Category Archives: Psychedelics

Leonie, 44, knew where her depression came from but that didnt make it any easier to live with. Growing up in South Africa, where both her parents were violently attacked, left her with what she calls a constant, low hum of insecurity and threat, almost like tinnitus. Her father died when she was 17, and in her 20s, she became her mothers carer. By the autumn of 2019 she had been on antidepressants for more than half her life, with barely a break.

The medication helped to stabilise Leonie during the most severe episodes that left her bed-bound, but in between she was advised to continue on a preventative dose. She experienced a relentless low-level depression: It was almost more debilitating, because youre functional but only half alive. Youre getting by and everything looks okay, but for me, thats a life half-lived.

She tried four different selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors the most common class of antidepressants known as SSRIs as well as two varieties of therapy. The problem was, she says, that in her experience antidepressants numb you. Its what makes you able to deal with the difficult feelings and carry on functioning. But if youre numb to your own pain, its really hard to unpack it and explore it in therapy, make sense of it and file it in a different way. All youre doing is keeping it there under a band-aid.

By November 2019, she was desperate. I thought, Ive got to do something different, because what Im doing is slowly killing me, she says. She came across an innovative new trial on Google, and she felt hope.

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For the last decade, evidence has been building to support the theory that psilocybin the key psychedelic ingredient in magic mushrooms and some other Class A illegal drugs could be an effective tool to understand how mental illness manifests in the brain, as well as a potential treatment. Controlled studies found it had few side effects, and left most people with depression experiencing improved symptoms, and most people with terminal cancer less anxious about death.

I wanted to know how good psilocybin really is, says Dr Robin Carhart-Harris, head of the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London. That meant comparing psilocybin with the standard treatment for depression on the NHS: antidepressants. (In the three months to September 2020, these were prescribed to more than six million people in England.) It meant conducting a double-blind, randomised control trial the most rigorous scientific method of evaluating an intervention, the gold standard.

Every participant including Leonie was thoroughly screened by psychiatrists and other mental health professionals and weaned off antidepressants before taking part. They were randomly assigned to one of the two study arms the psilocybin condition, or the antidepressant condition but were not told which.

Magic mushrooms contain psilocybin, which is showing promise as a treatment for mental health problems Getty Images

They knew they would receive two doses of psilocybin three weeks apart, but did not know if this would be a high or low dose. They also each had a pot of capsules to take at home, without knowing if this pot contained a placebo or escitalopram, a well-performing SSRI.

Participants in the psilocybin arm received 25mg of the drug. That is a whopping dose, enough for a transformative experience. It could be profoundly blissful; it could be profoundly scary; whatever the flavour of it, it tends to be very, very intense, Carhart-Harris says. Those in the escitalopram arm received just 1mg of psilocybin considered a placebo dose and all would receive psychological support before, during and after dosing.

And that, explains Prof David Nutt, director of the Neuropsychopharmacology Unit at Imperial College London, is what makes this trial a game-changer; Thats the real innovation people didnt know what they got, so it was a much better controlled, much more scientific comparison.

On the first day of the study, Leonie met with the two therapists who would be her guides. In a hospital room decorated with Himalayan salt lamps, artificial candles and fake plants, her therapists talked her through a visualisation of a deep-sea dive, which she describes as her handrail for the trip.

Your guides are your anchor, and you can always pull yourself up on them to get back to the surface. But the invitation is to dive deep, to go down to the spiky, dark, grimy, slimy bottom of the ocean to find the pearl, Leonie explains. The pearl, for her, was to get to grips with her depression.

The next day, she watched as the psilocybin was brought into the room in a beautiful ceremonial bowl, and took her dose. As she lay on the bed wearing an eye mask and headphones and listening to music, she understood the trauma of her life with new meaning.

The music sounded discordant at first, and Leonie saw an image of her mother as a limping duck, waddling along with a broken limb. The image encapsulated, she says, my mums process of dying, how broken she was, her limping through a very unfulfilled life, one I felt like I was repeating and not finding the point of it at all.

The therapy room is designed to be a safe and relaxing environment Imperial College London

But as the musics layers built up to a more expansive sound, that broken discordant note that was my mother turned out to be a piece of the most exquisite, transformative masterpiece; all of a sudden, my mums broken notes made perfect sense in the symphony.

Leonie finally felt able to see meaning in the loss, to reframe it, and separate herself and her life out from her mothers. In what she calls a real moment of ancestral healing, she describes taking possession of her own life and mind: I became this point in time; there was my mum, my mums mum, and my mums mums mum, and I felt pain radiating across the ages, and realised in that moment that that pain wasnt mine.

