HoldsUp

Roland Griffiths

Johns Hopkins

Roland R. Griffiths was a clinical pharmacologist at Johns Hopkins who conducted research on mood-altering compounds and established the institution's psilocybin research program. His published work focuses heavily on the therapeutic applications and clinical trials of psilocybin for conditions such as major depressive disorder and cancer-related psychiatric symptoms. Additionally, his research investigates the effects of psychedelics on episodic memory, mystical and challenging experiences, and changes in religious and spiritual beliefs.

31 claims checked on air: 25 supported 6 unverified

What they said on air - citing their own research

11 citing their own research

0:14:48supportedhightheir own paperRoland Griffiths, Ph.D. on Psilocybin, Psychedelic Therapie

A clinical trial at New York University (NYU) co-published alongside the Johns Hopkins study demonstrated that psilocybin produces significant reductions in anxiety and depression in cancer patients.

"A group at NYU ran a somewhat smaller study and we co-published just this last week, in fact, our results. And the results really were quite striking. They confirmed everything we had seen in the healthy volunteers that is these very vulnerable cancer patients who had very significant anxiety or depression experience the same types of...experiences" (said at 0:14:48)

A double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial conducted at New York University (NYU) in 29 cancer patients with psychiatric distress was co-published in December 2016 alongside a concurrent double-blind randomized trial conducted at Johns Hopkins University in 51 cancer patients. The NYU trial demonstrated that a single moderate dose of psilocybin paired with psychotherapy produced immediate, robust, and sustained reductions in anxiety and depression, with 60–80% of participants maintaining clinically significant improvements at 6.5 months follow-up.

0:15:26supportedmoderatetheir own paperRoland Griffiths, Ph.D. on Psilocybin, Psychedelic Therapie

A randomized crossover study in cancer patients showed that psilocybin produced large, sustained reductions in anxiety and depression that persisted up to six months after a single active treatment.

"And interestingly, these people experience very large and sustained decreases in anxiety and depression, and the effects occurred really quite promptly after the administration of the drug. And although the design of the study was such, it was a crossover design so people were crossed over between essentially an inactive dose of psilocybin to an active dose or vice-versa. So the strongest conclusion we can make comparing our placebo condition and our active condition is this effect lasted out to five weeks, but in fact, we followed people out to six months and there was no evidence that there was any significant rate of relapse over that period of time." (said at 0:15:26)

A double-blind, randomized crossover trial of 51 patients with life-threatening cancer (Griffiths et al., 2016) found that high-dose psilocybin produced immediate, large, and statistically significant reductions in clinician-rated and self-rated measures of depression and anxiety compared to a low-dose control condition at the 5-week primary endpoint. At the 6-month follow-up, approximately 80% of participants continued to show sustained, clinically significant reductions in depressive and anxiety symptoms without significant relapse.

0:38:44supportedmoderatetheir own paperRoland Griffiths, Ph.D. on Psilocybin, Psychedelic Therapie

Psilocybin-occasioned mystical experiences produce enduring increases in the personality domain of openness.

"after these mystical-type experiences, they are enduring changes in the personality dimension of openness." (said at 0:38:44)

Clinical trial evidence directly supports the claim. In a study evaluating healthy adults after high-dose psilocybin sessions, participants who underwent mystical-type experiences demonstrated statistically significant increases in the personality domain of Openness that remained elevated compared to baseline at follow-up more than one year later.

0:39:38supportedvery lowtheir own paperRoland Griffiths, Ph.D. on Psilocybin, Psychedelic Therapie

A pilot study combining psilocybin with cognitive behavioral therapy in 15 cigarette smokers achieved an 80% smoking abstinence rate at 6 months.

"we've done a pilot study in cigarette smokers, 15 smokers. We embedded the psilocybin manipulation in the context of a cognitive behavior therapy for smoking cessation. And remarkably, we had 80% abstinence rates at 6 months" (said at 0:39:38)

The speaker accurately describes the results of their 2014 open-label pilot study (Johnson et al.), which combined psilocybin sessions with a structured cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) protocol in 15 treatment-seeking, nicotine-dependent smokers. At the 6-month follow-up, biologically verified 7-day point-prevalence abstinence was observed in 12 of the 15 participants (80%). The certainty of evidence for general efficacy is very low due to the small sample size and lack of a control group in the open-label pilot design.

0:45:24supportedmoderatetheir own paperRoland Griffiths, Ph.D. on Psilocybin, Psychedelic Therapie

In a survey of approximately 2,000 people about their worst psilocybin mushroom experience, approximately 10% reported putting themselves or others at risk of physical harm.

"we just, actually very recently, completed and published a large survey study of people who...this was about 2000 people, and we asked them, have you ever had a bad trip after taking psilocybin mushrooms? ... we have about 10% who say that they may have put themselves or others at risk of physical harm during the experience." (said at 0:45:24)

A 2016 survey study by Carbonaro and colleagues evaluated 1,993 individuals who reported on their single most psychologically difficult experience (worst "bad trip") following psilocybin mushroom ingestion. In that sample, exactly 11% reported having put themselves or others at risk of physical harm during the experience, directly supporting the speaker's claim.

