NIH Awards First Grant for Psychedelic Treatment Research in 50 Years

Johns Hopkins Medicine announced that it has been awarded a grant of nearly $4 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the impacts of psilocybin on tobacco addiction. It is the first time in 50 years NIH funding has been given to directly investigate the therapeutic effects of a classic psychedelic.

The funding will support a multisite, 3-year study led by Johns Hopkins, with researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and New York University also participating.

In a news release announcing the grant, principal investigator Matthew Johnson, PhD, the Susan Ward professor in psychedelics and consciousness in Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry, said the historical importance of the grant “is monumental.”

“We knew it was only a matter of time before the NIH would fund this work because the data are so compelling, and because this work has demonstrated to be safe,” Dr Johnson said in the release. “Psilocybin does have very real risks, but these risks are squarely mitigated in controlled settings through screening, preparation, monitoring, and follow-up care.”

Dr Johnson began researching the use of psilocybin for tobacco smoking cessation 13 years ago, and a pilot study published in 2014 showed abstinence rates significantly higher than those obtained with traditional smoking cessation medications and therapies.