Psychedelics have garnered interest as a therapeutic class in other substance use disorders, and self-report surveys suggest they may result in positive outcomes for CUD. Herein, we review the existing literature pertaining to psychedelic use in persons with or at risk for CUD and consider the potential rationale underpinning psychedelics as a treatment for CUD. Participants might also have experienced different sexual effects at different times. We also do not know whether participants deemed specific effects as positive or negative or whether they were aware of such effects prior to use or used intentionally for such effects. Effects can largely be E situational (e.g. depending on one’s partner) and dependent on ‘set’ (mindset) and setting (context and environment) (Zinberg, 1984).
Recreational and Medical Cannabis Legalization and Opioid Prescriptions and Mortality
Again, this is suggestive of synergistic interaction of the two drugs on mnemonic function. In Experiment 3 (high doses), THC and MDMA treatments alone both caused increased errors in the delayed alternation component, with THC causing greater impairment than MDMA. Co-administration of THC and MDMA rendered the rats incapable of completing either maze task such that the performance deficit could not be confidently interpreted as a mnemonic effect. A case report of hallucinogen-persisting perception disorder (HPPD) in an individual with CUD provides an opportunity to consider the interaction and safety concerns of psychedelic use in those with CUD and comorbid disorders. A 16-year-old white female with a past psychiatric history of major depressive disorder, CUD, and social anxiety disorder tried LSD a total of four times over several months, each of which was a subjectively negative experience.
Drug Alcohol Depend
GBL and GHB are big libido-drivers, and crystal meth or mephedrone helps to physically sustain that libido over a long period of time. However, they’re all substances that can cause psychotic symptoms or paranoia, so combining them clearly isn’t the best way to reduce the risk of experiencing those side effects. The main risk this poses, if you’re susceptible to that kind of thing, is the weed making you anxious and paranoid, compounding the anxiety and paranoia you’re already experiencing thanks to your comedown. Mind you, of all the drug users we speak to, no one has anything particularly bad to say about mixing pot and pills. There are many types of alcohol (e.g. spirits, beer, wine), there are many strains of marijuana, and ecstasy now comes in different forms (e.g. pills, powder, crystals). In addition, the ecstasy used might not have contained actual MDMA and could have contained adulterants such as ‘bath salts’ which may have different effects (Palamar, Salomone, Vincenti, & Cleland, 2016).
Mixing Ecstasy (Molly) & Weed: Effects & Risks
Mixed-effects ordinal regressions comparing self-reported sexual effects between alcohol, marijuana, and ecstasy. Comparisons of self-reported sexual effects specific to sexual encounters by drug. In the high-dose experiment (Figure 2c), MDMA alone produced a small decrease and THC alone produced a substantial decrease in response accuracy at all delays. When THC and MDMA were combined, a profound https://sober-home.org/ behavioral impairment that prevented the rats from successfully completing either task within the maze was evident, so no data are available for the combined treatment. Locomotor ability per se did not appear to be affected, but rather than moving purposefully through the maze the rats turned in circles, shuttled backwards and forwards, lay down, or rolled onto their backs for some time.
Users reported “more psychic energy” and “somatic distortion” from the combo, with livelier, perkier, and more elaborated hallucinations, such as seeing the sunrise for over an hour in the middle of the night. Some of these same users reported that after they stopped taking drugs like desipramine or clomipramine, their LSD trips weren’t as strong. Tripping on acid can be one of the most profound experiences in some people’s lives. Just a tiny speck of LSD (scientifically known as lysergic acid diethylamide) will trigger an experience that can last 12 hours, depending on the dose and purity. It gives users a teeth-rattling “trip” packed with amplified colors that ripple and flow across their distorted perception of time and space.
- Her first psychotic symptoms began following her initial use and she began to reexperience persisting symptoms of LSD intoxication immediately afterward.
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- Again, this is suggestive of synergistic interaction of the two drugs on mnemonic function.
