Category Archives: Psychedelics

According to a group of physicians in Scotland, MDMA could be used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) "within three years."

Doctor and psychotherapist James Hawkins wants medics to join up for training to examine how MDMA may assist manage mental illnesses.

Read this next: We went undercover in a Chinese MDMA factory

Hawkins, who treats patients with other psychedelics such as psilocybin, believes that studies demonstrate MDMA is extremely cost-effective.

In 2018, 76% of the 28 involved in a Phase Two trial undertaken in Colorado didn't meet the clinical diagnostic criteria of PTSD 12 months after receiving treatment.

The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies in California commissioned MDMA-assisted therapy research, which found that 67% of patients in the MDMA group no longer qualified for a PTSD diagnosis two months following treatment, compared to 32% in the placebo group.

Hawkins, who practises in Edinburgh and helped form the UK's Psychedelics Health Professionals Network, is afraid that therapy will be available before enough trained doctors are ready to provide it.

It is likely MDMA will be licensed for therapy in three years. There will be a big need for this in Scotland. But, who will be administering it?

Read this next: Scientists are recommending MDMA for treating mental health after lockdown

"I see us being able to do this and let professionals have an experience of psychedelics, he said.

"Psychedelic drugs still arent really part of the medical curriculum, other than in the context of these are harmful class A substances.

"Psychedelic-assisted therapy could save society billions in terms of reduced contact with mental health services, reduced presentations at A&E, less prescribing, regaining of lost productivity and improved physical health as a result of improved mental health".

Read this next: Molly: Everything but the girl

He hopes that his organisation, which is working to get charity status, will be able to assist.

Dr Jake Hawthorn, a psychiatrist in southeast Scotland who is interested in utilising psychedelics to treat addiction, believes that conventional medicine is recognising the need for new methods of treatment.

He said: "MDMA is expected to be licensed in the US in 2023. I think well follow within a couple of years, starting with psilocybin, maybe 2025.

"If doctors are keen to work with psychedelics, it could be highly beneficial for them to have experience of what the psychedelic entails."

[Via: The Times]

Aneesa Ahmed is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow her on Twitter

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MDMA could soon be used to treat PTSD according to physicians - Mixmag

-Mr. Barrow previously served as interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Development Officer of MindMed

-Carol Vallone appointed as Chair of the Board of Directors, Andreas Krebs appointed as Vice Chair and Perry Dellelce transitions from his role as Chairman-

NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021 /CNW/ -- Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc. (NASDAQ: MNMD), (NEO: MMED), (DE: MMQ) (the "Company"), a leading biotech company developing psychedelic-inspired therapies, today announced that Robert Barrow was appointed as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors, effective immediately. Mr. Barrow previously served as interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Development Officer of MindMed and brings strategic expertise and deep industry insight to his role.

Mindmed logo (PRNewsfoto/Mind Medicine, Inc. (Mindmed))

Mr. Barrow commented, "I am delighted to join MindMed's Board of Directors and look forward to building on the progress to date alongside our outstanding executive leadership team, all while advancing the Company into the future. This is an exciting time for MindMed, and my immediate priority will be to leverage the necessary resources to advance our clinical development programs. In parallel, our team will continue to explore new opportunities that expand MindMed's pipelinebringing forward novel therapies and executing on our mission to deliver on the therapeutic potential of psychedelics for the many patients in need."

Mr. Perry Dellelce has stepped down from his role as Director and Chairman of the Company's Board of Directors, effective immediately. With the departure of Mr. Dellelce, the Board has appointed Ms. Carol Vallone to serve as Chair of the Board of Directors and Mr. Andreas Krebs to serve as Vice Chair.

Mr. Dellelce added, "It has been a tremendous honor to serve on MindMed's Board of Directors, and I am incredibly proud of everything our team has accomplished. Rob, Carol and Andreas' diverse backgrounds across the biotech and healthcare industries will be invaluable as MindMed continues its efforts to transform mental health treatment. I have the greatest confidence in the leadership team's ability to maximize the value of our platform and successfully lead MindMed through this next phase of continued growth."

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Ms. Vallone added, "Since MindMed's inception, Perry has played a pivotal role in the Company's evolution to become a leader in the psychedelic sector. I, along with the entire Board and executive team, wish to formally acknowledge and thank him for his guidance, vision and significant contributions. As we enter this inflection point and execute on our path forward, we are thrilled to name Rob as our permanent CEO, whose strategic agility, strong leadership and impressive track record makes him exceptionally well qualified."

Robert Barrow is an accomplished pharmaceutical executive with over a decade of experience leading organizations and drug development programs in a variety of disease areas. Mr. Barrow is a recognized leader in the psychedelic industry, in which he has played a central role in the design and execution of several successful regulatory and drug development strategies. Mr. Barrow previously served as the head of drug development & discovery at Usona Institute, where he led research and development efforts for Usona's psychedelic drug candidates and was responsible for obtaining Breakthrough Therapy Designation for psilocybin in the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder. Prior to his tenure at Usona, Mr. Barrow served as Chief Operating Officer and a Director of Olatec Therapeutics, where he oversaw the execution of numerous early and late-stage clinical trials in the fields of analgesics, rheumatology, immunology and cardiovascular disease. Mr. Barrow has also served as a technical and strategic advisor to numerous large and small pharmaceutical companies developing novel central nervous system therapeutics and has been an invited speaker at multiple industry and scientific presentations. Mr. Barrow holds a M.S. in Pharmacology from The Ohio State University and a B.S. from Wake Forest University, where he graduated summa cum laude.

