changes is the default mode network (DMN), a brain system associated with self-referential thinking and continuous time perception. Psychedelics suppress DMN activity, correlating strongly with reports of time dissolution and loss of linear temporal experience. This suppression appears particularly relevant for therapeutic applications, as excessive DMN activity characterizes several psychiatric conditions.

    Prof. Wang highlights how psychedelics modulate multiple brain regions simultaneously. The basal ganglia, typically responsible for interval timing on millisecond scales, shows altered function under psychedelic influence. The prefrontal cortex, which encodes longer time spans and integrates temporal information for planning, exhibits changed connectivity patterns. The cerebellum, crucial for precise timing of motor events, and the insula, which links body states with time perception, both demonstrate modified activity patterns.

    Neurotransmitter systems play pivotal roles in these alterations. Serotonin receptors, particularly through 5-HT2A receptor activation, emerges as the primary mediator of psychedelic temporal effects. This receptor activation enhances cortical excitability and increases sensory input gain, potentially explaining why time appears to dilate when processing increases. The analysis also notes dopamine involvement in shorter interval timing disruptions and glutamate participation through NMDA receptor-mediated processes. […]

    The perspective article emphasizes therapeutic potential in conditions where temporal perception dysfunction plays a central role. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety all involve altered relationships with time. PTSD patients often feel trapped in past trauma, depression frequently involves feeling stuck in negative temporal loops, and anxiety centers on future-focused temporal distress.

    Evidence from psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy trials suggests these substances enable individuals to revisit traumatic memories from detached, nonlinear perspectives. This temporal decoupling allows processing of past experiences with reduced emotional intensity, supporting meaning-making and integration. Patients describe these temporal shifts as significant factors in symptom improvement.

    Prof. Wang notes that psychedelics may effectively rewire neural circuits involved in both time processing and emotion regulation. By disrupting maladaptive temporal patterns, these substances could facilitate development of healthier time perceptions. This mechanism appears particularly relevant for treatment-resistant conditions where conventional therapies fail to shift entrenched temporal-emotional patterns. […]

    AAAS Public Science News Release: Psychedelics reshape time perception offering new therapeutic pathways — Perspective article examines how temporal distortions unlock consciousness insights

    Genomics Press — Psychedelics: Psychedelics and time: Exploring altered temporal perception and its implications for consciousness, neuroscience, and therapy

    Authors: Pu Chang, Cong Lin, Xiaohui Wang

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  16. Servetus says:

    Gene mutation leads to an increased risk of alcoholism:

    27-Oct-2025 — Researchers from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine) report that the gene, CHRNA3, acts as a key regulator of alcohol sensitivity. […]

    The team found that mutations in the gene chrna3, a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor gene expressed in the nervous system, are associated with lowered sensitivity to alcohol in a preclinical laboratory model.

    To determine if genetic factors can contribute to developing alcohol use disorders, the researchers utilised a two-choice assay where it is possible to self-administer alcohol voluntarily. They quantified avoidance versus attraction behaviour and analysed brain gene expression for key neurotransmitter receptors. […]

    In normal conditions, brief attraction to alcohol followed by rapid avoidance as the dose rises, was observed. In contrast, preclinical laboratory models with mutations in chrna3 delay this switch to avoidance, self-administering alcohol for much longer and tolerating higher concentrations. […]

    The mutation was associated with altered brain expression of glutamatergic and GABAergic receptor genes, which regulate excitatory and inhibitory signaling respectively, and reduced alcohol’s typical effects on behaviour by weakening the calming effect at low doses. These findings indicate that normal chrna3 function helped control alcohol exposure and may underlie individual differences in alcohol sensitivity.

