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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Ive gotten that same text. Scam not spam.

Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Huge credit to lead author Christina Chwyl, PhD, who drove this work, and to our colleagues at Rocky Mountain Poison & Drug Safety—Joshua Black, Karilynn Rockhill, Michael Ladka, Richard Dart, & Andrew Monte—for the partnership that made this possible. Paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Prevalence and predictors of sexual and physical violence during psychedelic use in a US population‐based study

Click on the article title to read more.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Open question: are these rates above baseline for demographically similar non-users, or reflecting societal violence in a group that happens to use psychedelics? We don't yet have that comparison. Either way—harm reduction tailored to non-clinical psychedelic use is overdue. #psychedelicscience

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Risk wasn't evenly distributed. Rates were higher among: People with substance use disorder histories Those experiencing housing instability Students & young adults People with eating disorder or ADHD histories Latino(a)s These largely mirror known risk factors outside psychedelic contexts.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

The breakdown: 7.5% reported physical violence (beating, choking, hitting, kicking) 7.2% reported forced sexual contact 10% reported one or both 5–6% declined to answer the question (true rates may be higher)

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Most psychedelic surveys recruit enthusiasts. They tend to paint a rosy picture of risk. This one didn't. The National Survey Investigating Hallucinogenic Trends drew a nationally representative sample of ~2,000 past-year users. Different sample → different story.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Why this matters: most discussion of psychedelic-related harm has focused on therapy settings (where real abuse has occurred). But most psychedelic use doesn't happen in a clinic. It happens at home, with friends, on hikes, at festivals. Until now, risk in those contexts was virtually unstudied.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

1 in 10 people who used psychedelics in the past year reported experiencing physical or sexual violence during that use. That's from a new paper I co-authored in World Psychiatry, using a nationally representative US sample. The numbers are sobering.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

I have found them in science — in the particular quality of attention that genuine inquiry requires, the willingness to be changed by what you find. This is not how we usually talk about science. But it is, I would argue, how science actually works at its highest register."

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Thin places, in Celtic spiritual tradition, are where the distance between the human and the holy collapses to almost nothing. I have found them in old-growth forests, at the foot of receding subalpine glaciers, in the faces of students the moment something shifts.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Really resonate with this post about science "I have also stood at the edge of what we know and felt something else entirely. The places where a question opens into a larger question. Where the boundary between what I understand and what I am being asked to become starts to thin...

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

After using this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the publication. "

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

This is from a paper in second round of review, not published yet tho, "During the preparation of this work the author(s) used Claude and ChatGPT in order to generate ideas, refine text, and proof the manuscript.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Yes, response. Thx for the correction. Lots of studies i think are being powered based on these early studies rather than more realistic numbers that are emerging these days. We have done some of the same in our work and it seems we are learning about it together.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

To be clear, this is not a guarantee it's going to get FDA approval by any means, I just hadn't been following this closely and it looks like it's made some progress on the pathway.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Looks like Osmind's ketamine "me too" formulation is getting closer to FDA approval, to add to esketamine. This time via IV, rather than intranasal. ir.nrxpharma.com/news-release...

ir.nrxpharma.com

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

I agree with the conclusion that current data do not justify a claim that PAT outperforms antidepressants. Economic issues will really be at play here. If they are relatively equivalent, but PAT is more expensive, that'll matter a lot.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Yeah, best data these days are suggesting that, for depression, PAT is relatively equivalent to our best established treatments (antidepressants) and has a more rapid response. We need bigger and better studies to see if it can outperform. Sample sizes will probably need to be massive.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

To me, this study should have been designed with continuous outcomes as the primary endpoint, which would have been more typical and also more defensible from a power standpoint. But they didn't do that, so here we are. Another underpowered study relative to analytic goals.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

The devil is in the details here. This is certainly not supportive of massive PAT effects, but neither is it a damning study.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

To me, this mostly reads as a study that was planned using overly optimistic effect sizes on remission, especially given what was a treatment resistant depression sample. The mots comprehensive analyses are suggesting one session of psilocybin for tx-resistant depression is not enough.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

If you haven't read the articles, I'd encourage you to do so directly. The Mertens study was based on a power analysis using remission as a primary outcome, which is 1. rare to do and 2. based on absurdly large power estimates. The continuous outcomes on the very same measure (HAM-D) favored PAT.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

Bottom line: This is a promising signal but we need to be cautious about over interpretation of what are still pilot studies. Good pilot data but not proof psilocybin is superior to existing best treatments. Big thanks to this team for continuing to provide important data. #psychedelicscience

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

The 40.5% prolonged abstinence is somewhat higher than the best available treatments. That's genuinely noteworthy for a single dose of anything. This pilot study justifies a larger, more rigorous trials — ideally against varenicline or more powerful comparators and equal contact time

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

This pattern — spectacular results in small open-label pilots that shrink in randomized trials — is extremely common in research in general and in psychedelic research in particular. It's a feature of the field, not a bug in this study. It's also the case the treatment was less intensive.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

Also worth noting: psilocybin's effectiveness dropped from the first study to this one: The 2014 open-label pilot (15 people, more psilocybin doses): → 80% point prevalence abstinence at 6 months → 53% prolonged abstinence This RCT (1 psilocybin dose): → 52% point prevalence → 40.5% prolonged

