{"id":10337,"date":"2024-08-18T12:07:22","date_gmt":"2024-08-18T12:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=6482723"},"modified":"2024-08-18T12:07:22","modified_gmt":"2024-08-18T12:07:22","slug":"is-microdosing-just-hype-why-the-psychedelic-trend-sparks-debate-among-scientists-and-enthusiasts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/is-microdosing-just-hype-why-the-psychedelic-trend-sparks-debate-among-scientists-and-enthusiasts\/","title":{"rendered":"Is microdosing just hype? Why the psychedelic trend sparks debate among scientists and enthusiasts"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/is-microdosing-just-hype-why-the-psychedelic-trend-sparks-debate-among-scientists-and-enthusiasts\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Interest in psychedelic drugs has grown in recent years alongside research into their potential as tools to treat mental health. That\u2019s especially true in Colorado where, in 2022, voters approved the establishment of a regulated industry around <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2023\/09\/03\/psilocybin-mushroom-psychedelic-therapy-colorado-oregon\/\">psychedelic-assisted therapy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While the bulk of formal studies focus on the effects of ingesting large doses, the wellness industry has popularized a concept called microdosing, which involves taking small amounts of drugs like psilocybin or LSD as a supplement. This idea is to enhance physical and mental well-being without inducing a full psychedelic experience or trip.<\/p>\n<p>Most psychedelic drugs are still illegal in the eyes of the federal government, however, so even though microdosing has inched its way into the mainstream lexicon, it simultaneously remains part of an underground culture. A Colorado company is working to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2024\/01\/09\/ajna-biosciences-psilocybin-microdosing-drug-development-littleton\/\">create a microdosing drug<\/a> for approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but until that happens doctors cannot prescribe microdoses to patients.<\/p>\n<p>And there\u2019s another catch: To be approved as a medicine, microdosing needs to be proven to work. Right now, scientists don\u2019t agree on if it does.<\/p>\n<p>Microdosing hasn\u2019t been studied extensively, but the various methods used to do so often produce varying results. Much of the available data comes from observational studies in which users share anecdotal information about their experiences. Reports are usually overwhelmingly positive with people citing benefits from improvements in mood, focus and athletic performance to relief from chronic pain and anxiety.<\/p>\n<p>Studies in placebo-controlled settings, however, tell a different story. In these cases, researchers often find minimal differences between people who get an active drug versus a placebo, suggesting participant bias is at play. Simply put, when people expect to see positive results from microdosing, they perceive them that way.<\/p>\n<p>This paradox has sparked debate in psychedelic circles and caused friction between the traditional methods of investigating new drugs and burgeoning enthusiasm for psychedelics\u2019 potential medical applications.<\/p>\n<p>We spoke to researchers who\u2019ve conducted both types of studies to understand the nuances of investigating psychedelic drugs and how their various methods may shape the future of the sector.<\/p>\n<h4>Microdosing in the natural world<\/h4>\n<p>Many people credit researcher Jim Fadiman with popularizing the microdosing concept in his 2011 book, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Psychedelic-Explorers-Guide-Therapeutic-Journeys\/dp\/1594774021\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cThe Psychedelic Explorer\u2019s Guide.\u201d<\/a> Fadiman began studying psychedelics in the 1960s, primarily focusing on the effects of ingesting large doses. He became interested in microdosing after hearing that Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann, the first person to synthesize LSD, had done it.<\/p>\n<p>In 2010, a curious Fadiman launched an experiment that he bills as the first formal research into modern microdosing. He worked with a colleague to create blotters, each with 10 micrograms of acid, and mailed them to 100 willing participants nationwide, asking them to write back about their experiences.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI got reports like a little outline, like two lines a day, and also got people who wrote well over 2,000 words a day,\u201d Fadiman said. \u201cI got a lot of indication that said there\u2019s something here. There is some real effect and people notice it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fadiman, who lives in Northern California, stopped mailing out microdoses, but he kept collecting testimonies. To date, he\u2019s received about 5,000 personal accounts from people in at least 50 countries. The vast majority report positive effects in using small doses of psychedelics to manage conditions like depression, anxiety and attention-deficit\/hyperactivity disorder, to treat chronic pain, and improve cognitive function.<\/p>\n<p>Based on his trove of anecdotes, Fadiman likens microdosing to a tune-up for the whole system.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMedications are very symptom-specific. If you have a headache, a backache, a stomachache, a tremble, those all (need) different medications,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if you take a vitamin, the assumption is it helps your system. Microdosing is much more akin to a vitamin than to a medication.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5765429\" class=\"wp-caption alignright size-article_inline_half\"><img class=\"lazyautosizes lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/is-microdosing-just-hype-why-the-psychedelic-trend-sparks-debate-among-scientists-and-enthusiasts.jpg\" alt=\"WESTMINSTER, CO - AUGUST 22 : Joe Stone prepares to have psilocybin mushrooms with tea at his home in Westminster, Colorado on Tuesday, August 22, 2023. Stone typically ingests it through tea or capsule form as a treatment for his cluster headaches. In the past, his treatment has been to take sub-psychedelic dose and do low-intensity activities. (Photo by Hyoung Chang\/The Denver Post)\" width=\"7312\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/is-microdosing-just-hype-why-the-psychedelic-trend-sparks-debate-among-scientists-and-enthusiasts.