Carol Vallone is an esteemed executive and corporate board director, with a strong track record in launching, scaling and selling global companies. Currently, she serves as Board Director, Chair of Compensation Committee, and Member of Audit/Finance Committee at MindMed. She also serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees at McLean Hospital, the #1 ranked freestanding psychiatric hospital and largest psychiatric affiliate of Harvard Medical School, as well as the board of trustees at MGH Institute of Health Professions and on the finance committee at Mass General Brigham. Additionally, Ms. Vallone serves as a board member for the publicly traded Cresco Labs, and for a Bain Capital Double Impact portfolio company, Arosa. She is also an Advisory Director for the investment firm, Berkshire Partners, and an Advisory Board Member of the healthcare-focused venture growth firm, Longitude Capital. In addition, Ms. Vallone has served as founder & CEO of global e-learning companies, held management positions in leading corporate technology companies and served on the boards of a public financial services and private e-commerce organization.

Andreas Krebs is an internationally experienced executive, entrepreneur and best-selling author ("The Illusion of Invincibility"). He heads the family-owned investment company Longfield Invest (Langenfeld/Germany), which focuses on growth companies in various industries as well as in the new economy. He has worked in seven countries, in Latin America, Asia and Canada and as President and Executive Board Member of Wyeth Corporation in the United States. Andreas Krebs was Chairman of the Supervisory Board and Shareholder Council of Merz Pharma, Frankfurt am Main, Germany from 2010 to 2019, is currently a member of the Supervisory Board of the European eye clinic group Veonet (Nordic Capital Group) and holds other board positions across various sectors. Furthermore, he serves as Chairman of the private non-governmental organization, Frderverein Girassol eV, which supports children and young people from socially difficult backgrounds in So Paulo, Brazil.

About MindMedMindMed is a clinical-stage psychedelic medicine biotech company that seeks to discover, develop and deploy psychedelic-inspired medicines and therapies to address addiction and mental illness. The Company is assembling a compelling drug development pipeline of innovative treatments based on psychedelic substances including psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, DMT and an ibogaine derivative, 18-MC. The MindMed executive team brings extensive biopharmaceutical experience to MindMed's approach to developing the next generation of psychedelic-inspired medicines and therapies.

MindMed trades on the NASDAQ under the symbol MNMD and on the Canadian NEO Exchange under the symbol MMED. MindMed is also traded in Germany under the symbol MMQ.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release related to the Company constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws and are prospective in nature. Forward-looking information is not based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations and projections about future events and are therefore subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "will", "may", "should", "could", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "anticipate", "expect", "believe", "potential" or "continue", or the negative thereof or similar variations. Forward-looking information in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the ability to execute on our business strategy, expand our pipeline and achieve growth. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, such information involves risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such information, as unknown or unpredictable factors could have material adverse effects on future results, performance or achievements of the Company. There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and the Company's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information, including history of negative cash flows; limited operating history; incurrence of future losses; availability of additional capital; lack of product revenue; compliance with laws and regulations; difficulty associated with research and development; risks associated with clinical trials or studies; heightened regulatory scrutiny; early stage product development; clinical trial risks; regulatory approval processes; novelty of the psychedelic inspired medicines industry; as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to herein and the risks described under the headings "Risk Factors" in the Company's filings with the securities regulatory authorities in all provinces and territories of Canada which are available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on EDGAR at http://www.sec.gov. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend and does not assume any obligation to update this forward-looking information.

For Media: media@mindmed.co

For Investors: ir@mindmed.co

Cision

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SOURCE Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc.

Cision

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MindMed Appoints Robert Barrow as Chief Executive Officer and Director - Yahoo Finance

CHICAGO and TORONTO, Dec. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wesana Health Holdings Inc. (Wesana or the Company) (CSE: WESA; OTCQB: WSNAF), a data-driven life sciences company, is pleased to announce receipt of a commercial viability analysis conducted by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) which validated and will expedite Wesanas partnership talks with Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) and MAPS Public Benefit Corporation (MAPS PBC). The parties will move forward with the negotiation of their definitive agreement to study the use of MDMA-assisted therapy to treat symptoms associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

This analysis brings us one step closer to partnering with Wesana to conduct research into the potential of MDMA-assisted therapy in the underserved TBI population, said MAPS Executive Director, Rick Doblin, Ph.D. This market analysis makes the case even more compelling for our partnership.

Daniel Carcillo, CEO of Wesana Health added, The receipt of favorable results in the MAPS-commissioned BCG report is a critical milestone in what will be the first-of-its-kind collaboration between MAPS and Wesana, facilitating our definitive agreement conversations regarding MDMA-assisted therapy for TBI symptoms.

The BCG report forecasts a continuing favorable environment for this collaboration. Should a definitive agreement be entered into, it is expected to accelerate the parties research timelines and provide additional support to MAPS for further investigation, advocacy, education, and equitable access to MDMA-assisted therapy for TBI symptoms.

Carcillo continued, With the overall reported cost of TBI in the range of ~$76.5 billion annually in the US according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the market is ready for a new solution. We remain committed to this important work as we move toward our goal of MDMA-assisted therapy for TBI symptoms and would be thrilled to deliver meaningful help to victims, families, friends and communities whose lives have been impacted by TBI.

About Wesana HealthWesanaHealthhelps people transcend barriers in mental health and performance.We innovate in care development through our therapies and proprietaryprotocols, and in care delivery through activating a new multidisciplinary, technology-supported clinical model. Learn more atwww.wesanahealth.com

ABOUTMAPS

Founded in 1986, MAPS is a 501(c)(3) non-profit research and educational organization that develops medical, legal, and cultural contexts for people to benefit from the careful uses of psychedelics and marijuana. MAPS is sponsoring the most advanced psychedelic therapy research in the world: Phase 3 clinical trials of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD. Since its founding, MAPS has raised over $130 million for psychedelic and marijuana research and education and has earned both the Guidestar Platinum Seal of Transparencyand a 4-Star Rating from Charity Navigator.

