Joe Rogan on health: what the evidence says · JRE #1213
SUBJECT: HEALTH
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
Apparently, they did a study where they show the difference between someone taking psilocybin to try to quit smoking cigarettes and some really large number of people, I think it was in the neighborhood of 80% quit
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
A 2014 Johns Hopkins open-label pilot study did find that 12 of 15 nicotine-dependent smokers (80%) showed biologically verified, seven-day point-prevalence abstinence at 6-month follow-up after receiving two to three moderate-to-high doses of psilocybin combined with cognitive behavioral therapy. A 2016 long-term follow-up of the same 15-person cohort found the abstinence rate declined over time: 67% (10 of 15) remained abstinent at 12 months, and 60% (9 of 15) at a mean of 30 months. The study had no control group or placebo condition and a very small sample (n=15), so the 80% figure, while accurately quoted from the original 6-month result, comes from a preliminary open-label pilot that the study authors themselves say cannot support definitive efficacy conclusions; it has not been confirmed in a large randomized controlled trial. The claim is factually consistent with the published pilot data but omits that the sample was tiny, uncontrolled, and that the abstinence rate fell with longer follow-up.