People start cigarette smoking as a leisure activity or a hobby and eventually become chronic chain smokers. At this point, a smoker may start experiencing adverse effects of smoking addiction which may compel them to want to quit the smoking habit. However, most people find it extremely hard to quit cigarette smoking. As a result, most of the cigarette-smoking population tries to leave, but only a negligible number manage entirely to stop their smoking habit.
There are several medical remedies for people wanting to quit smoking. For instance, most smokers have tried nicotine gums, patches, Lozenges, and varenicline without any assured long-term success. As a result, some researchers have found psilocybin, a psychedelic drug, to be a suitable alternative to smoking cessation when administered therapeutically. Notably, smokers who enroll in psilocybin-based therapies have higher chances of quitting cigarette smoking than those using nicotine-based remedies. Thus, this essay recommends that participants go for the former remedy to solve their addiction entirely.
Effectiveness of Psilocybin in Smoking Cessation
Scientists have conducted intensive research and several psilocybin trials on patients with various health conditions, such as addiction, PTSD, anxiety, and depression. As a result, Johns Hopkins University scientists working at the Center of Psychedelic and Consciousness Research have relentlessly carried out several investigations concerning therapy-based psilocybin treatment to help people with smoking addiction (Goel & Zilate, 2022). Since the commencement of the research mentioned above, the occasional scientific reports from scientists confirm that therapy-based psilocybin treatment is highly effective in helping smokers quit smoking compared to medicine and nicotine-based remedies. Chen-McLaughlin, living in Baltimore and aged 65 years, attests that she has had a cigarette smoking problem for several decades (Goel & Zilate, 2022).
Unfortunately, McLaughlin had been trying to quit smoking several times. For this reason, when McLaughlin learned that psilocybin is effective in smoking cessation, she felt compelled to enroll in the treatment trials at Johns Hopkins University. Having tried all other methods of quitting smoking without succeeding, McLaughlin considers psilocybin-based therapy more promising to end her addiction for life compared to nicotine-based treatments.
After decades of struggling with finding long-term solutions for cigarette addiction, researchers and health institutions are confident that psilocybin-based therapy will provide the remedy for smokers willing to quit. The confidence mentioned above has resulted in the National Institutes of Health providing researchers from New York University, Alabama University at Birmingham, and Johns Hopkins University with approximately $4 million in grants (Selby & Zawertailo, 2022).
Researchers will use the budget mentioned above to conduct intensive research on how psilocybin impacts cigarette smoking addiction (Ziff et al., 2022). For over 50 years, no institution or organization has ever volunteered to fund any research related to psychedelic treatment. Therefore, the recent grant from the National Institutes of Health affirms that psilocybin treatment has yielded positive results in helping people to stop smoking effectively.
The research on psilocybin and tobacco has gained popularity over recent years as a long-term solution to smoking addiction. Biotech companies such as Medicine Innovations Group have promised to further financially support scientific researchers at Johns Hopkins University to enable them to continue with more profound research on how psilocybin impacts smoking addiction. Medicines Innovation Group Chief Executive Officer Joshua Bartch admits that tobacco addiction is the highest globally compared to other drug dependency conditions (Goel & Zilate, 2022).
For this reason, the biotech company mentioned above finds it viable to fund psilocybin-based research because they believe it yields long-term solutions to tobacco smoking addiction. Additionally, the biotech company hopes to seek approval from FDA for psilocybin-based therapy treatment as a cigarette smoking addiction long-term remedy (Ortolano, 2021). Arguably, efforts to fund and seek FDA approval for psilocybin-based therapy by the Medicine Company prove that the treatment is outstanding compared to other tobacco addiction treatments.
Undeniably, accepting to undergo the psilocybin treatment promises smokers over an 80% chance of success in quitting smoking. Recent research shows a positive change in the number of people enrolling in psychedelic, experimental therapies at John Hopkins University. Reports from recent studies affirm that 50% of the participants have already undergone the entire study procedure at Johns Hopkins University (Gunther, 2022).
Although researchers affirm that psilocybin is a safe drug, they strongly urge people willing to quit smoking to enroll in the trial studies instead of taking the drug without an expert’s guidance, as it could expose them to other health risks (Goel & Zilate, 2022). Therefore, if a person is willing to get a permanent solution to their smoking problem, enrolling in clinical trial studies is safer than just buying psilocybin over the counter and taking it without a prescription to avoid serious health problems.
Expectations after Psilocybin Therapeutic Treatment
Agreeing to enroll in psilocybin-based therapeutic studies indicates several positive changes in a person’s development in life. Researchers affirm that starting to take psilocybin significantly helps people conduct proper self-re-examination. As a result, when people begin to realize the importance of quitting smoking and enrolling in the treatments mentioned above, they gain more clarity about their self-worth and social connection and revive their true purpose in life (Selby & Zawertailo, 2022).
Therefore, psilocybin treatment enables a person to develop positive thinking and feeling. For instance, a research by the University of Alabama, Birmingham professor Peter Hendrick affirmed that after undergoing a psilocybin treatment, one might start experiencing more connectedness to the universe and others. Professor Hendrick refers to connectedness as a feeling of awe (Goel & Zilate, 2022). Rolland Griffins adds that taking psilocybin may lead a person to develop mystical experiences, thus making one have substantial feelings of self-worth and spiritual significance. Therefore, besides expecting positive progress toward quitting smoking, participants in psilocybin therapy should also expect other life-changing benefits after undergoing the treatment trial mentioned above.
Conclusion and Recommendation
In conclusion, the treatment of cigarette smoking addiction by psilocybin therapy proves better than nicotine patches. Recent studies show that proper administration of psilocybin drugs during therapeutic sessions helps a smoker to quit smoking without developing negative withdrawal symptoms. On the other hand, people who use nicotine patches develop a desire to smoke in the absence of nicotine. Therefore, treating cigarette addiction using nicotine patches does not permanently solve the addiction problem because a person has constantly used nicotine as a substitute for smoking.
Additionally, most studies associate psilocybin-related therapies with the development of positive life changes in terms of thinking, feeling, focus, and increased connectedness with people and the universe. In contrast, treatment of smoking addiction by nicotine does not lead to the development of positive life changes for the user because the user remains in the struggle of fighting cigarette addiction. Therefore, it is advisable for a person willing to quit smoking to adopt psilocybin treatment as it will help them quit smoking and change their life for the better.
References
Goel, D. B., & Zilate, S. (2022). Potential therapeutic effects of psilocybin: A systematic review. Cureus. Web.
Gunther, M. (2022). Quit smoking with psilocybin? Medium. Web.
O’Neill, S. (2019). A new way to quit? Psychedelic therapy offers promise for smoking cessation. NPR. Web.
Ortolano, N., & Profile. F. (2021). Psilocybin may effectively treat addiction. Drug Discovery News; Psilocybin may effectively treat addiction. Web.
Selby, P., & Zawertailo, L. (2022). Tobacco addiction. New England Journal of Medicine, 387(4), 345–354.
Ziff, S., Stern, B., Lewis, G., Majeed, M., & Gorantla, V. R. (2022). Analysis of psilocybin-assisted therapy in Medicine: A Narrative Review. Cureus; Analysis of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy in Medicine: A Narrative Review. Web.