ABOUTMAPS PUBLIC BENEFIT CORPORATION

MAPS Public Benefit Corporation (MAPS PBC) catalyzes healing and well-being through psychedelic drug development, therapist training programs, and sales of prescription psychedelics while prioritizing public benefit above profit. Founded in 2014, MAPS PBC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws with respect to the Company, including the completion and timing of entering into a partnership with MAPS and information concerning the expected benefits thereof; and any other statement that may predict, forecast, indicate or imply future plans, intentions, levels of activity, results, financial position, operational or financial performance or achievements. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as plans, expects, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates, will, projects, or believes or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements that certain actions, events, results or conditions may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Except for statements of historical fact, information contained herein constitutes forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management at the date the statements are made.

The formation of a partnership between the Company and MAPS remains at a preliminary stage. Certain assumptions that influence successfully forming such a partnership include: (i) the ability of the Company to successfully negotiate and enter into definitive documentation in respect of the contemplated partnership with MAPS and satisfy any related conditions precedent; and (ii) the ability of the Company to raise sufficient additional capital to be able to fund such potential partnership with MAPS.

Other general assumptions include, operating conditions remaining favorable, including sustained availability of third-party service providers and other inputs for the Companys operations; sustained political and regulatory stability; and sustained stability in capital goods markets.

While the Company considers the foregoing assumptions to be reasonable, the assumptions are inherently subject to significant business, economic, social, political, regulatory, competitive, and other risks and uncertainties, contingencies and other factors that could cause actual performance, achievements, actions, events, results or conditions to be materially different from those projected in the forward-looking information. Many assumptions are based on factors and events that are not within the control of the Company and there is no assurance they will prove to be correct.

Furthermore, such forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual performance, achievements, actions, events, results, or conditions of the Company to be materially different from any future performance, achievements, actions, events, results or conditions expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others: inability to negotiate, settle, enter into or execute upon a definitive partnership arrangement with MAPS; inability to raise sufficient additional capital to fund such potential partnership with MAPS; research and development of drugs targeting the central nervous system being particularly difficult; competition from other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies; maintaining and enhancing reputation and brand recognition; ability to protect intellectual property; requirements to share intellectual property with service providers; negative operating cash flow and going concern; the detrimental impact of future losses and negative cash flow from operations; unfavorable publicity or consumer perception; not achieving publicly announced milestones; psychedelic inspired drugs possibly never being approved as medicines; reliance on the capabilities and experience of key executives and scientists; disruptions due to acquisitions or collaborations; COVID-19; litigation; conflicts of interest; limited operating history; exposure to the fluctuation of foreign exchange rates; enforcement of judgments and effecting service of process on directors and officers; general economic, market and business conditions, and other risks factors including those found in the Companys managements discussion and analysis for the three- and nine-months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020 and the Companys annual information form dated September 3, 2021 filed on the Companys profile on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com and discussed in the Companys other public filings available on SEDAR.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such forward-looking information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is provided and made as of the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake any obligation to revise or update any forward-looking information other than as required by applicable law.

For more information, please contact:

Investor Contact:Keenan GentryEmail: IR@wesanahealth.comPhone: 773-236-7972

Media Contacts:Nick Opich / Fallon CarterKCSA Strategic CommunicationsEmail: Wesana@kcsa.comPhone: 212-896-1206

On behalf of the Board of Directors:Daniel Carcillo, Chief Executive OfficerPhone: 773-236-7972

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MAPS and Wesana Health Resume Negotiations - GlobeNewswire

I worry I know too much about Will Smith. I know that he drew up a list of beautiful women he wanted to invite into his own personal harem, and that Halle Berry was one of them. I know that he and his wife, the actor Jada Pinkett Smith, were at one point so miserable together that they decided to have an open relationship, and that Pinkett Smith had a brief fling with a rapper named August Alsina. I know that Smith once contemplated pushing his wheelchair-bound father down the stairs as retaliation for the abuse he enacted on his mother as a child. Off the top of my head, I dont know when Smith had his last bowel movement, but I imagine its easy to find out if I did a quick Google search.

For the past few years and ever since Pinkett Smith launched her confessional, hot-button-pushing Facebook chat show Red Table Talk the Smith family have been our most foremost celebrity truth-tellers, answering probing and deeply personal questions that no one was especially asking. Pinkett Smith has revealed that her husband doesnt always know how to sexually satisfy her, has discussed the success of her non-surgical vaginal rejuvenation, her former addictions to alcohol, ecstasy, cannabis, sex and pornography, and how she absolutely isnt a Scientologist.

Smith, meanwhile, has confessed the following: that he was deeply jealous of his wifes friendship with the late Tupac Shakur; that he once went too method and fell madly in love with his one-time co-star Stockard Channing; and that he had a midlife crisis leading to weeks of solitude, international travel and experimentation with ayahuasca. In the trailer for Smiths forthcoming YouTube docuseries, which chronicles his weight gain and subsequent health and exercise journey, he reveals he once considered suicide.

Such openness stems, at least according to Pinkett Smith, from a healthy place. She told NPR in 2019 that after working substantially on her marriage and her own mental health she came to believe that healing can only come with total frankness. I just realised that in part of my growth, the women and the people who had the courage to be very transparent with me with certain aspects of their journey really, really helped my journey tremendously, she said. I was like: why dont we talk about this more often? Why is it such a secret of what people go through?

