Daily Archives: August 20, 2020

In the midst of a global mental health crisis, hundreds of billions in funds are going into addiction therapy. The time is ripe for alternative forms of treatment. Psychedelics could be the answer to treating most patients.

But theyre nothing new.

Psychedelics are entheogens that are either naturally derived from plants (psilocybin, ayahuasca and ibogaine) or synthetically manufactured in the lab (LSD, ketamine and MDMA). Theyve been used to treat mental health issues ranging from anxiety to depression and ADHD. Once favored by the medical community, they took a serious hit with the backlash to 1960s counterculture.

In the U.S., psilocybin is still a Schedule 1 drug, meaning its been deemed to have zero medical value. In 2019, three cities voted to decriminalize psilocybin: Oakland and Santa Cruz in California, and Denver. New York and Iowa, meanwhile, have seen proposals either delayed or flatly rejected. The study of psychedelics and their applications in medicine and psychology are still in their infancy, hampered by Schedule 1 narcotics status and the United States decades-old War on Drugs. That said, shrooms have shown potential in treating depression, eating disorders and addiction, and theyve shown promise in combination with psychotherapy.

As marketers, in order to set this industry up for success, it is important to stay within any guidelines that come out for the industry.

Estimated to reach a whopping $6.85 billion worldwide by 2027, according to Data Bridge Market Research, the global market for legal psychedelics represents a genuine Shroom Boom. Key companies operating in this space are either still in startup mode or Series B funding rounds, with whispers that a number of them are set to open on international stock exchanges throughout 2020.

Similar to plant-based medicines that have been largely stigmatized, the cannabis and psychedelics industries have both required tremendous advocacy to change perceptions. While currently there are no CPG brands in the psychedelics space, one needs to look to cannabis brands for important lessons.

In terms of any marketing and communications for products, using a medical mindset is a must. Medical marijuana is now legal in 33 states, with a few states going as far legalizing recreational use of cannabis as wel. As a company in the space, it is imperative to have a solid foundation of research, awareness and education.

For marketing opportunities, such companies have creative needs like mass communication and branding. In order to set this industry up for success as marketers, it is important to stay within any guidelines that come out for the industry. It will be essential never to associate psychedelic medicines with the drug culture. That means staying clear of the notion of being under the influence, and certainly avoiding the impression that youre appealing to children at all costs.

Currently, it seems companies such as Champaignon have non-psychoactive mushroom subsidiaries, such as a mushroom tea brand. This is wise because they have CPG products and are creating a target audience base that could potentially converge once they are able to create a psychedelic product and already have an organically engaged audience.

Like the cannabis industry, we are going to have to climb over mountains to change public perception of psychedelic use for medicinal purposes because it has been so counterculture for so many years and brought into the underground market.

It will be very exciting to watch the progression that happens in this industry. Advancements in CPG products are a few years away, so being on the forefront will be exciting.

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An Introduction to Psychedelics in Marketing - Adweek

New research provides preliminary evidence that psychedelic drugs can improve mental health by making individuals more accepting of distressing experiences. The study, published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, adds to a growing body of literature that indicates using substances like psilocybin can result in sustain improvements in depressive symptoms.

Psychedelic therapy has shown promise as a novel treatment for a range of mental health concerns, including major depressive disorder, distress associated with a life-threatening illness, and substance use disorders, said study author Richard Zeifman, a PhD student at Ryerson University and research intern at the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London.

In contrast with the traditional pharmacological interventions, the effects of psychedelic therapy appear to last months and even years after treatment has ended. Understanding how psychedelic therapy leads to long-lasting mental health improvements across a range of conditions is not yet fully understood but is important for enhancing and delivering psychedelic therapy to individuals that may benefit from it.

The researchers were particularly interested in the transdiagnostic construct known as experiential avoidance, meaning the tendency to avoid unpleasant thoughts and feelings. People who score high on a measure of experiential avoidance agree with statements such as I would give up a lot not to feel bad and I go out of my way to avoid uncomfortable situations.

For their study, the researchers used online advertisements to recruit a sample of 104 individuals who planned to use a psychedelic substance and a second sample of 254 individuals who planned to attend psychedelic ceremonies. Both samples completed measures of depression severity, experiential avoidance, and suicidal ideation one week before and 4 weeks after using their psychedelic substance of choice.

Zeifman and his colleagues found that the use of psychedelics in both ceremonial and non-ceremonial settings was associated with decreases in experiential avoidance, which in turn was associated with decreases in depression severity and suicidal ideation 4-weeks after psychedelic use. Psilocybin/magic mushrooms, LSD, and ayahuasca were the most commonly used substances in the study.

Our findings suggest that one of the reasons that psychedelic therapy has positive therapeutic effects is that it helps individuals to be less avoidant and more accepting of their emotions, thoughts, and memories (even though such experiences may be distressing in the short-term), Zeifman told PsyPost.

More broadly, our results provide further support for the negative mental health effects associated with avoidance. This can be summed up with a saying that is often used in the context of psychedelic therapy, that The only way out is through.'

But the study like all research includes some caveats.

There were important limitations to our study, including that our study was not conducted in the context of a controlled clinical trial or within a clinical sample. Accordingly, we are currently conducting research where we are comparing the effects of psychedelic therapy versus a traditional antidepressant (called escitalopram) on experiential avoidance. This research will help to further examine the possibility that psychedelic therapy leads to change through different mechanisms than do traditional pharmacological interventions for depression, Zeifman said.

The study, Post-Psychedelic Reductions in Experiential Avoidance Are Associated With Decreases in Depression Severity and Suicidal Ideation, was authored by Richard J. Zeifman, Anne C. Wagner, Ros Watts, Hannes Kettner, Lea J. Mertens, and Robin L. Carhart-Harris.