Recognising that pain brought a sense of freedom. My depression became not me. I was liberated for the first time, she says. She took off her eye mask, looked at her guide and said, Im surprisingly unbroken.

This gave her a new sense of distance and separateness from the psychological distress that consumed her for decades: A space was created between me and my depression; I no longer felt held prisoner, she says. Instead of retreading the same ground over and over, its as if theres a fresh bed of snow, and you can start new paths, there are new options. In fact, that whole slope is an option now. Which way do you want to go next?

This image of a fresh bed of snow reflects what Carhart-Harris and Nutt theorise is going on in the brain. In their earlier study of people with treatment-resistant depression, participants had brain scans before and after taking psilocybin, which showed the drug had a significant impact on particular networks, turning off the brain circuits of depression, Nutt says.

Psilocybin in tablet form Eyevine

Carhart-Harris explains that when people develop depression, they build up protective defences to try and fight off the anxiety, fear and pain. Its a hibernation, a disconnection from the world, and that becomes self-reinforcing, he says. Its as if the person can only retread the same footsteps in the snow; they are stuck, ruminating and repeating the same behaviour that doesnt help in depression as in anorexia, alcoholism and OCD among other disorders.

Psilocybin, these scientists think, helps by stimulating the type of serotonin receptors in the brain called 5-HT2A different from the type stimulated by SSRIs. These 5-HT2A receptors are found in the cortex. Carhart-Harris describes the cortex as the aspect of the human brain that is uniquely expanded, relative to our closest evolutionary neighbours.

The cortex is associated with species-specific functions like mind-wandering, imagination and abstract thinking. These receptors seem to be linked to plasticity that is, to neurological change. Psychedelics come in and free everything up, its a window of opportunity to think and behave in a different way, like a psychological rebirth afforded by this blast of plasticity, says Carhart-Harris. Its like a fresh layer of snow falling, so instead of retreading old footsteps, a person can ask, as Leonie did, which way do I want to go next?

Plasticity means change in the brain which can be positive or negative so the trials therapeutic aspect is crucial, says Carhart-Harris: When you twin plasticity with care and compassion from your guide, promoting that in yourself, when you bring that to the experience and an intention to heal and open and let go thats the healing process.

But not everyone taking psilocybin illegally will do it like this. Thats why Carhart-Harris and his team are launching a new app in April, called MyDelica. As evidence for psilocybins impact on mental health is building, more people are using it recreationally, even though its still illegal to be in possession of the drug.

While study participants are carefully screened and attended to by therapists in a safe environment, users in the wild are not. This concerns Carhart-Harris: I know that will come with risks, because I know the potency of psychedelics, he says.

MyDelica does not encourage or promote use of psychedelics but provides advice, such as having a sober guide with you, for those who are already taking them. Its an attempt to de-risk whats happening now with the scaling-up of use like a safety net, he says.

But it is not just that: by asking MyDelicas users questions about their psychological history and their trips, Carhart-Harris hopes to get rich, deep data on people taking psychedelics in all sorts of contexts. It really enhances the science because we can get bigger data than we can in expensive controlled studies, and we can address different questions, he says.

In controlled studies, people with a history of psychotic disorders are screened out; in the real world, they dont screen themselves out. Carhart-Harris hopes this app will improve understanding of potential dangers. After all, an analysis of 346 self-reports by psilocybin users in February 2020 found that taking multiple doses of psilocybin in one session, or combining it with other substances, was linked with long-term negative outcomes, and in some cases the use of mushrooms in high doses was linked to medical emergencies.

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Carhart-Harris is hopeful that in 2021, psilocybin will be accepted as a mainstream mental health treatment. He cites influential figures in academic psychiatry, along with consultants and advisors for Big Pharma companies, who have begun working with psychedelic medicine start-ups.

These experts include Guy Goodwin, who is the former head of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology and emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of Oxford; and former head of the American Psychiatric Association Paul Summergrad, who is now the Dr Frances S Arkin Professor and chairman of psychiatry at Tufts University.

Carhart-Harris also mentions the Drug Policy Reform Group, a lobby group annexed to the Conservative Party, in which there are quite active, vociferous people wanting to see change in drug policy. But how long will it be before Big Pharma get involved?

Id be very surprised if theyre not taking this really quite seriously, Carhart-Harris says. The mental healthcare company COMPASS produced the psilocybin used in his trial, and is also running a study for 216 patients with treatment-resistant depression, with results expected at the end of 2021.

In studies, Dr Robin Carhart-Harris (left) has seen success in using psilocybin to treat depression. He is hopeful that it will soon be accepted as a mainstream treatment Imperial College London

When I ask COMPASS co-founder Dr Ekaterina Malievskaia how long she thinks it will take for psilocybin to become a mainstream treatment, she says, Were just moving as fast as possible, but not faster. She estimates three to five years from now.

Carhart-Harris is clear that psilocybin should not replace antidepressants, which do help some patients. I dont believe psychedelic therapy is the cure for everything; I just think it is a very powerful potential treatment option, he says. There is reason to be hopeful about treating your and your loved ones mental illnesses.

There is a problem, however, and its quite a big one. Psilocybin is still classified as a Class A illegal substance. Nutt has been investigating the therapeutic potential of illegal drugs for 40 years, and he sounds optimistic that things are beginning to change.

At least people like you are writing articles. Frankly, 10 years ago you probably wouldnt have been allowed to; it wouldve been seen as too controversial and provocative. So I think the fact that were having an open discussion is truly, probably, the greatest thing weve achieved.

Carhart-Harris and his team published the results of their gold-standard experiment in April 2021.

Leonie was convinced she had been in the escitalopram arm of the trial. Although the trip was powerful, she says, I didnt have the textbook experience. I did not turn into a panther in some Amazonian forest, lose all sense of self or not know where my arms were. I was able to get up halfway through to go to the bathroom. But after the study was completed, she found out shed had the high dose of psilocybin.

Then things went, in her words, spectacularly wrong. Stresses piled up: unemployment, financial insecurity, Brexit, a ruptured appendix. And then the country went into lockdown. Her depression returned and she went back on short-term antidepressants to stabilise her. And then I came off them. This is the longest Ive been unmedicated since my early 20s, she says. It is still a struggle, but she is really feeling the feelings and getting through it, I have come out of this stronger and psychologically more resilient.

Its not that the psilocybin cured her, she says, but Im building on that idea that Im not broken, that I can do this. It just takes practice, because being human is a bit messy. Every time I face the fear and come through it really feels like thats my healing.

WARNING:Psilocybin is a Class A drug according to UK law. Anyone caught in possession of such substances will face up to seven years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both. More information and support for those affected by substance abuse problems can be found atbit.ly/drug_support.

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Inside the experiment that could bring psychedelic drugs to the NHS - BBC Focus Magazine

Could 5-MeO-DMT help people with treatment-resistant depression?

From magic mushrooms to ketamine, psychedelic drugs are having a serious heyday across the planet. Currently seeing considerable interest and acceptance by the public to treat emotional distress, the so-called third wave of psychedelics is cresting. And with that swelling attention is the creation of the essential machinery to support the new medical model including consistent protocols and training preparation for clinicians.

The first known incarnation of psychedelics use is thought to have happened over the past few thousand years across parts of the globe and led by healers in ritualistic settings. People taking psychedelics and convening with spirits to better understand their lives. The second wave peaked in the West with widespread experimentation during the counterculture era of the 1960s (namely using LSD and mescaline), alongside the miasma and expansion of Vietnam War protests and the civil rights movement, then unceremoniously fizzled out due to the protracted War on Drugs.

Today, the energy behind psychoactive drugs as medicine is being propelled in clinical settings in the hallowed academic halls of research titans like Johns Hopkins, U.C. San Francisco and Imperial College London. Unlike the 1960s, there is now greater support for psychedelic research from governments in North America and Europe as many millions of dollars are being pumped into the field by enthusiastic donors and investors. That has put researchers firmly on a path to developing psychedelic meds and systems that may help people cope with and potentially heal from chronic emotional distress. Quantum leaps of change are occurring as scientists tinker with formulations, tweaking chemical compositions into better tools for mental health practitioners. They are creating and refining drugs to care for patients with debilitating conditions like anxiety, eating disorders, addiction and treatment-resistant depression.

Enter the substance 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine, known popularly as 5-MeO-DMT or toad. While it is naturally present in small quantities in a variety of plants and animals, the substance is most notably derived from the venomous secretions of the Sonoran Desert toad. Following a spark of popularity in the underground beginning in the 1980s with a man named Ken Nelson, who in 1984 wrote the cult classic pamphlet Bufo alvarius: The Psychedelic Toad of the Sonoran Desert (under the pseudonym Al Most), the drug remained in relative obscurity until about 2010 when another surge of popularity occurred. While there has yet to be a clinical trial completed on the effectiveness of 5-MeO-DMT as a medicine for emotional trauma, numerous anecdotal reports point to the drugs ability to provide users with significant changes in contentment with life and easing of mental anguish. One study published in 2019 by Maastricht University, collected from 42 individuals, detailed how a single inhalation of 5-MeO-DMT vapor in a naturalistic setting was related to sustained enhancement of satisfaction with life, mindfulness-related capacities, and a decrement of psychopathological symptoms.

