Psychedelic Science for Science Writers
Objectives
- Accurately describe the primary mechanism of action (5-HT2A) without oversimplification
- Distinguish classical psychedelics from entactogens (MDMA), dissociatives (ketamine), and other substances
- Understand functional selectivity and why it matters for second-generation drug development
- Apply the three-tier evidence framework: confirmed / plausible-unproven / speculative
- Avoid the five most common errors in psychedelic science journalism
Outline
Module 1: What Psychedelics Actually Are: Classical vs. non-classical. The 5-HT2A receptor. Why "serotonin flood" is wrong. The DMT question.
Module 2: The Brain Under Psychedelics: Default mode network. Thalamic gating. Visual cortex. The reducing valve model and its limits.
Module 3: Safety, What the Evidence Shows: No lethal dose. HPPD: rare and usually mild. NBOMe compounds and why they're different. The risk profile vs. the Schedule I claim.
Module 4: Therapeutic Evidence Tiers: Strong evidence (terminal illness anxiety, PTSD). Promising evidence (TRD, addiction). Pilot data only (cluster headaches). What Phase 2 vs. Phase 3 means.
Module 5: Writing About It: The five most common errors. How to source. The difference between peer-reviewed data and press releases. Set and setting as pharmacological variable.
Required reading
- Nichols, Pharmacological Reviews 68(2) (2016)
- Medical History of Psychedelic Drugs, Cambridge HPS (2007) [Source not found; under review]