COST/BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF PSILOCYBIN FOR THE TREATMENT OF PSYCHOACTIVE DISORDERS

 

AN IMPORTANT POINT IS TO ESTABLISH WHY, OR UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES, IT IS APPROPRIATE TO USE A DRUG WITH ABUSE LIABILITY TO TREAT A DISORDER(S), WHEN CONVENTIONAL MEDICATIONS, WITHOUT ABUSE LIABILITY, EXIST TO TREAT THESE DISORDERS

1. Term Paper: A 5-8 page (double-spaced) critical evaluation of two (or more) sides of some current debate or controversy involving recreational or medicinal drug use

Compose a 5-8 page (typewritten, double-spaced) essay addressing ONE question or controversy related to psychoactive drug use.
The purpose of the essay is two-fold:
1. to increase your understanding of an issue that is of personal interest or relevance based on empirical, scientific evidence;

2. to demonstrate your ability to summarize and integrate this information into a COHERENT ARGUMENT.

The essay is neither a report (i.e., no point form) nor a literature survey (i.e., exhaustive coverage of an issue). Rather it is designed to promote a critical analysis of more than one side of a current debate or unresolved question using selected journal articles and chapters in edited texts.* Apart from this requirement, the topic of the essay is up to you.
The PubMed database http: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Entrez/query.fcgi provides abstracts of articles from peer-reviewed scientific journals. This is an excellent resource that you can use to find relevant information for your assignment (i.e., use key words – author, topic, title – to search published scientific abstracts). You can access most of the journals containing articles cited on PubMed at the library at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell Street, Toronto, ON M5S 2S1 (M – F, 9 am -5 p.m.). TEL: (416) 535-8501, ext. 6991.
In many cases, the abstract will suffice for reporting a key finding or assertion. You may only need the full article in one or two cases (e.g., to describe research methodology or a particular sample of research participants).
*You should plan to read and incorporate a minimum of 5 journal articles or published chapters; there is no maximum number of articles but I would advise against using more than 20. Information from

Internet web-sites, unlike journal articles, is not subject to peer review and therefore may be invalid. Accordingly, I will only allow such information to be used to amplify a particular point but not to support the foundation of an argument. Consult the attached list of supplemental readings for articles and background sources. These readings are suggested not required, so you can choose your own if you wish. When reporting a research finding, cite the author(s) and year of the publication immediately after you state the finding in the body of your paper, “…some investigators have suggested that knowledge is less important than the belief that you are knowledgeable (Smith, Jones, & Brown, 2000).” Then provide full citation in the Bibliography/Reference section at the end of the essay:
Smith, B. D., Jones, R. F., & Brown, Y. A. (2000). How to succeed in college without really trying. Journal of Fictitious Data, 21, 355-364.
ALL information that is not your own MUST be cited. In cases where a direct quote is used, the page reference must also be given. E.g., “Knowledge is no more valuable than the conviction one has in the veracity of that knowledge” (Smith, Jones, & Brown, 2000, p. 318)
Marking criteria
1) Relevance and Accuracy of Information (30 marks)
2) Strength of Argument: Based on the Information What Do You Conclude? (20 marks) 3) Demonstrated Understanding of Basic Concepts (20 marks)
4) Organization / Form / Style (20 marks)
5) Originality/ Creativity (10 marks)