Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) was first synthesised in 1938 by Albert Hoffman at the Sandoz AG Pharmaceutical Company in Basel, Switzerland LSD was the 25th lysergic acid derivative developed by Hoffman during a discovery project for pharmacologically active derivatives of lysergic acid which would act as a circulatory and respiratory stimulant LSD became widely used …
The last decade has seen a new focus on psychedelics as powerful medicines for treating severe mental health issues, including the use of psilocybin for conditions such as PTSD and treatment-resistant depression. However, many of these potentially life-saving treatments, including psilocybin, remain difficult to research due to overly strict drug laws. In this blog, Professor Jo …
By Dr Carol Routledge, Chief Medical & Scientific Officer at Small Pharma DMT-assisted therapy is a novel psychedelic therapy which aims to treat a whole suite of mental health problems that we have sadly come to take for granted as part of 21st century life. Early trials are investigating DMT-assisted therapy in the treatment of …
Ketamine, 2-(2-chlorophenyl)-2-(methylamino)-cyclohexan-1-one, is a dissociative sedative with analgesic and anaesthetic properties, now being investigated as an antidepressant, alone and as part of ketamine-assisted therapy. Discovered in 1962 by Calvin L. Stevens, and first tested on humans in 1964, ketamine was approved for medical use by the USA in 1970 and remains widely used to this …
Ayahuasca has been used as a medicine in Mesoamerican ceremonies for thousands of years, but the primary psychoactive compound, DMT, was not synthesised until 1931. DMT was studied during the wave of psychedelic research in the 1950s and 60s until research was banned in 1971 by the Convention of Psychotropic Substances. Ayahuasca was not included …
MDMA (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) was first synthesised in 1912 by chemists at the pharmaceutical company, Merck in Germany. In 1985, MDMA was placed in schedule 1, resulting in no research being conducted into the potential therapeutic applications of MDMA between 1985 – 2000. However, since then, MDMA has been included in over 5000 academic articles and administered to …
The psychotropic effects of Psilocybe mushrooms were largely unknown in the West until the 1950s, despite evidence that they had a long history of indigenous use in Central and South America, and possibly other parts of the world. Western civilisations had very little knowledge of this relatively ‘new‘ psychotropic and subsequently banned research into its …