But in a time when the biggest A-listers tend to divulge very little about their politics or sex lives, as a result rendering many a celebrity profile thuddingly anodyne, this is refreshing if incredibly weird. There is something excitingly free-wheeling about the Smith family Red Table Talk, especially, is one of the few celebrity-fronted side hustles to make good on its promise of actual candidness but it also leaves them slightly exhausting as people. Every few weeks, but particularly amid the November releases of Smiths new memoir and his Oscar-tipped film King Richard, fresh personal revelations seem to spring forth, so much that its almost become a running joke. Everything I know about Jada and Wills marriage I learnt without my consent, read one viral tweet last month.

Theyve undoubtedly been humanised, and Im sure many will have felt comforted by the pairs refusal to bend to slightly unrealistic expectations of monogamy, marriage and family. Its a good thing, after all, to see one of the worlds most famous couples admit that, actually, long-term relationships can be really hard to navigate. It does mean, though, that its harder for Smith and Pinkett Smith to disappear anymore. We know so much about them as people that seeing them play somebody else onscreen as in King Richard, or the forthcoming Matrix Resurrections, in which Pinkett Smith reprises her role from the original trilogy becomes less convincing.

The Smiths are no longer untouchable movie stars exuding glamour and mystery, but middle-aged norms with just as many sexual hang-ups and bits of psychologically acrimony as you have. Thats probably been the point of all of this particularly when the specifics of the Smiths marriage always seemed to be gossiped about when they stayed quiet about it but it doesnt make it any less disappointing as a fan of their acting. When I see Will Smith in a movie, I want to be swept up in his performance. I dont want to wonder if it was filmed before or after he as a dubious treat for his wifes birthday tracked down the descendants of the white family that once owned her ancestors.

More:

Sex, psychedelics and murderous impulses: Do we know too much about Will Smith? - The Independent

The Toronto-based company said that it will be focusing on comparing the potency of two candidate tryptamines, which were narrowed from an initial list of six

PharmaDrug Inc announced that the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI) will commence in vitro characterization studies on PharmaDrug's short-list of N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) analogue molecules, which will support IND-enabling studies for the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) review.

The psychedelic research company said that it has commissioned TIBI, under a research agreement, to develop a novel ocular drug delivery platform that aims to deliver psychedelic and tryptamine-based pharmaceuticals, related to DMT for eye diseases.

"We are extremely excited to finalize the first stage of the program in devising an initial list and selecting a final set of two candidate DMT analogue molecules. Initial in vitro efficacy studies will commence immediately, said Daniel Cohen, CEO of PharmaDrug.

He added: The next few months will be vital in characterizing relative drug potency and selecting a single lead candidate to take forward for further development. The following phase will focus on IND enabling efficacy studies using a well-accepted animal model of POAG (primary open-angle glaucoma)."

The Toronto-based company said that it will be focusing on comparing the potency of two candidate tryptamines, which were narrowed from an initial list of six. Current studies at TIBI will take place in three phases in vitro, head-to-head evaluation of potency in cell-based models of glaucoma;evaluation of efficacy (ability to lower intraocular pressure - IOP) when applied as a topical eyedrop in animal models of glaucoma; and development and testing of a medical device capable of delivering sustained, local, sub-psychotropic levels of the development candidate to patients afflicted with glaucoma.

PharmaDrug said that it is anticipating an update on initial research results in late November.

Glaucoma is a disorder of the optic nerve that results in irreversible vision loss and is the second leading cause of blindness in the world, according to the World Health Organization.

Glaucoma impacts more than 2.7 million people aged 40 or older in the USand current treatments are known to have poor rates of compliance of up to 80% of patients. The global market for glaucoma was estimated by Market Scope at $4.8 billion in 2019 with the US market representing $1.9 billion.

Tryptamines are thought to work differently to lower IOP and as such, potentially embody a new class of glaucoma medications that may be used alone, or in combination with already approved medications.

The substance, often hallucinogenic above certain threshold concentrations, constitutes a large collection of molecules that selectively act on multiple different serotonin receptors including 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A. Topical application of several different tryptamines has shown early promise in preclinical models of elevated IOP.

However, factors such as formulation, delivery, the potential for undesirable hallucinogenic side effects, and the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 have all contributed to a lack of development of tryptamines to treat this serious threat to vision.

PharmaDrugs streamlined focus on two highly promising, undisclosed tryptamines as a potential therapeutic solution in treating glaucoma represents a potential paradigm shift, the statement said.

The pharmaceutical company is focused on the research, development, and commercialization of controlled substances and natural medicines such as psychedelics, cannabis, and naturally-derived approved drugs.

Contact Ritika at ritika@proactiveinvestors.com

Excerpt from:

PharmaDrug commissions TIBI for advancing psychedelics program with analogue DMT formulation to cure eye diseases - Proactive Investors USA

Portfolio diversity is always ideal, but what if you had to go all in on just one with exactly $1000 to invest?

While some advise to play it safe, others opt for the more riskybut potentially rewarding investment strategies, focusing on nascent spaces like crypto, psychedelics and cannabis.

Of these three, which is the most appealing to today's marketplace?

Each sector received its support among the unscientific polling this writer conducted. An October LinkedIn poll saw 40% selecting cannabis. Crypto received 38% of the votes, with psychedelics receiving 22%.

This article should note that the pool ofLinkedIn respondents largely came from the cannabis industry.

Going off traffic from Benzinga, much of the readership is eager to learn more about crypto. Significant interest is centralized on all things Elon Musk, Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) and Shiba Inus. As of early November, other topics of interest include emerging assets like Floki Inu (CRYPTO: FLOKI) and prominent names like Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH).

