Asymmetry in Psychoactive Research: A Bibliometric Study on 15 Psychoactive Drugs

• Author: Julia Lebrero-Tatay,Arthur Sebag,Ivan Ezquerra-Romano
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00220426211068439
• Published date: 01 October 2022
• Date: 01 October 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Journal of Drug Issues

2022, Vol. 52(4) 509–526

© The Author(s) 2022

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/00220426211068439

journals.sagepub.com/home/jod

Asymmetry in Psychoactive

Research: A Bibliometric Study

on 15 Psychoactive Drugs

Julia Lebrero-Tatay

1,2

, Arthur Sebag

2

, and Ivan Ezquerra-Romano

2,3



Abstract

Although intended to avoid illicit drug use, national laws and international conventions have

limited research on psychoactive drugs. To characterise the evolution of the literature on

psychoactive drugs, a bibliometric study of 15 psychoactive drugs from 1960 to 2018 was

conducted in which 956,703 academic publications were obtained from Web of Science. Growth

patterns were analysed per drug type, legal status and country. Our results show the existence of

heterogeneous patterns of growth for the publications of different psychoactive drugs. Strikingly, the

literature on legal substances and depressants represented between 60% and 80% throughout the

years. We found unexpected regional differences in the scientif‌ic output about the selected drugs,

which might be explained by cultural and political phenomena. Governments and funding bodies

should consider these results when allocating resources to research on psychoactive drugs to optimise

the therapeutic applications of these compounds and our understanding of the nervous system.

Keywords

recreational drugs, bibliometric study, controlled substances, depressants

Introduction

Trading and consuming psychoactive drugs are activities controlled under national laws and in-

ternational conventions. When these activities involve compoundslike alcohol or caffeine, they are

deemed legal, subject to specif‌ic market and trade regulations in line with other goods. However,

when these activities involve compounds such as LSD or cocaine, often referred to as ‘controlled

substances’, they are considered illegal. These laws aim to reduce their availability, due to their

perceived societal and individual harm. However, the way in which psychoactive substances are

policed is poorlycorrelated with their harms (Nutt, King, & Phillips,2010). This policing also has a

1

Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology Manchester, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

2

Drugs and Me, London, UK

3

Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK

Corresponding Author:

Ivan Ezquerra-Romano, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, Alexandra House 17-19,

Queen Square, London WC1N 3AZ, UK.

Email: zcbtiez@ucl.ac.uk

number of opportunity costs, such as barriers to research on controlled substances (Reuter, 2009).

This in turn leads to asymmetry in the amount of research performed on substances.

The current laws and restrictions on controlled substances were implemented after 1961,

arising from a series of national and international conventions: the 1961 UN Single Convention on

Narcotic Drugs (United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961), the 1971 UN

Convention on Psychotropic Substances (United Nations General Assembly Convention on

Psychotropic Substances, 1971) and the 1988 UN Convention Against Illicit Traff‌ic in Narcotic

Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traff‌icinNarcotic

Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, 1988). These conventions included frameworks which cat-

egorised drugsaccording to their potentialfor addiction and their acceptedmedical uses. Substances

considered to havehigh potential for addiction were placed in restrictive categories (Table 1 ).In the

US, the 1970 Controlled Substances Act (Davis, 1971) established 5 schedules of controlled

Table 1. A) Classif‌ication of controlled substances in the United States of America as of July 2019. Drug

schedules are a result of the Controlled Substances Act, enacted in 1970. Some substances have since then

been added, removed, or transferred from one schedule to another. B) Classif‌ication of controlled

substances in the United Kingdom as of July 2019. Drug classes are a result of the Misuse of Drugs Act,

enacted in 1971. MDMA, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine; LSD, lysergic acid diethylamide & GHB,

gamma-hydroxybutyrate.

Schedule

Potential for

Abuse Potential for Addiction

Accepted Medical

Use Examples

A

I High Unsafe, even under medical

supervision

No MDMA, cannabis, LSD,

heroin, khat, psilocybin

II High Abuse can cause mental and

physical addiction

Sometimes

allowed. Severely

restricted

Cocaine, amphetamine,

methamphetamine,

methadone

III Medium Abuse can cause severe

mental addiction, or

moderate physical

addiction

Yes Ketamine, GHB

IV Moderate Abuse may lead to moderate

mental or physical

addiction

Yes Benzodiazepines

V Lowest Abuse may lead to mild

mental or physical

addiction

Yes Codeine mixtures

B

A High Unsafe, even under medical

supervision

No MDMA, LSD, cocaine,

methadone, psilocybin,

heroin

B Medium Abuse can cause severe

mental addiction, or

moderate physical

addiction

Sometimes

allowed. Severely

restricted

Amphetamine,

methamphetamine, codeine

C Low Abuse may lead to mild

mental or physical

addiction

Yes Cannabis, benzodiazepines,

GHB, ketamine, khat

510 Journal of Drug Issues 52(4)