0:46:20supportedlowtheir own paperRoland Griffiths, Ph.D. on Psilocybin, Psychedelic Therapie

In a survey of bad trips on psilocybin, a subset of respondents reported enduring psychological problems for which they sought psychiatric or psychological treatment within a year after the experience.

"And there's some percentage of people who say that they have enduring psychological problems for which they are seeking out psychological or psychiatric help with a year after the experience." (said at 0:46:20)

In a 2016 retrospective online survey by Carbonaro and colleagues investigating individuals' worst 'bad trip' after consuming psilocybin mushrooms (n = 1,993), 7.6% of respondents whose challenging experience had occurred more than one year prior reported seeking professional treatment for enduring psychological symptoms.

0:50:26supportedhightheir own paperRoland Griffiths, Ph.D. on Psilocybin, Psychedelic Therapie

Approximately 30% of research volunteers in controlled psilocybin sessions report experiencing significant fear or anxiety for some duration of the session.

"we have about 30% of our volunteers who will describe, at least for some duration of time, experiences of significant fear or anxiety come up." (said at 0:50:26)

Double-blind, randomized controlled trials evaluating high-dose psilocybin in controlled laboratory settings document that roughly 30% to 39% of participants report transient episodes of strong fear, anxiety, or psychological struggle during the session, which are typically managed safely with preparation and interpersonal support.

0:52:44supportedmoderatetheir own paperRoland Griffiths, Ph.D. on Psilocybin, Psychedelic Therapie

The probability of experiencing very difficult or challenging reactions to psilocybin increases significantly between doses of 20 mg and 30 mg per 70 kg body weight.

"the probability of the very difficult experiences increase pretty significantly between 20 and 30 milligrams per 70 kilogram." (said at 0:52:44)

A double-blind, randomized crossover dose-effect study by Griffiths and colleagues (PMID: 21674151) evaluated oral psilocybin across five dose conditions (0, 5, 10, 20, and 30 mg/70 kg) in healthy adults. The trial found that while mystical-type positive effects plateaued between 20 mg/70 kg and 30 mg/70 kg, acute episodes of extreme anxiety, fear, and challenging psychological experiences increased substantially at the highest dose (30 mg/70 kg), with 39% of participants reporting extreme anxiety/fear during the high-dose sessions.

0:53:17supportedhightheir own paperRoland Griffiths, Ph.D. on Psilocybin, Psychedelic Therapie

In the Johns Hopkins study investigating psilocybin for cancer-related distress, the primary high dose administered was 22 mg per 70 kg body weight.

"And with the cancer study, for instance, the dose that we used most often in that was 22 milligrams per 70 kilogram." (said at 0:53:17)

In the landmark Johns Hopkins randomized, double-blind crossover trial evaluating psilocybin for cancer-related depression and anxiety (Griffiths et al., 2016), psilocybin was administered using weight-adjusted dosing. The study compared a very low control dose (1 or 3 mg/70 kg) to a high therapeutic dose (22 or 30 mg/70 kg) administered with psychological support, confirming the use of 22 mg/70 kg as a primary high dose.

0:54:21supportedhightheir own paperRoland Griffiths, Ph.D. on Psilocybin, Psychedelic Therapie

In the cancer-related distress trials involving 51 patients at Johns Hopkins and 29 at NYU, there was no indication that volunteers were psychologically harmed by psilocybin sessions.

"In the 51 volunteers we treated, and the 29 that were treated at NYU, we have no indication that people were harmed by these experiences" (said at 0:54:21)

Two seminal randomized, double-blind crossover trials published simultaneously in 2016 evaluated psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy in patients with life-threatening cancer and associated anxiety or depression: Griffiths et al. at Johns Hopkins University (51 participants) and Ross et al. at New York University (29 participants). Both studies observed rapid, substantial, and sustained improvements in anxiety, depression, and quality of life up to 6 months post-treatment, with no indications of lasting psychological harm or serious adverse psychiatric events resulting from the psilocybin sessions.

1:50:03supportedhightheir own paperRoland Griffiths, Ph.D. on Psilocybin, Psychedelic Therapie

The subjective effects of inhaled Salvinorin A last less than 10 minutes, with individuals returning completely to baseline within 20 minutes.

"The effects of Salvinorin, this was inhaled Salvinorin, are very short-lived. Less than 10 minutes. So it's a very rapid onset and people are completely back to baseline within 20 minutes, but most of the effects have resolved much quicker than that." (said at 1:50:03)

Clinical pharmacodynamic studies of inhaled salvinorin A in healthy volunteers confirm that its subjective effects have a rapid onset, peak within 1 to 2 minutes, rapidly dissipate over the first several minutes, and return completely to baseline by approximately 20 minutes after administration.

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