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The Journal of Psychoactive Drugs (ISSN 0279-1072) was founded in 1967 by Dr.David E Smith, Founder of the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic. It is conceived as "an authoritative quarterly periodical containing peer-reviewed timely information of a multidisciplinary nature surrounding the use and abuse of psychoactive drugs"[1]. It was previously titled the Journal of Psychedelic Drugs[2]. It has featured articles by such figures as the chemist Alexander T. Shulgin, PhD, the ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes, PhD., and enthopharmacologist Dennis Mckenna, PhD.

Throughout its history, the Journal has been on the leading edge of developments in the field of drug use, abuse, and treatment. It has consistently addressed the multiplex nature of substance use and abuse and has provided in-depth examination of a host of complex topics, including the disease concept of addiction, drug use and criminality, drug use and the elderly, drug use and sexual behavior, ethnographic drug research, the history of cocaine smoking, therapeutic communities, hallucinogens, stimulants, depressants, smokable drugs, drug dependence and the family, women and substance abuse, professional treatment and the 12-Step process, chemical dependence and AIDS, dual diagnosis, psychotherapy/counseling, adverse effects of tobacco smoking, understanding and preventing relapse, substance abuse in the workplace, drug testing, methadone treatment, prescription drug issues, and culturally relevant substance abuse treatment.

The Journal continues to serve both professionals and laypersons alike as an important forum for critical thinking, analysis, innovation, and evolutionary development in the field of drug use, abuse, and treatment.