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

The comparator problem: Nicotine patch is arguably the weakest first-line cessation med. Meta-analyses show ~10% prolonged abstinence at 6 months. Varenicline is more in the 30% range. CBT is typically in the 20-30% range.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

New in JAMA Network Open: Psilocybin beat the nicotine patch 4-to-1 for smoking cessation (40.5% vs 10% for prolonged abstinence). Important study and impressive headline — but what happens when you look under the hood? A thread to unpack this finding. 🧵#psychedelicscience

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

PIPS is hiring a Research Associate to work on clinical trials of psychedelic-assisted therapy (MDMA, psilocybin). Starting summer 2026. Great for post-bac folks looking for research experience before grad school. portlandpsychotherapy.com/behavioral-science-research-coordinator-in-portland-oregon/

portlandpsychotherapy.com

Research Associate in clinical psychedelic science - Portland Psychotherapy

Join an active clinical research lab at the forefront of psychedelic science. As a Research Associate, you will contribute to multiple clinical trials of Research Associate in clinical psychedelic sci...

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

I was just interviewed on the Mentally Flexible Podcast about ACT and Psychedelics. It was a fun interview and I think covered some interesting ground about shame, transcendent emotions, and psychedelic experience. Hope you enjoy it! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/j...

podcasts.apple.com

Jason Luoma, PhD | ACT & Psychedelic Science

Podcast Episode · Mentally Flexible · March 5 · 52m

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

That's an oversimplification but might capture sole of the core pathways. After all, neuroplasticity is just the underlying substrate for more rapid learning. Anywhere in life where we see more rapid learning, we will see more neuroplasticity by definition.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

The longer term potential for positive affect changes may have to do with transcendent emotions and experiences setting off new ways of seeing the world and patterns of living that then get reinforced and sustained over time. That reinforcement process would feature dopamine centrally.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

The lack of addiction potential may have to do with lack of reliability of the euphoric effects and often slow onset as well as rapid tolerance in classics.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

That's a great question I don't know the answer to. I'm a psychologist so my speculation would come more thru understanding the experience versus the neurochemistry.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

There were a lot of weaknesses in this small study, so we shouldn't get too excited from this one trial, but it adds to the body of research on psychedelics' impacts on positive motivational circuits. #psychedelicscience Read more here: doi.org/10.1016/j.ja...

doi.org

Redirecting

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

The theory: anhedonia may stem from impaired neuroplasticity in brain reward circuits. Psilocybin's ability to promote neuroplasticity and rewire dysfunctional circuits could help restore the capacity for pleasure and motivation.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Intriguingly, a mediation analysis suggested the anti-anhedonia effect may be at least partially independent of general antidepressant effects.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

The study: 30 participants with treatment-resistant depression received 25mg psilocybin with psychotherapy. Significant reduction in anhedonia at the 2-week primary endpoint, with clinically meaningful improvements persisting at 3 and 6 months.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Here's a new study on the role of psilocybin in reducing anhedonia in depression. Maybe 70% of people with depression experience anhedonia — and it's one of the hardest symptoms to treat. SSRIs frequently leave it untouched or even make it worse ("emotional blunting").

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

There seem to be a number of sources of data suggest that psychedelics may exert their effects through heightening positive affect and motivational systems (e.g., reward responding), not solely through dampening or reducing negative affect, which is more characteristic of antidepressants. A thread.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

This is a topic of high debate right now. Probably the best current solution is a lower does of the same substance. Downside of that is larger sample sizes are probably needed = more expensive.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Results: 19/20 participants completed treatment. Depression scores dropped significantly (Cohen's d = 1.89). High satisfaction ratings. Zero severe adverse events. Without a control group, we can't separate psilocybin from expectancy, placebo, or concurrent therapy. Still, an excellent start.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Non-profit funders wouldn't cover mushroom costs (risking 501c3 status), so the licensed grower donated them. Even in a legal state program, the point-of-sale remains a federal crime. Welcome to psychedelic research in 2026.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Why? Oregon rules prohibit facilitators from handling or administering psilocybin. Mushrooms must be sold to clients by service center staff. The DEA viewed facilitation as "observational rather than medical intervention" - allowing them to avoid Schedule I research waivers.

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

The lead researcher is both a licensed naturopathic doctor AND psilocybin facilitator. For screening visits, he acted as a doctor. For treatment sessions, he could ONLY act as a facilitator - no diagnosis, no medical scope. This had to be explicitly stated to avoid "role conflation."

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Despite being legal in Oregon, researchers had to navigate federal Schedule I restrictions: DEA refused to provide ANY determinations in writing - only verbal phone calls Facilitators couldn't "administer" psilocybin under their medical licenses Participants had to purchase mushrooms on-site

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Jason Luoma, Ph.D. @jasonluoma.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

🧵 First clinical trial ever conducted in a state-regulated psychedelic program just published. Oregon's psilocybin program has served 20,000+ people but the majority are wealthy out-of-state travelers. This study targeted low-income participants to test feasibility. #psychedelicscience

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