Pot and Psychedelics For Fun and Health?

“Between 1870 and today, hours of work in the United States fell by about 40% — from nearly 3,000 hours per year to about 1,800. Hours fell, but unemployment did not increase. Moreover, not only did work hours fall, but childhood, retirement, and life expectancy all increased. In 1870, about 30% of a person’s entire life was spent working — people worked, slept, and died. Today it’s closer to 10%. Thus, in the past 100+ years or so, the amount of work in a person’s lifetime has fallen by about two thirds and the amount of leisure, including retirement, has increased. We have already sustained a massive increase in leisure. There’s no reason we cannot do it again. -- Alex Tabarrok 4/9/26

What are we doing with all this extra time? Some of it is being used to make things that help society. So, roads, bridges, and all kinds of inventions have appeared. Some is being spent on augmenting our happiness, including taking substances that ‘spice up’ our lives or modify our consciousness. Many of these substances are addictive -- and seem to affect our health. Some ‘new things’ serve politics or enthusiasts rather than making life better. Ethanol, although corrosive, is put in gas since Iowa’s is the first Presidential caucus. ‘Green energy’ had politicians believing scientists seeking funding. Alas, it looks like about ten trillion dollars of used windmill blades and expired solar panels will soon have to be disposed of -- and we don’t know where! While it is hard to argue with the many successes of the United States, our focus on the ‘new’— especially if it is touted by scientists proclaiming doom or cure -- sets us up for grift.

Some of the big new things are using pot and psychedelics as medicines. Our President is receptive because marijuana has been endorsed by 70% of the electorate, the medical journals are full of enthusiastic articles about psychedelics, and Joe Rogan, and former TX Governor, Rick Perry endorse them, making the politics understandable. But is treating psychedelics as medicines wise, given their risks?

Science at work: Fortunately, a decent comparison of the usually prescribed “Big Pharma” drugs v psychedelics to treat major depression has been published (doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.4809). The lead author, Dr. Balázs Szigeti, said “What I wanted to show is that even if you compare psychedelics to open-label antidepressants, psychedelics are still much better….Unfortunately, what we got is the opposite result—that they are the same, which is very surprising given the enthusiasm around psychedelics and mental health.” Szigeti, et al. used 8 published studies using psychedelics to treat depression over a few months with a combined total of 249 patients compared with 16 studies with 7,921 patients that used traditional antidepressants.

First, let us admire his honesty. As an expert in study design, Szigeti should know that not getting a statistically-significant difference between treatments for depression does not mean the treatments are ‘the same!’ Using this study as his proof, he is on record as recommending psychedelics as alternatives to conventional medications! His is only one comparison over a few months. In other studies, psychedelics have led to re-awakened schizophrenia, ‘bad trips,’ or death. One study hardly proves psychedelics are “the same” (e.g., as good) as the FDA- approved drugs. Studies about the efficacy of drugs, conducted by those who use or are evangelical about drugs, warrant extra caution. Subjects in psychedelic studies averaged about 30/study, while the traditional drug studies had about 500/study. Some of this disparity is due to difficulty in recruiting: would you volunteer for a study that might cost you your sanity or even your life? Studies about pharmacological efficacy based on 30 or so participants are suspect on their face; while those based on ~500 inspire more confidence. The FDA reports that the subjects in psychedelic studies often feel pressure to ‘help the cause.’ Studies that don’t report ‘statistical significance’ have a hard time getting published. The 8 studies Szigeti cited likely means there were at least that number that did not get the results hoped for and didn’t get published. As such, it is likely that psychedelics have done worse – not “the same” --- as Dr. Szigeti said.

Alert: A study of 6+ million maternal-child health records (a third of all US births between 2014 and 2023 <[a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-026-03610-7" rel="nofollow,noreferrer,noopener" target="_blank">DOI: 10.1038/s41380-026-03610-7]) reported that mothers who used statins and/or antidepressants were more likely to give birth to children with autism! If statins – regarded as the one medicine that has lived up to its hype -- are implicated, who knows what kinds of problems might attend the use of psychedelics by mothers-to-be? Many a pregnant woman is currently on anti-depressants, who would have thought she might be endangering her baby thereby?

Politics in medicine: The comedian, Joe Rogan, recalled bringing public attention to ibogaine (shavings from an African evergreen’s roots) when he hosted a recent podcast with W. Bryan Hubbard and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry -- both advocates for ibogaine. Rogan sent a text to President Trump that included statistics about the drug’s success in reducing opioid addiction. Trump replied: ‘Sounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let’s do it.’