    By linking the chrna3 gene to measurable behavioural and brain changes, this study strengthens the biological understanding of addiction risk and offers insights into genetic predisposition to alcohol dependence. […]

    Building on this work, the team aims to analyse CHRNA3 variants in humans for similar alcohol sensitivity. They have extended their research to map reward and avoidance circuits and to dissect interactions using single and combined mutations in CHRNA5-CHRNA3-CHRNB4 gene cluster linked to substance addiction. […]

    AAAS Public Science News Release: Increased risk of developing alcohol addiction linked to gene mutation

    JNeuroSci: chrna3 Modulates Alcohol Response

    Authors: Joshua Raine, Caroline Kibat, Tirtha Das Banerjee, Antónia Monteiro and Ajay S. Mathuru.

  17. Servetus says:

    Psilocybin treats patients with treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and body dysmorphic disorder:

    28-Oct-2025 — The research team conducted systematic searches of PubMed using carefully constructed search strings that captured studies examining psilocybin, psilocin, or psilocybin-containing mushrooms in relation to obsessive-compulsive symptoms or behaviours. Their search, conducted in March 2025 with an updated search in September 2025, initially identified 370 articles, which after applying rigorous exclusion criteria yielded 13 studies meeting inclusion standards […]

    The clinical studies involved patients with treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder, conditions that share core features of distressing intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviours. Preclinical investigations employed multiple behavioural paradigms, including marble-burying tests in wild-type mice and excessive grooming assessments in SAPAP3 knockout mice, which lack a postsynaptic protein crucial for striatal function and display compulsive behaviours analogous to human obsessive-compulsive disorder. This breadth of evidence, spanning species and methodologies, strengthens confidence in the patterns identified through synthesis. […]

    The clinical trials synthesized in this review demonstrate consistent reductions in obsessive-compulsive symptoms following psilocybin administration, albeit with methodological limitations that temper interpretation. In the earliest study examined, conducted by Moreno and colleagues in 2006, nine patients with treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder received escalating doses of psilocybin ranging from 25 to 300 micrograms per kilogram orally. Marked decreases in symptom severity, measured by the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, were observed in all participants during one or more sessions, with reductions ranging from 23 to 100 percent. The effects manifested between four and 24 hours after ingestion, demonstrating rapid onset. Intriguingly, the therapeutic response showed no significant dose-dependent relationship, suggesting that lower doses may retain efficacy. […]

    Although few studies directly investigated cellular mechanisms underlying psilocybin’s anti-compulsive effects, converging evidence suggests neuroplasticity as a plausible mediator. At the molecular level, acute psilocybin robustly upregulates immediate early genes including c-Fos, Junb, and Nr4a1, alongside plasticity-related transcripts such as Sgk1 and PSD-95 in the prefrontal cortex. These rapid transcriptional changes engage molecular programs associated with synaptic remodelling. At the cellular level, psilocybin promotes neuronal proliferation, differentiation, and maturation in hippocampal regions, processes that support long-term circuit modifications.

    Most compellingly, psilocybin increases dendritic spine density in the medial prefrontal cortex and enhances excitatory neurotransmission in layer five pyramidal neurons, as evidenced by elevated miniature excitatory postsynaptic current frequency. These structural and functional synaptic modifications may underpin the sustained behavioural improvements observed weeks after single-dose administration.

    The review authors hypothesize that psilocybin normalizes aberrant striatal plasticity through coordinated molecular, cellular, and synaptic mechanisms, thereby restoring balanced corticostriatal circuit function. […]

    AAAS Public Science News Release: Systematic review reveals psilocybin reduces obsessive-compulsive behaviors across clinical and preclinical evidence — Landmark synthesis by Mr. James Gattuso and colleagues examines 13 studies spanning clinical trials and validated animal models, identifying consistent anti-compulsive effects

    Genomic Press: Psilocybin’s effects on obsessive-compulsive behaviors: A systematic review of preclinical and clinical evidence

    Authors: James J. Gattuso, Bilgenur Bezcioglu, Carey Wilson, Kato Havaux, Anthony J. Hannan, Thibault Renoir.

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