According to a press release, the clinical trials are combining MDMA and LSD with psychedelic-assisted therapy to investigate reducing the side effects that users experience when taking LSD alone. The researchers are examining whether using both drugs simultaneously will bring out the best effects of each drug and result in a more positive experience overall with longer-lasting effects.
As detailed in the study, when taking LSD alone, some users experience “negative effects such as anxiety, paranoid thinking or loss of trust towards other people…” The researchers state that, theoretically, MDMA should help balance out some of LSD’s adverse effects. MDMA has been shown to produce desirable effects such as “positive mood up to euphoria, comfort, empathy, and feelings of trust.”