- Thus, ethics approval was not required based on Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Research Ethics Board guidelines.
Recall bias is a factor in this study and may have been introduced in two distinct ways. First, intoxication could have affected participants’ recall of sexual experiences as some of these substances can impair memory or perception of events as they occur. Second, the retrospective nature of this study relies on accuracy of participant memories.
The most common adverse effects include anxiety, dysphoria, fear, confusion, increased blood pressure and heart rate, headache, nausea, fatigue, and dizziness which are typically dose-dependent and regarded as well-tolerated. Specific adverse effects of illusions (LSD), dissociation and sedation (ketamine), muscle tightening and jaw clenching (MDMA), and emesis (ayahuasca) are more compound specific, and similarly regarded as well-tolerated or essential to the therapeutic effect (67, 68). The serotonergic system has been targeted with the goal of treating specific symptoms of CUD and cannabis withdrawal, notably anxiety.
Or, if you’re feeling science-y and can wait a few weeks, you can mail a drug sample to EcstasyData.org, an organization supported by DanceSafe. It helps to ask about doses and purity from your drug connection, but even they may not know what they’re selling. More LSD harm reduction tips can be found here, here’s a drug combinations chart from TripSit.Me and Drugs and Me has a “calculator” that gives a general idea how these drugs interact. “Smoking cannabis on LSD seems to potentiate the effects of both, so you end up with a sort of stronger effect of both substances,” said Gomez.
In 2002, MDMA represented slightly more than 4% of the drug-related fatalities documented in the United Kingdom. Bias and quality assessments of the clinical studies yielded good to excellent outcomes (Table 1). Studies were generally strong in essential reporting items, and variably limited by incomplete or lacking probability reporting, power analysis, blinding, randomization, and adjustment for confounding factors.
There’s limited hard data on LSD and MDMA combos—or any other drug mixed with acid – because research for this kind of thing is extremely expensive and the ethics can be sticky. Because cannabis is legal in certain states, consumers should be cautious when obtaining cannabis from unregulated sources, as there is a risk of contamination or adulteration with various substances, not just MDMA. For instance, fentanyl- and heroin-laced https://sober-home.org/treatment-for-alcohol-problems-finding-and-getting-2/ weed have become more popular in the illegal drug market as opioid abuse persists in the U.S. Depending on the dose, the effects of ecstasy can last between three to six hours. Many MDMA users tend to take several doses back-to-back, however, making the symptoms and duration of symptoms unpredictable. Users often feel high levels of affection for those around them and are more alert and energetic than usual.
The endocannabinoid system (ECS) has a crucial role in the neuromodulation of rewarding and neurophysiological actions by drugs of abuse. As a result, endocannabinoid signaling is a dynamic and localized process that maintains and prunes neuronal connections and provides a buffer in opposition to brain stress systems. When consumed, THC enters the brain globally and can interfere with this coordinated signaling by indiscriminately binding to CB1 receptors throughout the brain, modulating other neurotransmitters’ release, and affecting stress responsiveness. In turn, enhanced stress reactivity can lead to the development of aversive emotional states because of the overactivation of stress and anti-reward systems or the under activation of the anti-stress systems (1, 25).
Ketamine is an NMDA receptor antagonist and is variably referred to as a non-classical psychedelic or dissociative agent. At sub-anesthetic doses, ketamine has been shown to be potentially beneficial in alcohol and cocaine use disorders. A recent single-blind 6-week pilot study assessed the feasibility and tolerability of ketamine in eight participants with CUD. Participants received motivational enhancement therapy and mindfulness-based relapse prevention behavioral treatments in addition to a ketamine infusion of 0.71 mg/kg, with non-responders receiving a second infusion at 1.41 mg/kg.
