Understanding Psychedelic Dosage and Trip Sitting: A New Study
This recent open access paper explores how psychedelic communities can provide insights for psychedelic medicine and harm reduction and is authored by Dr Liam Engel alongside long time psychedelic collaborators Sascha Thal and Dr Stephen Bright. With additional contributions from natural products chemist Dr Mitchell Low, this paper unites Liam’s work under the Mescaline Garden and NICM WSU banners for the first time. This paper is also the origin of our Classic Psychedelics: Dosage Weights and Intensities poster.
Psychedelic trip sitting, dosages and intensities:
Supplementing clinical studies with anecdotal reports
Abstract
Background and aims
Online communities provide insights into psychedelic consumption, assisting in identification of trends, informing both harm reduction provisions and clinical research. This study extracts forum data on psychedelic substances, dosages, and administration routes, categorising and analysing self-reported consumption to inform care services and guide clinical work with psychedelics.
Methods
Posts (n = 660) from online psychedelic forums (The Shroomery and DMT Nexus) on 'trip sitting' were analysed. Using a Delphi-style expert panel review facilitated by LE, we created drug weight and intensity charts (threshold, light, common, strong and heavy dosages) for psychedelics discussed in these posts. The psychedelic substance, dosage intensity and route of administration [ROA] (smoked/vaporised, oral, injected, insufflated and undisclosed) frequencies and exploring correlations with perceived need for assistance from a psychedelic carer were mapped and correlated with perceived need for psychedelic care.
Results
Psychedelics appearing in our data were 5-MeO-DMT, ayahuasca, changa, LSA, LSD and psilocybin. There was greater commonality between clinical studies and 'common' doses determined through the Delphi method, for more extensively researched substances like LSD and psilocybin. Many posts indicated opinions that psychedelic care was unnecessary or optional for consumers, particularly for LSD and LSA. 5-MeO-DMT was strongly associated with a perceived need for care. A correlation was identified between greater psychedelic purity, dosage intensity, and a perceived need for care. Oral administration, the most common ROA, showed lower dosage intensity.
Conclusion
More research is needed to understand factors influencing psychedelic care practices. Educational information, emphasizing risk management strategies, should be provided to psychedelic consumers, emphasising psychedelic products and administration methods more likely to be dosed at a strong or heavy intensity.
