• Psychedelics-assisted psychotherapy in

    Denmark

    Despite the huge therapeutic potential, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is not part of standard medical care yet. Self-medicating with psychedelics can produce undesired results, but despite that, more and more people feel disappointed with the efficacy of the current treatments and they turn to risky, but potentially more beneficial psychedelic-assisted therapy. The goal of this guide is harm reduction for people, who decided to self-medicate, we don’t encourage possession or consumption of illicit substances even for therapeutic endeavours.

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Legal status of psychedelics in Denmark

Import, export, selling, acquisition, distribution, receipt, manufacturing, processing, and possession of drugs are all classified as criminal offenses in the Consolidated Act on Controlled Substances of 2016. A fine or a maximum of two years in prison is the punishment under this act. Drug use is not categorized as an offense. Illegal personal possession normally results in a fine, which ranges in amount depending on the nature and quantity of substances involved, as well as previous offenses. Possession of dangerous drugs for personal use can result in a short-term prison sentence in some cases.

The safest way to obtain psychedelics in Denmark

The safest way to obtain psychedelics in Denmark is the mushroom hunt, and usage of the drug test kit to identify if mushroom contains psilocin or psilocybin. These are the magic mushrooms, that grow in Denmark:

  • Psilocybe atrobrunnea
  • Psilocybe cyanescens
  • Psilocybe fimetaria
  • Psilocybe liniformans var. americana
  • Psilocybe semilanceata
  • Psilocybe silvatica

Read the harm reduction guidelines before considering purchasing illicit substances online.

Organizations

Psychedelic society of Denmark

Harm reduction

Other medication

Many people who want to try magic mushrooms are still on medication and want to know if it’s possible to mix their medication with psychedelics. While psilocybin has been shown to effectively treat depression and a variety of other mental health conditions, some antidepressant drugs can interact with the substance in a dangerous or undesirable way.

Interactions between Psilocybin and other medication

Antidepressant drugs may block the therapeutic effects of Psilocybin. If you are on antidepressants, you need to ask your health provider to help you stop taking them before considering psychedelics. SSRIs function by preventing excess serotonin from being cleared from the brain, resulting in a temporary increase in serotonin levels. Although it has been hypothesized that this may contribute to serotonin syndrome in extreme situations, such risks can be reduced with appropriate guidance and medical supervision.  Most common SSRIs are:

  • Citalopram (Celexa, Cipramil)
  • Escitalopram (Lexapro, Cipralex)
  • Fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem)
  • Fluvoxamine (Luvox, Faverin)
  • Paroxetine (Paxil, Seroxat)
  • Sertraline (Zoloft, Lustral)

Health conditions that psilocybin may worsen

At first, the findings revealed that people who had used psychedelic drugs were more likely to have mental health issues. However, the researchers took into account a variety of variables that may have influenced the findings, including the participants’ age, gender, and their experience with any highly stressful life event, all of which may influence the likelihood of mental health problems. When those factors were taken into account, the researchers found that people who had used psychedelics were no more likely to develop mental health problems than those who hadn’t used the drugs.

However, it’s not advisable to use psychedelics if you or your family members had psychotic symptoms.

Dosage
Mushrooms in non-clinical settings are typically eaten orally, either as dried caps and stems or steeped in hot water and drunk as a tea, with a typical dose of 1-2.5 grams, though potency varies depending on the volume. Fresh mushrooms are usually less active than dried mushrooms. There is virtually no chance of accidental deadly overdose with psilocybin mushrooms.

Johns Hopkins study found Psilocybin dosage sweet spot for positive and lasting effects

Researchers found that as higher doses of chemically pure psilocybin were administered, the recorded positive effects increased, but there was also a sharp rise in the negative effects at the very highest dose, which was perhaps unsurprising. At the maximum dose (30 mg/70 kg, p.o. – meaning “per oral” or “by mouth”), 78 percent of the volunteers recorded one of the top five most spiritually important events of their lives, but those experiencing anxiety, stress, and fear episodes increased sixfold, resulting in about a third of those in the study showing signs of psychological distress.

By contrast, only one of the volunteers receiving the second-highest dose (20mg/70 kg, p.o.) reported having negative issues, and all benefited from positive experiences, although with less intensity than at the highest dose. Critically, even the lowest amount used in the study resulted in notable and long-lasting positive changes in the attitudes, behavior, overall satisfaction and spiritual beliefs of the subjects during the period of study. These changes were also noticed by family members and friends.

Psilocybe cubensis

The concentrations of psilocin and psilocybin, as determined by high-performance liquid chromatography, are in the range of 0.14–0.42% and 0.37–1.30% (dry weight) in the whole mushroom, 0.17–0.78%, and 0.44–1.35% in the cap, and 0.09 and 0.30%/0.05–1.27% in the stem, respectively.

Psychedelics-assisted psychotherapy in Denmark

In 1964, the Frederiksberg Hospital in Denmark became a major LSD research center in Scandinavia, researching the effects of the drug on nearly 400 patients. Only a few complications were registered, according to the Danish State Archives, including a few suicide attempts and a homicide. The center’s attitude toward LSD research remained optimistic, and therapy was continued in Denmark until the mid-1970s, almost a decade after the drug became controversial internationally. Twenty years later, in 1986, the Danish Parliament passed the LSD Liability Bill, which sought to compensate patients who were affected by LSD during the 1960s clinical trials.

Without the informed consent from participants, these trials have been labeled as unethical. According to the Danish State Archives, the 151 applicants out of 400 who were treated received financial compensation for apparent long-term, serious side effects of the LSD procedure, which included flashbacks.

The poor practices relative to modern standards in combination with the context of a compensatory incentive in the retrospective data material raise serious questions about the cultural and political forces impacting this research in the 1960s or on the serious promise that the responsible use of these substances may have for mitigating human suffering in the future. Psychedelics-assisted psychotherapy is not legal in Denmark.