A University of British Columbia Okanagan researcher is hoping to change the conversation when it comes to the therapeutic use of what are considered illicit drugs.

Michelle St. Pierre, UBC Okanagan’s student researcher of the year and a doctoral psychology student has made international headlines with her research.

St. Pierre's research has focused on the use of psychedelic drugs and what she describes as the important and legitimate role they may play when it comes to curbing intimate partner violence and helping people deal with pain management.

"Our research was some of the first to show that, unlike other substances such as alcohol, psychedelic use was associated with a lower prevalence of domestic violence. This finding went against the war on drugs propaganda, which vilifies psychedelics and classifies them as harmful substances with little to no medical benefit," St. Pierre says.

Her latest research bucks the mainstream belief that psychedelic drugs are harmful and potentially dangerous.

"It’s been amazing to see how public perception of psychedelics has evolved since 2015. Societal acceptance of psychedelics seem to be outpacing research. It’s an exciting time to begin a research career with the landscape becoming more accepting," St. Pierre says.

UBCO has also studied the relationship between the use of cannabis and the relationship with acute pain.

"Unlike with opioid medications, my study didn’t see an increase in pain sensitivity among those regularly using cannabis. This is good news for folks who are already using cannabis to treat their pain," says St Pierre.

St. Pierre intends to study the relationship between the pain-relieving effects of cannabis in the coming years. For now she is focused on psychedelics and their relationship to treating chronic conditions.

"Psychedelics have an extremely low risk of toxicity and a sort-of built-in anti-addiction mechanism due to the rapid tolerance that humans develop from repeated dosing of what we call “classic psychedelics” including magic mushrooms, acid and ayahuasca," St. Pierre says.

The research shows that unlike most widely used prescription medications like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Prozac, the therapeutic effects of psychedelics appear to manifest from very few doses used in conjunction with talk therapy.

"Additionally, our lab is conducting one of the largest 'micro-dosing' studies to date, which uses a sub-perceptual dose of psychedelics. But even with this near-daily dosing, we don’t see similar physical dependence as we might with something like an opioid."

St. Pierre also says barriers to using psychedelics for therapy are also coming down.

"Due to the illegal status of psychedelics for the last 30-plus years, these therapies have been more accessible to people with privilege. I feel that one of the most critical issues moving forward is ensuring that psychedelic-assisted therapy is accessible for all people."

St. Pierre says the use of psychedelics for healing has its origins in Indigenous knowledge and that we shouldn't lose sight of where these remedies come from.