Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and disability in the United States, responsible for 1 in 5 deaths and a decrease in life expectancy by 10 years. Quitting smoking by age 40 reduces premature death by 90%. We are investigating novel treatments for smoking cessation, particularly among smokers who have difficulty accessing traditional smoking cessation services.
Ongoing Studies
5-HT2A Agonist Psilocybin in the Treatment of Tobacco Use Disorder
(Site PI: Peter Hendricks; PI: Matthew Johnson Johns Hopkins University; U01DA052174)
We propose a multi-site, double-blind, randomized clinical trial of the 5-HT2A receptor agonist psilocybin for smoking cessation. A diverse sample with regard to ethnoracial identity and SES will be recruited at each site with compensation for study visits. The proposed double-blind study will treat 66 participants (22 at each site), randomized to receive either:
- psilocybin; 20 mg/70 in session 1 and 30 mg/70 kg in session 2, with sessions 1 week apart; or
- niacin; 250 mg in session 1 and 375 mg in session 2, with sessions 1 week apart.
We hypothesize that psilocybin will be associated with improved cognitive control and decreased anticipation of withdrawal relief (from smoking) 1 day after the target quit date, which will be associated with greater 7-day point-prevalence abstinence at 12- month follow-up.
Link to abstract in NIH ReporterLearn more about Peter Hendricks