News

The Purdue University independent daily student newspaper, The Exponent, has a featured article about Heffter’s President and co-founder Dr. David Nichols.AP photoby Reed Sellers“A former Purdue professor is making major headway in a revolutionary method of treatment for psychiatric disorders by facilitating controlled psychedelic trips.“Adjunct...

We’re saddened to note the passing of Dr. Alexander “Sasha” Shulgin, an important pioneer of psychedelic chemistry. In addition to a long and remarkably productive career as a chemist, Dr. Shulgin authored a number of influential books including two scientific autobiographies, PIHKAL: A Chemical Love...

Southern California Public Radio station KPCC has an excellent four-part series on the current state of psychedelic research. The series, reported by Health Care Correspondent Stephanie O’Neill, features interviews with Heffter board members George Greer, Charles Grob, and Stephen Ross.“Research into the therapeutic potential of...

A team at the Psychiatric University Hospital of Zurich, including Heffter board member Franz X. Vollenweider, found that psilocybin improves the mood of healthy individuals. According to the Zurich researchers, a moderate dose of psilocybin can lessen the effect of negative stimuli in the amygdala...

A New York University research team is using hallucinogenic experiences to help patients come to terms with their mortality.by Roc Morin“‘Some of the things I’m about to say might not make sense,’ began O.M., a 22-year-old cancer survivor. He had the far-off look in his...

Abstract This essay describes the founding of the Heffter Research Institute in 1993 and its development up to the present. The Institute is the only scientific research organization dedicated to scientific research into the medical value of psychedelics, and it has particularly focused on the use...

At the Psychedelic Science 2013 conference held in Oakland, CA in April 2013, Heffter founder Dave Nichols and Heffter Zurich researcher Franz Vollenweider presented this in-depth workshop focusing on the latest advances in scientific understanding of how psychedelic compounds affect the brain. Dave starts the workshop...

The Heffter Research Institute celebrates its 20th anniversary in November 2013. In those 20 years we have provided nearly $4 million in support of the following research programs: Use of psilocybin in obsessive compulsive disorder (Dr. Francisco Moreno at the University of Arizona) Psilocybin in...

Teri S. Krebs and  Pål-Ørjan JohansenABSTRACTBackgroundThe classical serotonergic psychedelics LSD, psilocybin, mescaline are not known to cause brain damage and are regarded as non-addictive. Clinical studies do not suggest that psychedelics cause long-term mental health problems. Psychedelics have been used in the Americas for thousands...

by Scott HensleyHow risky are psychedelic drugs to mental health? Not nearly as much as you might have imagined.People who had taken LSD, psilocybin (the brain-bending chemical in magic mushrooms) or mescaline at any time in their lives were no more likely than those who...