on PinterestNew research suggests that psilocybin combined with CBT may be more effective than the nicotine patch for smoking cessation.
on PinterestNew research suggests that psilocybin combined with CBT may be more effective than the nicotine patch for smoking cessation. Bloomberg Creative/Getty Images
- Psilocybin, also known as “magic mushrooms,” may help smokers quit tobacco for the long term.
- Smokers who received psilocybin alongside counseling were six times more likely to quit than those using nicotine patches in a small trial.
- The findings suggest psilocybin could eventually become another tool to help millions of smokers quit.
Could “magic mushrooms” help tobacco smokers quit for good?
In a new trial, smokers treated with a combination of psilocybin and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) were significantly more likely to be abstinent 6 months after treatment than those using nicotine patches and CBT therapy.
The findings were published on March 10 in JAMA Network Open.
Over the past decade, research into the use of psychedelic drugs to treat psychiatric conditions has expanded dramatically. Psilocybin in particular has shown promise as a therapy for addiction-related conditions, including alcohol use disorder and smoking.
The new research suggests that psilocybin combined with CBT may be more effective than nicotine replacement therapy at helping smokers achieve both short- and long-term abstinence.
“There was no question the psilocybin group did much better,” said Matthew Johnson, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and first author of the research.
“We found that for prolonged absence, they had six times higher odds of quitting if they were assigned to the psilocybin group compared to the nicotine patch group,” Johnson told Healthline.
Johnson is the leading researcher in the field of psilocybin and tobacco cessation. This latest trial builds on much of his earlier work, namely a 2014 study that first demonstrated that psilocybin could be safely used as an adjunct in smoking cessation treatment.
The findings published this week continue to establish psilocybin as a potential treatment for individuals with nicotine addiction.
Psilocybin users smoke-free at 6 months
Johnson and his team at Johns Hopkins University conducted a randomized clinical trial to investigate whether psilocybin could help smokers quit more effectively than a standard nicotine replacement therapy.
Both arms of the trial included 13 weeks of CBT, an approach used in counseling. CBT can help smokers identify triggers, manage cravings, and develop practical strategies to quit smoking.
The study enrolled 82 adult daily smokers ages 21 to 80 who had previously tried and failed to quit but still wanted to stop smoking. Participants were 59.8% male and 89% white, smoked roughly a pack per day, and had attempted quitting six times on average before the trial.
One group received a single supervised dose of psilocybin (30 milligrams per 70 kilograms of body weight), while the comparison group followed a standard 8- to 10-week regimen of FDA-approved nicotine patches.
Researchers tracked smoking behavior for six months using self-reported smoking diaries and biological tests to verify that participants had actually stopped smoking.
The researchers found that after starting treatment, 40% of those treated with psilocybin (17 participants) achieved prolonged abstinence, meaning they stopped smoking and remained smoke-free for six months after a brief grace period.
In contrast, only
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