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"5765429\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/is-microdosing-just-hype-why-the-psychedelic-trend-sparks-debate-among-scientists-and-enthusiasts.jpg 620w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/TDP-L-joestone082223-cha-318.jpg?fit=310%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 310w\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An observational study called microdose.me seeks to understand how people microdose in the real world. In North America, for example, microdosers most commonly use psilocybin, Walsh said. In Europe, most people microdose using LSD. (Photo by Hyoung Chang\/The Denver Post)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Given few standards exist around the practice, another ongoing observational study launched in 2019 seeks to understand how and why people currently microdose. It\u2019s called <a href=\"https:\/\/microdose.me\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">microdose.me<\/a> and to date, there are more than 9,000 participants worldwide.<\/p>\n<p>According to principal investigator Zach Walsh, who is also a professor at the University of British Columbia and a clinical psychologist, the results offer real-world insight into microdosing and distinguish trends among those who do it.<\/p>\n<p>The most popular reasons for microdosing are to enhance mindfulness (82.9%), to improve mood (76.1%), to enhance creativity (74.1%), to enhance learning (58.1%) and to decrease anxiety (57.4%).<\/p>\n<p>Walsh said enough people signed up who do not actively microdose that he was able to compare the two cohorts. Using self-reported data like the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales and other measurements, his team found that individuals who microdosed psilocybin showed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41598-022-14512-3.epdf?sharing_token=TFqWBNy740_gQSsQPAYnfdRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0MBv3IGcUUazdX_pmE0HRKlYBpwUH51MRxY2r4pJertbLgGgjTEhs-YboJmolWwLcQ_L3z6pSDj012vVw_OmrKuyWjf_vhHu5vlKAq_L_wWsZwzr24LGDvhtMPKrMZxMX8%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">greater improvements in mood and mental health<\/a> after one month compared to those who didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we followed people for a month, there were some modest decreases in measures of mental distress,\u201d Walsh said. \u201cBecause it wasn\u2019t placebo-controlled and it wasn\u2019t blind, we can\u2019t tease apart whether or not it was just the act of microdosing and being active with your health that made the difference, or whether it was specific to microdosing. I don\u2019t think it has to be either or.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>Controlled studies<\/h4>\n<p>What scientists know about the neurological effects of microdosing has primarily come from studies involving high doses. Research done at Johns Hopkins University and other institutions suggests psychedelics promote <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2023\/07\/10\/psychedelics-glossary-common-terms-dmt-ibogaine-neuroplasticity-microdosing\/\">neuroplasticity<\/a> and allow otherwise segregated portions of the brain to communicate. That\u2019s why some scientists see promise in their ability to treat <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hopkinsmedicine.org\/news\/newsroom\/news-releases\/psilocybin-treatment-for-major-depression-effective-for-up-to-a-year-for-most-patients-study-shows\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">major depressive disorder<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hopkinsmedicine.org\/news\/media\/releases\/magic_mushrooms_help_longtime_smokers_quit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">addiction<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hopkinsmedicine.org\/news\/media\/releases\/hallucinogenic_drug_psilocybin_eases_existential_anxiety_in_people_with_life_threatening_cancer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">end-of-life anxiety<\/a>, among other ailments.<\/p>\n<p>These studies are typically done in double-blind, placebo-controlled formats \u2014 the gold standard for evaluating the efficacy of pharmaceutical drugs. However, psychedelics present unique challenges since participants often break the blind, meaning they successfully guess whether or not they received an active drug or placebo. That\u2019s especially true in studies using large doses \u2013 participants either trip or they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5726099\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter size-article_inline\"><img class=\"lazyautosizes lazyloading\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/is-microdosing-just-hype-why-the-psychedelic-trend-sparks-debate-among-scientists-and-enthusiasts-1.jpg\" width=\"8256\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/is-microdosing-just-hype-why-the-psychedelic-trend-sparks-debate-among-scientists-and-enthusiasts-1.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"5726099\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/is-microdosing-just-hype-why-the-psychedelic-trend-sparks-debate-among-scientists-and-enthusiasts-1.jpg 620w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/TDP-L-PSYCHEDELICS-1891.jpg?fit=780%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 780w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/TDP-L-PSYCHEDELICS-1891.jpg?fit=810%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 810w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/TDP-L-PSYCHEDELICS-1891.jpg?fit=1280%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 1280w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/TDP-L-PSYCHEDELICS-1891.jpg?fit=1860%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 1860w\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Personal notes about the positive use of psychedelics on display at a booth at the MAPS conference at the Colorado Convention Center on June 21, 2023 in Denver, Colorado. (Helen Richardson\/The Denver Post)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Harriet De Wit, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at the University of Chicago, said it\u2019s easier to maintain the blind in microdosing studies since users take a fraction of the dose needed to cause effects like hallucinations. However, it\u2019s also challenging because the exact amount, known as a threshold dose, varies by the individual, she said.