MDA, also called “Sally” or “Sassafras,” produces euphoria, increased energy levels, enhanced sensory perception and empathy, and altered time perception. MDA and MDMA are related substances within the amphetamine class, sharing a similar chemical foundation but with distinct effects. The emergency and referral resources listed above are available to individuals located in the United States and are not operated by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). NIDA is a biomedical research organization and does not provide personalized medical advice, treatment, counseling, or legal consultation.
While some or all of the LSD doses may have been above a range considered therapeutic, the number of reported experiences is close to that used in current clinical studies of other psychedelics (typically 1–3). Cannabis (aka, marijuana) is the most commonly used illicit psychoactive substance and third overall after alcohol and tobacco. As state laws become more permissive of cannabis use and attitudes toward cannabis become more accepting with less perception of risk over time, cannabis use disorder (CUD) will likely become more prevalent.
As anyone who’s mixed cannabis and magic mushrooms can tell you, the combined effect can definitely produce a stronger experience with its own unique qualities, but whether or not it’ll be more effective in providing psychedelic healing is questionable. Regardless, it’s interesting to see how this research plays out, and hopefully, it can open the door to studies on the safety profiles of combining cannabis with other psychedelics, like LSD, MDMA, and ketamine. While that may be true, many in my survey still reported increased anxiety from mixing the two, which has caused some to stop combining completely, like communications strategist for cannabis, Leland Radovanovic. He told DoubleBlind he’s stopped mixing cannabis and psychedelics, like acid or 2-cb in recent years, even though he consumes cannabis daily, because the combo can give him bad anxiety. “I do sometimes use CBD flower,” Radovanovic says, explaining that it has an anti-anxiety effect almost akin to Xanax.
Marijuana use can cause paranoia, trouble thinking, impulsive decision-making, and, in rare cases, a form of acute psychosis that includes hallucinations and delusions. Today, as mentioned above, recreational use rates are sitting at around 1% of American teens and adults. And simultaneously, legislators around the world are considering legalizing MDMA for medicinal use, including the FDA.
MDMA + cannabis use worldwide is estimated to be 73% to 100% among young people who take MDMA at rave parties (Sala and Braida, 2005). As estimated by the United Nations, the number of “MDMA”-group users ranges between 10.5 and 25.8 million people worldwide, i.e. 0.2% to 0.6% of the population between the ages of 15 and 64 (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime – UNODC, 2010). The estimated annual rate of MDMA use for that demographic is 1.2% in Western and Central Europe and 0.9% in North America (UNODC, 2010). The 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported usage among adolescents aged 12–17 years at 1.4%, among adults aged 18 to 25 at 3.9%, and for adults aged 26 and older, 0.3% (NSDUH, 2010).
Further details regarding sampling and recruitment can be found elsewhere (Palamar, Acosta, Sherman, Ompad, & Cleland, 2016). Eligible individuals provided informed consent to participate by checking off that they agreed to take the survey upon reading the informed consent page at the beginning of the electronic survey. The informed consent page described the study and recruiters were available to answer questions. The survey focused mainly on self-reported substance use, but included questions about sexual effects related to use of some specific substances, as part of a larger epidemiologic survey. Recruiters ensured that participants were not visually intoxicated (e.g. speech or gait impairment) at the time of administration. Although the prevalence of co-use of cannabis and 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is very common among polydrug users in western societies, few studies have tested the consequences on behavior, cognition or neurobiology.
It should go without saying that attempting to operate heavy machinery or drive any vehicle after consuming either MDMA or cannabis – and certainly both – is not advised. This is meant for veteran users looking for a change and willing to put the time and effort into doing so. It is one way to dispose of unused weed and debris, but it can be a way of enhancing your cannabis experience. Another reason they mix the two is to increase the psychedelic effects of psilocybin, especially the visual effects when their eyes are open or closed. I ask Dr. Nikola Djordjevic, Medical Advisor at Loud Cloud Health about this, and he confirms that many peoples’ senses are enhanced when they combine cannabis with psilocybin.