On November 2, 2021, just two of the site's top 20 read articles were not about crypto. The first cannabis article to make the list came in at 27. Psychedelics didn't crack the top 50 that day.

Dr. Jeremy Britton, CFO of BostonCoin, believes that cannabis and psychedelics are "fascinating solutions for many real-world problems" but noted their similarities to pharma stocks.

Britton, a financial analyst for 29 years, gave the edge to his sector due to its lack of red tape, saying regulations can delay rollouts and ROIs for years.

"It is often the red tape and regulations which slow some of these projects down for many months, if not many years," Britton said."As much as crypto can be dangerous due to its lack of regulation, the lack of red tape also gives it speed."

Jonathan Seif, managing partner at the disruptive tech-focused advisory firm The ProFolio Group, also notedcrypto's rapidly evolving market."With large financial institutions purchasing billions of dollars in crypto, the industry is not slowing down."

Though voicing concerns about the other markets, Seif believescannabis still has a "considerable runway to clear before taking off in a sustainable way."Psychedelics,while exciting, are a decade behind cannabis, he added.

In conversations for previous articles, sources have hypothesized alternative outcomes where psychedelics could catch up to, or even outpace, cannabis regulations.

Waneta Jaikarran, director of brokerage ops for E1 Asset Management, favors crypto, citing ongoing political decisions.

"Given that the government will keep increasing the debt ceiling and making things unattractive, crypto was created to counteract that," Jaikarran said.

If possible, she'd recommend diversifying the funds. "My current outlook on crypto is using it as a hedge."

Brett Sifling, director of financial planning program Get Invested at Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, highlighted the potential of cannabis a market his firmheavilyfocuses on.

Sifling believes that crypto could face large drawdowns while public psychedelic companies are in their earliest stages.

Sifling leans toward ETFs such asAdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (NYSE:MSOS)."Instead of making a bet on just one cannabis company, you'd have exposure to nearly 30 different cannabis companies spanning multiple industries."

Rick Batenburg III, chief investment officer at Cliintel Capital Management Groupsaid each market has its own models and needs to assess, calling cannabis"the easiest and smartest choice" to invest in.

Citinglooming federal reform and adult use status in many states as reasons he's invested, Batenburg says hedoes notsee psychedelics following the adult-use route. He referred to crypto as "purely forex trading" notbacked by "real diligence."

Industry outsiders like Kristen Bolig, founder of home and online security company SecurityNerd, opted for cannabis, citing digital concerns.

"With the digital threat landscape for hackers becoming much larger over the past 18 months, investing in anything that is so heavily intertwined with the world wide web comes with a lot of risks," he cautioned.

Overall, each sector offers potential if a person understands the space.

Shuan Heng, VP of operations for the crypto-asset tracking site CoinMarketCap, advocates for people investing in their expertise.

Heng likes the freedom crypto creates for people. He also made a case for plant medicines and similar substances, saying, "Many others could be motivated by investing in the mental health potential of psychedelics or the medical applications of cannabis."

Photo:Ron Lach from Pexels

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I Have $1,000. Should I Invest In Cannabis, Crypto Or Psychedelics? - Benzinga - Benzinga

Psychedelic medicines may represent a new frontier for end-of-life care, as well as psychiatric treatment. While these substances including LSD, MDMA, psilocybin and ketamine, among others remain illegal, grass roots support for decriminalization or medical use is growing. Meanwhile, venture capitalists and other investors are spending billions to get on the ground floor of what could become a new health care industry.

Much of the research and discussion on medical use of psychedelics has focused on care at the end of life. Interest in the potential medical benefits of these substances became widespread during the 1960s, but research all but stopped after they were criminalized through federal legislation in 1970. The first inklings of a resurgence began in the late 1990s, and momentum has picked up during the last decade.

The evidence is just so compelling, and we have very little in terms of tools in our medical bag to be able to help people who are suffering from existential distress, anxiety and depression related to a serious illness diagnosis, Shoshana Ungerleider, M.D., internist at Crossover Health in San Francisco, founder of the organization End Well,said. We want people to be able to live fully until they die. If psychedelics given in a controlled therapeutic environment with trained clinicians who can help them do that, then these medicines should be more widely available.

End Well recently produced a conference on the subject of psychedelic medicine for dying patients.

The body of scientific literature on psychedelics for dying patients continues to advance. Johns Hopkins Medicine in 2019 established a Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research backed by $17 million in grants.

Researchers have identified a number of clinical benefits, including reduction of anxiety, depression and improved acceptance of mortality, according to a 2019 literature review in the journal Current Oncology. The paper cited studies indicating that the most commonly used psychedelic drugs have no tissue toxicity, do not interfere with liver function, have few interactions with other medications and carry no long-term physical effects. Common side effects tend to be short in duration, such as nausea and vomiting or disruption of visual or spatial orientation.

Patients who use psychedelic medicines often report what researchers commonly describe as a mystical experience, involving a feeling of unity, sacredness, deeply-felt positive mood, transcendence of space and time, and other effects that study participants found difficult to verbalize, according to the Current Oncology paper.

This can be transformative for people with anyone who is wracked with trauma, grief, loss or extreme states of suffering, Sunil Aggarwal, M.D., co-founder, co-director and practitioner at the Advanced Integrative Medical Science (AIMS) Institute in Seattle, told Hospice News. Theres also evidence that these substances can also reduce physical pain.

Aggarwal is a board-certified hospice and palliative care physician and a past chair of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM).

All psychedelics are illegal at the federal level and in most states. Oregon in 2020 became the first in the union to remove criminal penalties for all illegal drugs and is now in the process of establishing the nations first state-licensed psilocybin-assisted therapy system.

