Opioids are being prescribed to people for multiple reasons. It can help offer pain relief from lower back aches, head aches and more. However, there is reportedly an opioid addiction epidemic in the country and the medical community and the government is looking into how this can be resolved.
A new study finds that psychedelic drugs can help reduce opioid addiction. A psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is considered to be an effective treatment for patients who are struggling with difficult to treat conditions. These conditions include substance use disorders.
A published study in the Journal of Psychopharmacology notes that LSD and certain mushrooms, which are psychedelic substances, are linked to decreasing opioid addiction, as reported by Alternet.
There is a reported 27 percent reduced risk of past-year opioid dependence. There is also a 40 percent reduced risk of past-year opioid abuse. This kind of study sheds new light on how the government and medical community should look into the prohibition of drugs.
But reports indicate that more research is needed to figure out why there is a strong correlation between the use of psychedelic drugs and the decrease in opioid addiction. However, other reports indicate that a psychedelic-assisted therapy could be approved by the FDA in the next ten years.
Aside from psychedelic drugs, another study suggests that snail venom can be a cure for opioid addiction and can be a substitute for pain relief, as reported by New Atlas. A small snail from the Caribbean Sea allegedly holds the answers.
Researchers from the University of Utah says that the cone snail, Conus regius, produces a venom that blocks pain pathway. This is critical as the pathway is different from the one that opioids act on. Baldomero Olivera, a professor in biology at the University of Utah, says that the cone snail venom is also a possible source of insulin.
Further study is still needed to counter and minimize opioid addiction in the country. In the mean time, the medical community and the FDA is fully concentrated on the matter.
Watch the MTV clip below where Macklemore tackles the country's opioid addiction issue:
