Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • NPR

    A New Way To Quit? Psychedelic Therapy Offers Promise For Smoking Cessation

    Researchers are studying a new technique for quitting cigarettes. It involves cognitive behavioral therapy and guided hallucination sparked by psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms.
    by Stephanie O'Neill Dec 22, 2019 6 minutes
    An old problem has a potential new solution: Using psilocybin has helped patients quit smoking in a clinical trial.

    For many Americans, hallucinogens still evoke the psychedelic '60s, bringing to mind the sex-and-drugs lifestyle of the hippie counterculture.

    But that stereotype lags behind reality, by several decades. Today, psychedelic experimentation is more likely to refer to dozens of clinical trials taking place at universities and research facilities. The psychedelics under study range from psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms, to MDMA (also known as Ecstasy or Molly), to LSD, among others. Researchers are studying them for their therapeutic potential in treating hard-to-treat conditions such as PTSD, addiction, depression and anxiety.

    The promise of freedom from cigarettes was what compelled Carine Chen-McLaughlin, 65, to enroll in an experimental study of psilocybin therapy for smokers. She was desperate to break free from her decades-long physical addiction to nicotine. Quitting smoking had felt impossible for so long.

    "It's basically saying good-bye to a very old friend, and worrying about: Am I going to be OK without

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from NPR

    NPR3 min read
    Tornadoes Tear Through The Southeastern U.S. As Storms Leave 3 Dead
    Forecasters warned a wave of dangerous storms in the U.S. could march through parts of the South early Thursday, after deadly storms a day earlier spawned damaging tornadoes and massive hail.
    NPR6 min read
    A New Face, And New Chapter, In R&B's Unstoppable Rap Makeover
    Dallas singer 4batz rose from obscurity to a breathlessly awaited debut in barely a year — but his arrival is part of a tense exchange between hip-hop and R&B more than a decade in the making.
    NPR3 min read
    FTX Says It Will Return Money To Most Of Its Customers
    FTX says that nearly all of its customers will receive the money back that they are owed, two years after the cryptocurrency exchange imploded, and some will get more than that.

    Related Books & Audiobooks