More action has been happening at the local level, with communities such as Washington, D.C., Denver, Ann Arbor, Mich., three Massachusetts cities, and Santa Cruz and Oakland in California voting to decriminalize some psychedelics and permit medical use. Some of these regions are now considering statewide decriminalization.

Connecticut and Texas each have laws on the books that created work groups to study the medical use of psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine. Legislatures in Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Missouri, Vermont and New York state are currently mulling decriminalization or medical use bills.

In late July, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) reintroduced an amendment to remove federal barriers to research the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances. The U.S. House of Representatives quickly shot down the legislation, though it garnered more support this round than the previous time it was introduced.

We quite a few years off from having enough trained therapists and a policy pathway for which these can be made more widely available in a controlled therapeutic setting, Ungerleider said. Theres just so much interest right now among patients and among family members to learn more about this. All health care professionals need to have an understanding of where were at with psychedelics.

Interest in psychedelics has transcended the research space and entered the business world. The familiar adage, follow the money, frequently provides good indicators of which way the wind is blowing.

The psychedelics industry is expected to bring in more than $6.85 billion by 2027, Forbes reported. Many of these investors are seeking to reproduce the lucrative results of the cannabis industry that emerged in the wake of legalization among a number of states. A recent report indicated that 36 states and four territories allow use of medical cannabis products, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The largest investors in psychedelics include the venture capital firms Conscious Fund, Explorer Equity Group and Pala Santo. Earlier this year, Florida-based cannabis and psychedelics attorney Dustin Robinson co-founded Iter Investments, a new venture capital group focused on that sector.

A United Kingdom-based psychedelics-focused pharmaceutical company, Compass Pathways (NASDAQ: CMPS), went public in Sept. 2020 and is now worth an estimated $1.2 billion.

Theres a unique opportunity to be able to go ahead and develop and commercialize [psychedelics] to a much larger patient population, health care investor and venture capitalist Andrew Lee told Hospice News. Itll be interesting to see how natural pharmaceuticals might work. Theres the nonprofit, sacred path, the pharma path and the botanical drug sort of path. The most important thing is that this is another tool in the toolbox for treating a number of conditions.

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Psychedelics Could Be New Frontier in End-of-Life Care - Hospice News

Detroit has joined the growing number of cities and states that have decriminalized entheogenic plants and fungi, more colloquially known as magic mushrooms and psychedelics.

Voters, including the citys incumbent mayor who won a re-election, passed Proposal E on Tuesday night to decriminalize entheogenic plants and fungi. Just more than 61 percent of voters supported the measure, with nearly 39 percent of voters opposing it, according to the City of Detroits unofficial election results Wednesday.

Detroiters voted in high numbers in support of further decriminalization, Michigan State Sen. Adam Hollier of Detroit told the PBS NewsHour after the election. The war on drugs was a war on Black and brown communities and its good to see Black communities pushing back.

Voters in the majority-Black city were asked whether to amend the city code to decriminalize to the fullest extent permitted under Michigan law the personal possession and therapeutic use of Entheogenic Plants by adults and make the personal possession and therapeutic use of Entheogenic Plants by adults the citys lowest law-enforcement priority.

READ MORE: Why the push to decriminalize psychedelics is growing in Michigan

State and federal law still prohibits personal possession and therapeutic use of entheogenic plants and fungi. But decriminalizing use and possession within city limits means the local police department does not prioritize arrests for those offenses, unless theyre linked to another crime. The measure did not authorize commercialization of the plants and fungi.

The entheogenic plants include psilocybin mushrooms, ibogaine from Africa, ayahuasca from South America and peyote and mescaline from certain cacti.

In the efforts to decriminalize both marijuana and psychedelics, critics have shared fears about fewer penalties leading to more drug use and potentially to more crime.

A growing body of research suggests that these substances can help relieve post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction and withdrawal symptoms, major depression and anxiety, among other conditions.

Along with pointing to research on medicinal benefits of these substances something 35 percent of voters support, according to a Hill Harris-X poll in June supporters say decriminalizing them is also way to help curb some of the racial disparities that emerged in law enforcement as a result of Richard Nixons so-called war on drugs.

The war on drugs continues to destroy the lives of so many, and has specifically targeted people of color and other vulnerable communities, said Eugene Katz, a Detroit resident who voted in favor of the proposal. But the people are changing that with ballot measures like this its part of a nationwide movement to reclaim our inalienable right to the earth and the gifts it offers people, like the entheogenic plants many hold sacred, which have a long history of safe use and a culture with deep roots reaching back thousands of years

The Detroit proposal comes when many states and cities have decriminalized or legalized the medical or recreational use of marijuana or cannabis, and are now beginning to do the same with entheogenic plants or fungi. Denver was the first city to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms in 2019. Since then, Oregon, Rhode Island, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, along with eight other U.S. cities have decriminalized entheogenic plants and fungi in some way.

READ MORE: Oregon leads the way in decriminalizing hard drugs

In September 2020, in a unanimous decision, Ann Arbors City Council passed legislation to decriminalize the possession, non-commercial use, and cultivation of entheogenic plants and fungi. Shortly thereafter, the Washtenaw County Prosecutors Office issued a policy directive to make prosecuting people for crimes involving entheogenic plants and fungi its lowest priority.

Another resolution in in Grand Rapids, Michigan, authorized more research into entheogenic plants and fungi as a potential step toward decriminalizing them

Other Michigan cities beginning to organize around this issue include the Detroit suburbs of Hazel Park and Madison Heights; the states capital city, Lansing, and neighboring college town East Lansing; upstate tourist destination Traverse City; Ypsilanti, which neighbors Ann Arbor; and Flint.

