Posted by Emily on October 20, 2001 at 21:32:48:
I recently inquired of MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) as to whether they have done any studies on psilocybin and cluster headaches. Apparently they would like to but do not have the funding currently (so if any of you have an extra $50,000 lying around this would be a worthy cause). However, I have been a member of MAPS for a while now, and would encourage all of you to go to www.maps.org and get on the MAPS mailing list. When they do get government approval and funding for this study, they will need as many of you as possible to participate. The mailing list will not flood your email, you will get 5-10 intelligent emails every day or two, they are all pre-approved by the president of MAPS. Here is the response I received to my inquiry:Emily Flynn wondered if MAPS is involved in research investigating psilocybin and cluster headaches. Not yet. However, MAPS is involved in the first study in over 25 years in which psilocybin is being given to patients. This study is taking place at the University of Arizona, Tucson, under the direction of Dr. Francisco Moreno, and is evaluating psilocybin in the treatment of patients suffering from Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder (OCD). For more information on that study, see: http://www.maps.org/news/1099news.htmlMAPS is bringing Dr. Stan Grof to Tucson on October 24 to help educate and prepare the treatment team to administer psilocybin to subjects in the study.Unfortunately, MAPS doesn't have the resources to try to initiate a study of psilocybin in the treatment of cluster headaches. However, it is quite likely that a well-designed study could be approved by FDA.MAPS has worked with Dr. Ethan Russo, University of Montana, to try to investigate marijuana in the treatment of migraines. Our protocol was approved by FDA but NIDA refused to provide the marijuana. For more information, see http://www.maps.org/mmj/index.htmlDr. Russo is also interested in psilocybin and other psychedelics for the treatment of migraine and cluster headaches. If someone were to donate about $50,000, we could probably design, obtain permission for and conduct a pilot study into the use of psilocybin in the treatment of cluster headaches.Rick Doblin