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Evidence by condition / Alcohol use disorder

Psilocybin, LSD and ketamine for alcohol use disorder

The randomised trials of psilocybin, LSD and ketamine for alcohol use disorder, how strong the evidence is, the lawful routes (clinical trials) and free help that works today.

Strength of evidenceEarly randomised trials

Completed randomised controlled trials, but small or phase 2 only; results may shrink in larger trials. How we grade

Not medical advice. This page reports what published research, regulators and drug labels say, checked 26 Oct 2026. Talk to a doctor about your own situation; nothing here is a reason to start, stop or change a treatment on your own.

What the research shows

  1. Clinical trialJAMA Psychiatry, 2022

    Percentage of Heavy Drinking Days Following Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy vs Placebo in the Treatment of Adult Patients With Alcohol Use Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial

    In 95 adults with alcohol dependence, heavy drinking days over 32 weeks were 9.7% with psilocybin plus therapy and 23.6% with an active placebo plus therapy.

  2. Clinical trialAmerican Journal of Psychiatry, 2022

    Adjunctive Ketamine With Relapse Prevention-Based Psychological Therapy in the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder

    In 96 people with severe alcohol use disorder, three ketamine infusions led to more abstinent days at 6 months than placebo; relapse rates did not differ.

  3. Meta-analysisJournal of Psychopharmacology, 2012

    Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) for alcoholism: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

    Pooling six randomised trials (536 people), a single LSD dose roughly doubled the odds of reduced alcohol misuse at follow-up.

  4. Clinical trialJournal of Psychopharmacology, 2015

    Psilocybin-assisted treatment for alcohol dependence: a proof-of-concept study

    An open-label proof-of-concept study in 10 people: abstinence increased after psilocybin, and gains largely held to 36 weeks.

Each study links to its own page with the design, size, results and limits, checked against PubMed.

Risks to know

  • Alcohol raises the chance of a difficult experience.

    The Trimbos Institute's DRUGSinfo advises against combining mushrooms or truffles with other drugs, and says alcohol increases the chance of a bad trip. (DRUGSinfo (Drugs Infolijn), Trimbos-instituut)

  • More sedation.

    The SPRAVATO label names alcohol among the CNS depressants whose use with esketamine may increase sedation. (Janssen Pharmaceuticals, via DailyMed (US National Library of Medicine), 24 Sep 2026)

  • Deaths: consecutive case series

    A review of all known deaths outside West Central Africa temporally linked to ibogaine from 1990 through 2008 found 19 people who died within 1.5 to 76 hours of taking it. Pre-existing medical conditions, mainly cardiovascular, and/or other abused substances explained or contributed to 12 of the 14 deaths with adequate post-mortem data; seizures from alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal were another apparent risk factor. (Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2012)

Check your medicines · Screening checklist

Lawful ways to get it

Clinical trialsClinical trials

Recruiting alcohol use disorder trials

Ketamine outside a trialLegal, off-label

  • Ketamine itself is FDA approved only as an intravenous or intramuscular anaesthetic. The FDA stated in October 2023 that ketamine is not FDA approved for the treatment of any psychiatric disorder, that it has not determined ketamine is safe and effective for depression, anxiety, PTSD or OCD, and that compounded ketamine products, including oral forms, have not been evaluated for safety, effectiveness or quality. It warned that using them without monitoring by a health care provider may put patients at risk of serious adverse events. Intravenous ketamine clinics for depression are therefore prescribing off-label. (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 10 Oct 2023)

What it costs

Recruiting trials for alcohol use disorder

12 trials were recruiting on ClinicalTrials.gov on 26 Oct 2026, 5 with US sites, testing any psychedelic or ketamine; 10 of them test Psilocybin or LSD or Ketamine. The first 3 are below; the full list, by state, is on its own page.

All 12 recruiting trials for alcohol use disorder

The dispatch

Laws change. Centres change. Know before you book.

A brief, sent only in weeks when something changes: jurisdictions that shifted, listings added or revised, and the research worth reading. No hype, no sourcing talk.

Educational only. Not medical advice. Unsubscribe any time.