What
if you could take a psychedelic drug regularly in such tiny quantities
that the immediate effects were not discernible, yet over time it led to
a range of psychological benefits, especially enhanced focus and
heightened creativity? That’s the principle behind “microdosing” – a
controversial technique that’s exploded in popularity ever since the
publication of a 2011 book The Psychedelic Explorers Guide and a 2015
Rolling Stone article titled How LSD Microdosing Became The Hot New
Business Trip. Large online communities of microdosing enthusiasts have
since emerged on sites like Reddit, where dosing tips are shared and the
supposed manifold benefits of the practice are espoused.
However,
actual scientific investigations into the effects of microdosing can be
counted on one hand. Earlier this year, PLOS One published one of the
few systematic investigations ever conducted into the practice, by Vince
Polito and Richard Stevenson at Macquarie University. Though
exploratory and tentative due to “legal and bureaucratic” obstacles
(meaning there was no placebo control or randomisation in this
research), the results suggest that microdosing can be beneficial,
although not in the ways that users most expect, and not necessarily for
everyone.