In September 2021, Hollier and fellow state senator Jeff Irwin of Ann Arbor introduced a bill to decriminalize the manufacture, possession, delivery, and use of entheogenic plants and fungi statewide. It also allows usage of entheogenic plants and fungi for research. Commercial production and sale would still be prohibited. The bill is now waiting in the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee.

Now that Detroit has joined the list of cities that has taken action on entheogenic plants and fungi, I hope the state legislature will quickly adopt the legislation we have to decriminalize these natural psychedelics, Hollier said.

WATCH MORE: Why psychedelic drugs are having a medical renaissance

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Detroit just decriminalized psychedelics and magic mushrooms. Heres what that means - PBS NewsHour

Since ancient times, practitioners of traditional medicine across the globe have turned to plants and fungi with psychedelic properties in the hopes of healing the mind and spirit. New research suggests a link between psychedelics and a healthy body, as well.

The study finds a strong association between lifetime use of classic psychedelics and lower rates of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

This observational research does not explore or assert a causal relationship between the compounds and heart health or diabetes. It establishes only a correlation.

No one should read this paper and think that using psychedelics is a good way to prevent heart disease or diabetes, Dr. Edo Paz of K Health told Medical News Today in an email. Dr. Paz was not involved in the research.

The studys lead author, Dr. Otto Simonsson, explained to MNT, We still know very little about the long-term effects of classic psychedelics on physical health. We are in the early days.

The study paper has been published in Scientific Reports.

The psychedelics considered classic fall into three classes, each with similar structures and mechanisms of action. All, however, primarily act as serotonin 2A receptor agonists.

The three classes of drugs are:

Given the medicinal use of psychedelics throughout human history, scientists in the mid-20th century began testing their potential value in treating mood disorders and addiction, often with encouraging results.

However, the criminalization of many of these compounds by the 1970s led to a reduction in psychedelics research.

The 21st century has seen renewed psychedelic advocacy, new funding, and the fading of stigma associated with these substances, and scientists have returned to studying them. In 2000, Johns Hopkins University was the first to receive regulatory approval for psychedelic research, which included healthy volunteers.

The present study was based on data from the 20152018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which included responses from 171,766 adults in the United States aged at least 18.

Use of psychedelics was associated with a 23% lower chance of heart disease and a 12% lower chance of diabetes.

The authors explain:

Respondents who reported having tried a classic psychedelic at least once in their lifetime had lower odds of heart disease in the past year and lower odds of diabetes in the past year.

The research follows an earlier analysis of the same data by Dr. Simonsson and senior investigator Prof. Peter S. Hendricks. Dr. Simonsson explained that it found associations between lifetime classic psychedelic use and lower odds of being overweight, as well as lower odds of having hypertension in the past year.

Of the new studys closer look, he said, It was therefore not completely surprising to find that lifetime classic psychedelic use was also associated with lower odds of heart disease and diabetes in the past year.

Addressing the connection between psychedelics, heart disease, and diabetes, Dr. Simonsson cited another study.There is an in-depth review paper suggesting that psychedelics if administered in the proper context may be conducive to good physical health by promoting positive lifestyle change. This is our working hypothesis, too.

Dr. Paz told MNT that he suspected that People who have tried psychedelic medications probably have other characteristics that differentiate them from people who have not tried psychedelics, and it is those characteristics that are associated with a lower risk of heart disease or diabetes.

So if you want to reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes, explained Dr. Paz, do not reach for psychedelics. Focus on a healthy diet, get plenty of exercise, and maintain a healthy weight. You should also know your blood pressure and your cholesterol levels, and work to keep those in a healthy range.

Whatever the causal link, if any, the study authors write that their investigation demonstrates the need for further research to investigate potential causal pathways of classic psychedelics on cardiometabolic health (i.e., lifestyle changes, mental health benefits, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory characteristics, and affinity to specific serotonin receptor subtypes).

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Psychedelics linked to lower risk of heart disease and diabetes - Medical News Today

Thomas Hartle is an unlikely psychedelics adventurer. The 53-year-old father of two from Saskatoon, Canada, describes himself as being about as ordinary and boring as white bread. Until a few years ago, he had never even considered taking any sort of illegal substance. I grew up in the This is your brain on drugs generation, he tells me when we speak over a video call, referring to the notorious anti-drugs campaign launched in 1987 that featured that memorable slogan over the image of an egg frying on a skillet. I considered that whole class of drugs as not just unhelpful, but as something that ruins peoples lives.

In 2016, Hartle was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. He went through multiple rounds of chemotherapy and radiation treatment, but the cancer returned in August 2019. Faced with the very real prospect of death, he decided to seek out new ways of coping. It was then he remembered research hed come across online, published by Johns Hopkins Medicine in 2016, which suggested (via a small sample of 51 patients) that therapeutic use of psilocybin the active ingredient in magic mushrooms could help decrease depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer.

Last year, Hartle wrote to Canadas Ministry of Controlled Substances to ask for a legal exemption to try psilocybin for himself. He was one of four patients in the country to be granted permission and became the first Canadian to legally experience a psychedelic therapy session on 12 August 2020. The results were immediate, and measurable. The day before, Hartle had registered 36 on the Beck Anxiety Inventory, on which any score above 25 is considered severe anxiety. The following day, using the same metric, he scored six, considered minimal. I knocked 30 points off my standing level of anxiety, says Hartle, And that really lasted for a very long time.

