Illegal Drugs With Medicinal Benefits
The results of a Swiss study examining the impact of LSD therapy on anxiety among terminally ill cancer patients had attracted a swarm of media attention even though it was too small-scale to yield conclusive results. Research on LSD has been largely shut down in the United States ever since the psychedelic drug became illegal in 1966. But recently, researchers have begun taking closer looks at the possible medical benefits of banned drugs like LSD.
Take psilocybin, a hallucinogenic cousin to LSD and the key ingredient in "magic mushrooms." It has also been shown to have therapeutic potential. A 2010 study also conducted on a small group of cancer patients suggested the psychedelic compound may also ease anxiety, and a 2012 study examining MRI scans of people while tripping on it found that it appears to calm down brain areas associated with depression.
Considering that its street name is ecstasy, it's not too surprising that the drug MDMA might also assist with anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. A study compared fMRI brain scans of participants both on and off MDMA and found that the drug seemed to make happy memories happier and sad memories less sad. The researchers suspect the pain-dampening effect has to do with how MDMA lowers blood flow to the brain's limbic system that helps regulate our emotional reactions.
A lesser-known drug that's received attention from the medical community is ayahuasca, a psychedelic blend of plants developed by native peoples of Amazonian Peru commonly associated with spiritual enlightenment by those who've taken it. Ayahuasca ceremonies were also used in a 2013 study on substance abuse. For the dozen study participants, taking ayahuasca was correlated with greater long-term feelings of hopefulness and improved quality of life. Self-reported tobacco, alcohol and cocaine use also diminished.
Marijuana habits, however, persisted -- which brings us to the last drug on our list which might not even be illegal, depending on where you live. Various studies have indicated that weed might be helpful not only for pain management and nausea suppression among chemotherapy patients, but also for soothing anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder.
Pot or the THC in pot, that is-may even be an effective treatment for autoimmune disorders and multiple sclerosis.
But remember, many of these studies are preliminary AND there also are negative side effects to all of these drugs, hence them being classified as controlled substances.
Do you think illegal drugs could actually be "good" for us? Leave a comment down below.
