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Frontiers in Pharmacology special edition edited by Takiwasi research staff

Matteo Politi and Fernando Mendive from the Takiwasi Center research department have been part of the topic editors that have contributed to the article collection “Beyond the Pharmacology of Psychoactive Plant Medicines and Drugs: Pros and Cons of the Role of Rituals and Set and Setting” published under the section Ethnopharmacology of the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology.

Overall, the articles in this special issue highlight the relevance of considering social and cultural domains when attempting to explain the benefits of using psychedelic plant medicines. In parallel to such perspectives, the question of mitigating risks involved with psychedelic use would equally benefit from considering social and cultural parameters, as highlighted in some of the research articles. Social groups and cultural contexts do not simply give meaning to the experiential properties of psychedelic substance use but are necessary ingredients for safely turning such properties into medicine.

Among the contributions we find the article “Protocol for Outcomes Evaluation of Ayahuasca-Assisted Addiction Treatment: The Case of Takawasi Center”, by Rush et al. that presents the research protocol developed to evaluate the results of Takiwasi’s 30-year old intercultural program for substance use disorders that complements Amazonian traditional medicine practices and concepts with modern psychology and medicine.