Category Archives: Psychopharmacology

Using search data to find drug side effects

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Caspar

Along the same lines as Google Flu Trends, researchers at Microsoft, Stanford and Columbia University are investigating whether search data can be used to find interactions between drugs. They recently found an interaction.Using automated software tools to examine queries by … Continue reading →

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Your Brain on Alcohol – Explained

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Caspar

Here’s a wonderfully little video about what alcohol does to your brain. It is the latest in a sequence of short science videos made by ASAP Science. A previous video explained Marijuana. This one covers a lot of things very … Continue reading →

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The surprising effectiveness of medical marijuana

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Caspar

The other highly surprising thing I learnt at the recent SSDP UK conference was just how amazingly effective cannabis is as a medicine. Obviously, I knew that marijuana was available as ‘medicine’ in some countries and US states. But I largely … Continue reading →

Posted in Experience, Marijuana, Psychopharmacology, Treatment | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Imaging the brain on psychedelics – Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Caspar

Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris is one of the first researchers in 40 years to be allowed to investigate the effects of psychedelic drugs. He used a FMI brain imager to study the resting state activation in the brains of volunteers how … Continue reading →

Posted in Brain, Cognition, Peer reviewed research, Psychopharmacology, Trips, Videos | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Cognitive liberty examines the pharma hypocrisy: Prozac vs LSD

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Caspar

    The Cognitive Liberty blog has a very detailed and illuminating post on psychiatric and pharmaceutical double-standards. Both LSD and Prozac have been researched for their benefits in treating depression. If you look at the outcomes and weigh up … Continue reading →

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Tobacco IS a gateway drug – Nature News

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Caspar

Evidence has finally arrived to show that smoking tobacco can promote the desire for other drugs, specifically cocaine. Denise Kandel has been searching for 35 years for evidence that tobacco really is the ‘gateway drug’ it appears to be. Now, … Continue reading →

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Addiction IS an illness.

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Caspar

The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) released a new definition of addiction. The Fix has an excellent write up: [They define] addiction as a chronic neurological disorder involving many brain functions, most notably a devastating imbalance in the so-called … Continue reading →

Posted in Addiction, Alcohol, Psychopharmacology, Science, Treatment | Tagged | 1 Comment

European Drug Monitoring Annual Report 2010

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Caspar

As I mentioned last week, in 2010 the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) found 40 completely new drugs being used recreationally in Europe. They’ve just published their report into this and the final total is 41, … Continue reading →

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Michael Backes explains medical marijuana

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Caspar

Medical Marijuana Primer with Michael Backes from DANGEROUS MINDS on Vimeo. Richard Metzenger talks to Michael Backes, a Hollywood special effects consultant (films from Jurassic Park to Spider-Man 2) who also happens to be one of the world’s foremost experts on the … Continue reading →

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Ketamining – Vice Mag interview with ketamine chemist

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Caspar

According to David Nutt’s ISCD, 40 new research chemicals (recreational drugs) appeared in the UK last year. And if this article in Vice magazine is to be believed ( if.. ) a fair proportion of them were all created by … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Commentary, Culture, Experience, Psychopharmacology, Science, Treatment, War on drugs | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment