Significant Psychedelic Experiences Evaluated for Mystical Characteristics Associated with Cannabis Use Reduction and Psychological Flexibility Improvement: A Naturalistic Cross-Sectional Retrospective Survey

ABSTRACT

Treating cannabis use disorder remains a significant challenge in the field of addiction medicine. Some recent studies point to psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy as a potential treatment option for substance use disorders. The objective of this study was therefore to explore the impact of naturalistic psychedelic experiences on cannabis use and psychological flexibility. An online retrospective survey was carried out on 152 cannabis users who also reported a significant experience induced by psychedelics in the past. Following a psychedelic experience, there was a significant and sustained reduction of average CUDIT score (p < .001), frequency of cannabis use (p < .001), and acute duration of daily intoxication (p < .001). Cannabis use reduction during the first month post-experience was significantly associated with the intensity of the mystical experience (p = .01). Participants reported a concomitant increased lasting improvement of psychological flexibility following the experience (p < .001), which was correlated to the intensity of the mystical experience during the first month post-experience (p = .04). This study demonstrates that naturalistic psychedelic experiences may be followed by a decrease in cannabis use. Positive health outcomes appear potentially connected to the intensity of the mystical experience, as well as an improvement in psychological flexibility.

KEYWORDS:

• Psychedelic
• addiction
• Cannabis use disorder
• Cannabis
• psychological flexibility

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank the French Psychedelic Society (Société psychédélique française) for their help in setting-up and disseminating the survey.

Disclosure statement

K.E., F.B., SB.L., A.A., V.V., P.P. have no conflict of interest. R.B. is a member of board at Janssen. A.B. has given talks for Lundbeck, Mylan, Merck-Serono and Bristol-Myers Squibb and is a member of board at Indivior.

Data availability statement

Information Letter and Consent Form mention that the data will be securely stored and managed by the authors. Therefore, we cannot make the data publicly available. However, if properly justified, the corresponding author can send the data on demand at their discretion.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2024.2375720.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported that there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.