Psilocybin-facilitated Smoking Cessation

Since 2008 researchers at the Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have been conducting innovative research examining the potential of the naturally occurring hallucinogen psilocybin as a treatment for nicotine addiction. Led by Principal Investigator Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D., and Co-Investigator Roland R. Griffiths, Ph.D., an initial pilot study found that combining cognitive behavioral therapy and controlled administration of psilocybin in the laboratory was a safe and feasible approach for helping people who were seeking to quit smoking, and for whom other treatments had failed.

Led by Dr. Peter Hendricks and Dr. Michael Bogenschutz, respectively, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and New York University (NYU) have independently established research programs investigating psilocybin in the treatment of substance use disorders. UAB and NYU are collaborating with Johns Hopkins to deliver the current study on psilocybin-facilitated smoking cessation.