For Hartle, the benefits of psilocybin therapy went far beyond simply reducing his fear and anxiety over dying. He says he found the experience itself to be a profound one, and that it gave him new belief in the possibility of life after death. My views on death have really changed tremendously, he says. Before, life after death was a sort of academic, intellectual concept, whereas now it feels tangible. Ive physically experienced states of consciousness that have nothing to do with this life or anything that I would identify with Thomas.

Hartle is not alone in reporting this kind of positive response. Laurie Brooks, a 53-year-old from Abbotsford, British Columbia, was another of the original group of four patients granted permission to try psilocybin therapy in Canada last year. She also has colon cancer, and in August 2019 her doctors told her she may only have six months to a year to live. It was then she became interested in psychedelic therapy. If this was it for me, I didnt want to be crying and depressed, she says. So I did my trip, and it was such a profound change. I went from feeling desperate, alone and grief-stricken to the next day feeling as if I were able to see my cancer in a box beside me on the floor. I felt in control, rather than it controlling me, and that made a huge difference. A lot of healing has come from that.

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Psilocybin was banned globally as part of the UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances in 1971, primarily for political reasons as psychedelics were considered a destabilising influence whichthreatened established cultural norms. Very little research was done into the potential of psychedelics for the next two decades, but since the early Nineties there have been a resurgence in clinical trials and the approach to psilocybin is now more lenient in some other countries. As well as the compassionate use allowances that gave Hartle and Brooks access to psychedelic therapy in Canada, several areas of the United States have already relaxed legislation around psilocybin. City councils in Denver, Colorado and Oakland, California have both decriminalised magic mushrooms, while in November last year Oregon became the first state to legalise the use of psilocybin for a two-year window for both recreational and therapeutic use.

Psilocybin is a Class A drug in the UK. It is also listed as a Schedule 1 drug under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations (along with substances like MDMA and LSD), which means it cannot be lawfully possessed or prescribed and that a Home Office licence is needed before it can be used in research. Despite the optimistic results of some recent research, sample sizes have been small. Although it is not considered an addictive drug, the potential for a bad trip remains, during which users may experience disturbing hallucinations, panic, delirium and psychosis. Some users may even experience Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD), often referred to as flashbacks, involving perceptual changes lasting weeks or months which can require medical attention.

But pressure is growing on governments around the world to allow greater research into psychedelic therapy in general. Campaigners like Conservative MP Crispin Blunt are calling for psilocybin to be moved to Schedule 2, which would enable the drug to be used in scientific and medical research. Last month,Mr Blunt called on Boris Johnsonto cut through the current barriers to research into psilocybin and similar compounds in the UK.

In response, the Prime Minister said only that his government will consider the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs recent advice on reducing barriers to research with controlled drugs such as the one he describes, and we will be getting back to him as soon as possible. British government pronouncements on this subject often resemble a classic Catch-22: They will allow further research only once further research has been done.

Ive interviewed patients who have used psychedelics and what I hear from them is that it allowed them to talk about scary things

Dr Anthony Back, director of palliative care at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance

These developments have been welcomed by medical professionals like Dr Anthony Back, the director of palliative care at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and a professor of medicine at the University of Washington. Dr Back has spent years studying the way that doctors communicate with patients who are at the end of their lives, and believes the current system often fails both parties. After reading the psilocybin research from Johns Hopkins, as well as a similar study at NYU, Dr Back decided to investigate for himself.

I arranged to have an underground experience with psilocybin. That experience made me think: Wow! There is really something to this. It really is a game changer. His own positive experience has been mirrored by the patients hes spoken to. Ive now interviewed a bunch of patients who have used psychedelics, both in studies and underground, and what I hear from them is that it allowed them to talk about scary things, he says. Usually, our defences go up when we try to talk about these subjects. It turns out, unlike what our egos normally think, that actually we arent destroyed if we talk about death. In fact, something really important and even beautiful can happen.

(Getty Images)

Dr Back offers some insight into how psychedelics are able to have such a transformative impact on brain function. One important aspect is that they physically reduce blood flow to whats known as the default mode network. The default mode network is where all of our stories about me are created. Im the kind of person who likes this, Im not the kind of person who does that, explains Dr Back. What psychedelics do is disrupt all those usual little stories that we have about ourselves. All of a sudden, were able to make connections between things that are already in our brains but that arent usually connected. Psychedelics give you a window of time when you can make all these different connections that are outside of your usual habits of thinking. This description rings true to Thomas Hartle, who offers a metaphor. Its the equivalent of fresh, fallen snow, says Hartle. Where all the old pathways used to be, theres now this fresh covering.

Its the equivalent of fresh, fallen snow. Where all the old pathways used to be, theres now this fresh covering

Thomas Hartle

Part of the reason some doctors and patients are so intrigued by psychedelic therapy is that they believe it provides a form of treatment which conventional medicines simply cant offer, as the San Francisco-based physician Dr Shoshana Ungerleider explains. As MDs, when we see somebody anxious or distressed, we prescribe them medicine like a benzo [Benzodiazepines, drugs used to treat anxiety and depression] or an opiate to calm them down or dull their senses, she points out. Weve been doing that for a long time, because those are the sorts of tools we have, but what that also does is blunt your ability to live fully and be present.

Hoping to open conversations about the best ways to improve end-of-life care, Dr Ungerleider founded the non-profit End Well in 2017. She was so impressed by the potential of psychedelics to transform the field that earlier this month she organised The End In Mind, a virtual conference dedicated specifically to the use of psychedelics. From my point of view, the power of these medicines is that we can not only reduce physical pain symptoms, but also the emotional distress that so many people have around this time of life, she says, urging politicians like the Prime Minister to remove the barriers that still stand against further research. I think we have an obligation as a society to really investigate this fully.

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The people turning to psychedelics on their deathbeds - The Independent