一種新的戒煙方式?迷幻療法為戒煙提供了希望

一種新的戒煙方式?迷幻療法為戒煙提供了希望

For many Americans, hallucinogens still evoke the psychedelic '60s, bringing to mind the sex-and-drugs lifestyle of the hippie counterculture.

對許多美國人來說，迷幻劑仍然讓人想起迷幻的60年代，讓人想起嬉皮反主流文化中性與毒品的生活方式。

But that stereotype lags behind reality, by several decades. Today, psychedelic experimentation is more likely to refer to dozens of clinical trials taking place at universities and research facilities. The psychedelics under study range from psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms, to MDMA (also known as Ecstasy or Molly), to LSD, among others.

但這種刻板印象落后于現(xiàn)實幾十年。今天，迷幻試驗更可能指的是在大學和研究機構進行的數(shù)十項臨床試驗。正在研究的致幻劑包括致幻劑蘑菇中的活性成分裸蓋菇素、MDMA(也稱為搖頭丸或茉莉)、LSD等。

Researchers are studying them for their therapeutic potential in treating hard-to-treat conditions such as PTSD, addiction, depression and anxiety.

研究人員正在研究它們在治療PTSD、成癮、抑郁和焦慮等難以治療的病癥方面的治療潛力。

The promise of freedom from cigarettes was what compelled Carine Chen-McLaughlin, 65. to enroll in an experimental study of psilocybin therapy for smokers. She was desperate to break free from her decades-long physical addiction to nicotine. Quitting smoking had felt impossible for so long.

65歲的凱琳·陳·麥克勞克林正是因為看到了遠離香煙的希望，才參加了一項針對吸煙者的裸蓋菇素治療實驗研究。她不顧一切地想要擺脫幾十年來對尼古丁的生理依賴。這么長時間以來，戒煙一直覺得不可能。

"It's basically saying good-bye to a very old friend, and worrying about: Am I going to be OK without this good friend?'" the Baltimore resident says.

“這基本上是在和一個老朋友說再見，然后擔心:沒有這個好朋友，我能過得好嗎?”’”巴爾的摩居民說。

Like many of the 49 million tobacco users in the U.S., Chen-McLaughlin wanted to quit and had tried various methods: nicotine gum, the nicotine patch and even stopping cold turkey. But nothing worked for more than a couple days.

和美國4900萬煙草使用者中的許多人一樣當時，陳-麥克勞克林想要戒煙，于是嘗試了各種方法:尼古丁口香糖、尼古丁貼片，甚至是突然戒煙。但是，沒有什么辦法能持續(xù)幾天以上。

The clinical trial she joined took place in her hometown of Baltimore, at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. While she was a bit anxious about the experiment, Chen-McLaughlin says she was nevertheless hopeful about trying something totally different.

她參加的臨床試驗是在她的家鄉(xiāng)巴爾的摩的約翰霍普金斯醫(yī)學院進行的。雖然她對這個實驗有點擔心，但陳麥克勞克林說，她仍然希望嘗試一些完全不同的東西。

"I think I was more excited that...maybe, maybe this is it!" she says with a laugh.

“我想我更興奮的是……也許，也許就是它!”她笑著說。

Therapeutic research on psilocybin, LSD and other psychedelic drugs isn't new. Beginning in the 1950s, researchers investigated them as potential treatments for alcohol addiction, cancer-related anxiety, depression and other common psychological ills.

裸蓋菇素、LSD和其他致幻劑的治療研究并不新鮮。從20世紀50年代開始，研究人員把它們作為治療酒精成癮、癌癥相關的焦慮、抑郁和其他常見心理疾病的潛在手段進行調查。

But then came the "psychedelic '60s," a time when American counterculture embraced these then-legal drugs. The resulting widespread use — and abuse — of psychedelics ultimately triggered a backlash that led the federal government to criminalize these substances. By the early 1970s, many ongoing studies into the potential medical benefits of psychedelics had halted.

但隨后到了“迷幻60年代”，美國反主流文化接受了這些當時合法的毒品。迷幻藥的廣泛使用和濫用最終引發(fā)了強烈反彈，導致聯(lián)邦政府將這些物質不合法化。到20世紀70年代初，許多正在進行的關于迷幻藥潛在醫(yī)學益處的研究已經(jīng)停止。

"Unfortunately, all of that legitimate research was really sacrificed because of the association between psychedelics and the counterculture," says Matthew Johnson, an associate professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the lead investigator in the psilocybin study for smoking cessation.

“不幸的是，由于致幻劑和反主流文化之間的聯(lián)系，所有這些合法的研究都被犧牲了，”約翰霍普金斯醫(yī)學院的精神病學副教授、裸蓋菇素戒煙研究的首席研究員馬修約翰遜說。

Today, however, a new wave of psychedelic research has taken hold, with dozens of clinical studies happening at U.S. academic institutions. In fact, some of the experimental therapies involving psilocbyin have recently received "breakthrough therapy" designations from the FDA, which can help speed their progress towards eventual market approval.

然而，今天，一股新的迷幻藥研究浪潮已經(jīng)在美國學術機構展開，數(shù)十項臨床研究正在進行中。事實上，一些涉及迷幻劑的實驗療法最近已經(jīng)被FDA授予了“突破性療法”的稱號，這有助于加速它們最終獲得市場批準的進程。

Although the studies are legal, the federal government does not provide any financial support for psychedelic research, so the researchers must rely on private organizations for funding. The Johns Hopkins study, for instance, is supported by the non-profit Heffter Research Institute in New Mexico.

盡管這些研究是合法的，但聯(lián)邦政府并不為迷幻藥研究提供任何財政支持，因此研究人員必須依靠私人組織提供資金。例如，約翰霍普金斯大學的這項研究是由新墨西哥州的非營利組織海弗特研究所資助的。

"We're ever hopeful and we're continuing to put in [funding] applications," Johnson says. "But so far, the National Institutes of Health has not funded any therapeutic research with psilocybin."

約翰遜表示:“我們一直充滿希望，我們正在繼續(xù)投入(資金)申請。”“但到目前為止，美國國立衛(wèi)生研究院還沒有為裸蓋菇素的治療研究提供資金。”