<\/p>\n<p>De Wit, who has studied the effects of drugs for 40 years, heard the anecdotes heralding microdosing\u2019s benefits and sought to understand how it affects people\u2019s mood, cognitive performance and responses to emotional tasks. So she conducted a study in which 56 adults took repeated doses of either a placebo, 13 micrograms of LSD or 26 micrograms of LSD for several weeks.\u00a0(The university has a license from the Drug Enforcement Administration to conduct research.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen people microdose in the natural world they have strong expectancies of what it\u2019s going to do for them and that it\u2019s going to have beneficial effects, and we don\u2019t know how much the expectancies are influencing their responses to the drug. Our laboratory is set up to control those expectancies,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Many in the highest dose group reported feeling stimulated, energetic, amphetamine-like effects, De Wit said. However, microdosing did not improve their mood or cognitive performance, leading researchers to conclude it is safe, but has <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1111\/adb.13143\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">negligible effects<\/a> in healthy volunteers. Subsequently, De Wit decided to investigate microdosing in individuals with depression symptoms and found the drug produced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41386-023-01772-4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">more marked improvements in mood<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s kind of a novel finding and opens the door to maybe there is something to the microdosing. That is, some people who have symptoms to begin with might benefit from the drug, even if healthy volunteers don\u2019t so much,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>One of the most talked about studies, published in 2021, similarly found statistically insignificant differences between groups that took microdoses and placebos. Researcher Bal\u00e1zs Szigeti, then at Imperial College London, relied on citizen science by creating a unique self-blinding methodology that reduced the cost and approvals normally required to study psychedelics.<\/p>\n<p>Participants created their own microdoses and placebo pills at home using non-transparent capsules that they either filled with their own psychedelic substance or left empty. After randomly selecting certain capsules to consume during the study\u2019s four-week period, the 191 participants ended up in one of three groups \u2013 those who took only placebos, those who took only microdoses, and those who took half and half. QR codes helped Szigeti and his team track dosing data and survey results.<\/p>\n<p>All groups reported improvements in subjective factors like well-being and life satisfaction, but comparatively, the differences were marginal. Szigeti attributed the <a href=\"https:\/\/elifesciences.org\/articles\/62878\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">benefits of microdosing to the placebo effect<\/a>, causing swift backlash from the psychedelics community.<\/p>\n<p>Szigeti, who now studies psychedelics at the University of California San Francisco, tells The Denver Post he was surprised by the study\u2019s results and does not believe they are at odds with people\u2019s lived experiences. (It\u2019s also worth noting that most participants broke the blind.)<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\"> <\/aside>\n<p>\u201cWhen a scientist says that, \u2018Hey microdosing is placebo,\u2019 it doesn\u2019t mean microdosing doesn\u2019t have an effect. It means the effect of microdosing is not larger than the placebo effect, which itself is a large effect,\u201d Szigeti said. \u201cSo there is no contradiction in potentially microdosing being placebo effect and people getting benefit from microdosing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>De Wit isn\u2019t convinced that microdosing is just hype, but the claimed benefits are so varied and widespread that it\u2019s impossible to determine which effects are actually due to the drugs. She hopes to see continued research on the subject.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you\u2019re interested in what the drug does then you have to give it while controlling those expectancies. If you\u2019re interested in making people better clinically, maybe it doesn\u2019t matter so much,\u201d De Wit said.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.denverpost.com\/dp\/preference\">Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get health news sent straight to your inbox.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Originally Published: August 18, 2024 at 6:00 a.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Microdosing has been growing in popularity alongside growing cultural acceptance of psychedelics and increased research into their potential as mental health tools. Most psychedelic drugs are illegal according to the federal government, however, so even though microdosing has inched its way into the mainstream lexicon, it simultaneously remains part of an underground culture. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7038,10711,6811,376,1344,5630,7143,1345,7153,6892,7938,4995,77,9,7300,8146,5019,8147,8148,1777,1778,1,3,7072,6923,61,1736],"tags":[7039,10712,6816,2954,3914,5633,7144,3915,7155,6893,7939,4996,2655,7305,8151,5022,8152,8153,4345,4346,7073,6924],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10337"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10337\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}