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Psychedelic drugs reduce depressive symptoms by helping individuals accept their emotions, study suggests - PsyPost

There's a new neurological case for doing hard drugs. No, this isn't Doctor Oz standing on his pseudoscientific soapbox and preaching about how opium suppositories can cure your male pattern baldness, it's a brand new study from the University of California, San Francisco in the Journal of Psychopharmacology that links ayahuasca usage to positive changes in higher-function brain networks. Journal of Psychopharmacology that links ayahuasca usage to positive changes in higher-function brain networks.

As if you needed another reason to dose up on ayahuasca today, right?

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Ayahuasca is a "brew" prepared using bark from the Banisteriopsis vine and leaves from the Psychotria viridis shrub, both of which have hallucinogenic properties. It is known for pairing well with loose fabrics and the Beach Boys' album Pet Sounds. The Ayahuasca brew was used by ancient Amazonian tribes for religious purposes, and is still used in rituals by some religious communities today.

Studies researching the effects and potential psychotherapeutic use of psychedelics were halted for nearly 70 years due to the taboos surrounding it as a drug with a high potential for abuse. Now, fortunately, researchers are reviving clinical research into psychedelic drugs like ayahuasca as being potentially beneficial to people afflicted with mood disorders.

This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging, which analyzes brain activity by tracking changes in blood flow. The neural activity of their brain was analyzed one day before and one day after 50 study participants were given either a low dose of ayahuasca or a placebo substitute. The results were exciting for psychotherapeutic researchers looking into the benefits of psychedelic use and really exciting for Trent from my organic chemistry class, who skipped the final exam to do shrooms with his brother in Vermont.

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It turns out ayahuasca alters two major brain networks that affect sensational, affective, and motivational functions, while not affecting primary sensory networks or motor functions after the drug has left the system. This is a huge win for the movement to decriminalize recreational and medical psychedelic use in the United States, which has seen many victories in the past decade.

Ayahuasca is only available, legally, for religious or spiritual purposes. It is not one of the DEA's many Schedule 1 Controlled Substances, although its active ingredient, Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), is a controlled scheduled drug. This means you have to go through an ayahuasca "church" to access the brew, and only two religions, Unio do Vegetal (UDV) and Santo Daime, have legal protection for ayahuasca use in the United States, so a large portion of ayahuasca use in the United States is going on without legal protection.

Studies like the one done at UCSF are important because they bolster both the scientific and legal cases for ayahuasca use. The UDV were granted their permission to import and partake in ayahuasca, albeit under strict DEA regulation, from the Supreme Court in 2006. They must register any shipments with more than two weeks notice and any congregation trying to cultivate plants for the ayahuasca cultivation must register with the DEA as a manufacturer of controlled substances. The restrictions on Sainto Daime are even more severe, so recognizing the potential long-term benefits of the drug is a step towards cutting through the red tape keeping a potentially life-changing treatment from people in the United States.

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Tripping on Ayahuasca has always been fun, but now it might be good for you - GOOD Magazine

Are shrooms the new cannabis in Canada?

In the U.S., the Washington D.C. Board of Elections is allowing an initiative to decriminalize psychedelic plants, including magic mushrooms, to appear on Novembers ballot, after supporters gathered more than 25,000 signatures, according to the Washington Post.

If approved, the U.S. capital would join Denver, Oakland, Calif., and Santa Cruz, Calif., which have decriminalized psychedelics.

But, not so fast, says Canadas federal government.

Yes, earlier this month, Health Minister Patty Hajdu allowed four incurable Canadian cancer patients to undergo therapy which used psilocybin the psychedelic ingredient in magic mushrooms to ease their distress.

But that doesnt mean magic mushrooms, and other psychedelics, currently banned and only allowed in clinical trials or research in Canada, are on the fast track to decriminalization or legalization.

The Government of Canada is not proposing to decriminalize psilocybin or other controlled substances at this time, said Public Health Agency of Canada spokesman Tammy Jarbeau.

In 2019, Health Canada authorized psilocybin for use in a clinical trial for patients with treatment-resistant depression.

Still, CNN reported that the Canadian governments decision marks the first time since 1974 a legal exemption cleared the way for patients in this country to use psychedelic treatment.

Local cannabis advocate Lisa Campbell believes medicinal mushrooms are following the path of medicinal marijuana in Canada with recreational mushroom use still years away.

There are so many companies that are pivoting from cannabis to psychedelics, were going to see a lot of research to not only decriminalize but legalize psychedelics, at first for medical use, but it could push them to recreational use, as cannabis has done, said Campbell, the Toronto-based CEO of Mercari Agency Ltd., a cannabis sales and marketing company.

A lot of universities are finally more open to psychedelic research. Its finally becoming mainstream, she added. Its really fascinating that this is being done in Canada. For many years, people have been preparing for this paradigm shift in drug policy so the fact that were finally here in 2020 is really progressive and inspiring to be at the forefront of this movement.

Campbell said a Toronto clinic recently opened to treat those suffering from drug-resistant depression and anxiety with ketamine. While abused as a party drug, ketamine is primarily utilized in veterinary surgery.

She also said there are also mushroom dispensaries popping up online.

In Vancouver, theres almost de facto decriminalization, said Campbell. Its much more progressive there.

It has been for years, she added. They had the medical cannabis dispensary movement that started in Vancouver on the West Coast. Its so interesting to see how the same trends that we saw with cannabis, with the medical (use), are happening as well with mushrooms.

CNN reported New York University Langone Health researchers published a study this year in which 29 patients suffering from cancer-related anxiety and depression were given a single dose of psilocybin with psychotherapy. According to the findings, and 60% to 80% showed improvement.

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From pot to shrooms: What's next for decriminalization? - The GrowthOp