Rogan claims “It was literally that quick.”

Ibogaine is gaining worldwide attention. A recent review [DOI: 10.1016/j.jsat.2021.108717] reported a rapid rise in its use and 58 deaths in studies about it. Many of the positive outcomes recorded concerned addicts to other substances, saying (or indicating on a questionnaire) that it led to their having less desire and/or having used fewer opioids, ketamine, etc. as well as “significant symptom reduction for prolonged periods (weeks to months after discharge).” These studies are often run by enthusiastic providers who never observe what patients do after a year, or 5 years, etc. Instead, they accept what patients report that they do. Some ‘transformations’ that patients report are real. But substance abusers often tell you what they think you want to hear.

Enthusiasm also surrounds marijuana. Pot was supposed to be near-harmless and make users ‘healthy.’ Its skunky smell now pervades many US cities, and users are making more trips to the hospital. On February 9, 2026, The New York Times editorial board withdrewits support for legalization: “The unfortunate truth is that the loosening of marijuana policies … has led to worse outcomes,… it is time to acknowledge reality and change course.” Not to be outdone by the left, on April 26, the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal ran Marijuana Is for Dummies. It cited a 7-year-long study of 11,000 adolescents <[a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-026-02395-1" rel="nofollow,noreferrer,noopener" target="_blank">DOI: 10.1038/s41386-026-02395-1] that showed that users eventually experienced “worse verbal recall, processing speed, inhibition control, working memory, and spatial skills.” The WSJ complained, “Too many Americans still think pot is harmless, and the Trump Administration is contributing to that delusion.” It noted that ever more adolescents were using it, and in the new study, the pot users – who had performed better at younger ages – seemed to pause intellectually, and were surpassed by non-users academically.

Elon Musk proves that some can consume all kinds of drugs and appear to be OK – even brilliant. Curing one addiction by using variants of it (e.g., as methadone to tamp down the desire for other opiates) can work. So, adding psychedelics to our standard cures for depression or anxiety is not impossible.

But the use of the various psychedelics is rising rapidly – and so are their poisonings being reported by hospital emergency rooms. How do we balance these cures, or partial cures, against the disruptions to the population – especially youth -- that might occur with further ‘it’s good for you’ labels being applied to still more mind-altering substances? The odds seem good that if we do legitimize them, more prestigious editorial boards will have to offer NYT/WSJ-like apologies about their having recommended psychedelics in the not-too-distant future.

The Finnish Trans Study
A Finnish trans study published in April, added further evidence against ‘experts’ who contend that kids who want to become the opposite sex get ‘cured’ by getting medical and psychiatric support. This nationwide study of all adolescents treated for trans, reported that those seeking to change their sex more frequently started out registering poorer mental health. Two years after ‘treatment,’ those treated were even more frequently in need of psychiatric assistance. The mental health of those who got mutilated (e.g., received ‘gender reassignment’) got worse.

This is a solid, but far from definitive, study. All adolescents treated by Finland’s health service were tracked. In Table 1 (percentages are rounded to whole numbers), each trans adolescent was matched with 4 adolescents of the same age, sex, and location in comparison. Thus, during 1996-2010, as groups, about twice as many trans started with psychiatric needs as their comparisons (e.g., 24% v 12%). At follow-up, 66% of the trans (v 18% of the comparisons) needed additional psychiatric assistance. For adolescents who got drugged and/or mutilated (e.g., underwent gender reassignment), morbidity increased. For ‘feminized’ boys, those needing psychiatric help went from 10% at referral to 61% after treatments; whilst ‘masculinized’ girls went from 22% to 55% needing psychiatric assistance after being treated.

Table 1: % adolescents with ‘psychiatric needs’ before and 2+ years after trans ‘treatment’

Notice that the number of trans-seeking adolescents accelerated from 186 thru 2010, to 10X more in 2011-2019. Trans was getting more attention, both support and opposition. Organized homosexuality’s attempt to promote trans as another way to weaken heterosexuality and strengthen homosexuality was sweeping (usually disturbed) kids into this fad world-wide. How many suicides, or attempted suicides, murders of normals, etc., occurred in this short follow-up? Twenty years from now, we might assess how many trans did these and other socially-harmful things. Those who eventually wake up to having been mutilated for life -- not to mention that their sex change was a lie -- often do nasty things against the society that allowed their disfigurement. But, just as the tens of thousands who got lobotomized in the 1930s-1970s (most of whom were also female), most trans will adapt to living life as a medically-made defective.

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