American Journal of Bioethics, January edition

The January edition of the American Journal of Bioethics focuses just on psychedelics. There are a couple of editorials and then four 'target articles' with a further twenty six article commentaries. The online newsletter, the Microdose, comments: "A theme that runs throughout the issue is what the authors call “psychedelic exceptionalism”: Are these substances so unique that they merit special treatment in how they’re regulated and studied? For instance, it’s “unusual” in the pharmaceutical world for researchers to be encouraged to try the drugs they’re studying, write Harvard legal scholars Mason Marks and Glenn Cohen, and it’s unclear whether this could “potentially make researchers advocates for psychedelic use, which raises concerns regarding potential expectation bias in clinical trials ... The issue also explores different viewpoints about how to apply ethical and evidentiary standards to psychedelics. In another article in the issue, researchers argue that though some researchers or advocates believe psychedelics’ unique properties mean they should be treated differently from traditional medications, the substances should still be subject to the same ethical standards used in other clinical studies. But in a response by Oxford neuroethicist Edward Jacobs, what some may see as a call for psychedelic exceptionalism is really an appeal for new evaluation methods. “Where Cheung et al see calls for different rules for psychedelics, I tend to see appeals for different tools,” he writes. “What I see are arguments that different approaches may be needed to meet the same ethical requirements we hold across medicine."

For more psychedelic news and research, visit the psychedelic health professional network homepage.