Today, there are a number of entities, including many serious practitioners in the underground (note that 5-MeO-DMT is a controlled substance in the U.S and U.K.) and both for-profit and non-profit groups seeking to harness the medicinal benefits of the 5-MeO-DMT molecule. One of those parties is Beckley Psytech, a strategic partner of the NGO the Beckley Foundation in the U.K., founded by psychedelic maverick Lady Amanda Feilding. The foundation has for over 20 years focused on evidence-based drug policy reform and scientific research into psychedelic medicines. In 2020, we raised over $22 million in funding and developed an intranasal formulation of synthetic 5-MeO-DMT thats set to be tested later this year, says Cosmo Feilding Mellen, CEO and founder of Beckley Psytech. Well be breaking new ground with the first clinical study on intranasal 5-MeO-DMT, conducting an initial Phase 1 trial with 42 participants.

Dr. Fiona Dunbar, chief medical advisor at Beckley Psytech, who held a prior role as vice president of global medical affairs at drug maker Janssen (the pharmaceutical division of Johnson & Johnson), sees a future for 5-MeO-DMT in the psychotherapeutic toolkit. From a classical regulated pharmaceutical drug development perspective, 5-MeO-DMT is a very interesting compound with a unique receptor binding profile, says Dunbar. The available data on its pharmacological effects are intriguing.

Dunbar is in a position to speak on the subject. Her work at Janssen for over 29 years has included development of the drug esketamine, the first psychedelic-based psychiatric drug to be licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2019. It was modeled after the drug ketamine, an anesthetic that has been used for many years to treat depression. Dunbars years of experience developing psychoactive drugs as well as drug development across a range of therapeutic areas including neurosciences, immunology, oncology and infectious diseases ultimately led her to her position at Beckley Psytech and to identifying the potential of 5-MeO-DMT as a medicine that could have a real impact on patients with treatment-resistant depression.

In tandem with preparing to prove their formulation of 5-MeO-DMT as an effective drug in clinical trials later this year, Beckley Psytech is now collaborating with clinicians from the group Fluence, an organization in the U.S. that focuses on psychedelic education and training of mental health providers in psychedelic treatments. A key part of Beckley Psytechs clinical trial efforts will include the critical infrastructure that takes patients through preparation prior to taking the drug, assistance during the potentially destabilizing psychoactive experience, and subsequent integration following the typically expansive time on 5-MeO-DMT. That all requires a steady hand by qualified therapists.

Co-founders of Fluence, Dr. Ingmar Gorman and Dr. Elizabeth Nielson, will collaborate with the Beckley Psytech to create the new training program. Each of the therapists has experience working on FDA-approved clinical trials with MDMA to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psilocybin used for treatment-resistant depression. The pair were also recently co-authors of the first peer-reviewed paper defining the framework of psychedelic integration and its importance in patient care. Published in Frontiers in Psychology, the paper outlines how mental health providers may benefit from understanding the unique motivations, experiences and needs of people who use psychedelics.

From a training perspective, training clinicians to do this work is something that is quite different for many clinicians than what they may have previously been trained to do, says Nielson. She notes that therapists who come to this type of training will be skilled clinicians with their own various skillsets and practices however, they may have little to no frame of reference for working in psychedelic models.

It could be a new paradigm for them, she says of therapists working with patients using 5-MeO-DMT. The very idea that theyre using something that they may not have considered medicinal or therapeutic as part of psychotherapy, and theyre being asked to see someone through that experience, thats new for a lot of people.

Beckley Psytech says their intention is also to develop a training program with Fluence that will enable therapists to interact with patients remotely, leveraging digital technologies to improve patient treatment and care, and reduce utilization of healthcare resources. Thats an important facet providing access to the masses by keeping costs reasonably affordable for patients who wish to use psychedelic medicines.

Developing a specific psychotherapy program for 5-MeO-DMT and the training materials to deliver it are vital steps in the progression of our lead formulations eventual journey to market, says Dunbar. Fluence is a leader in its field when it comes to psychedelic-assisted medical training and ensuring that patients can access the benefits of psychedelic medicines with confidence and surety, and were excited about the new doors this strategic partnership will open.

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Researchers In Europe, U.S. Team Up To Produce First Ever 5-MeO-DMT Psychedelic Training Program - Forbes

Los Angeles, April 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Psychable,the online community for people who are interested in legally exploring or offering psychedelic-assisted therapy, has officially launched. Providing thousands of listings for psychedelic practitioners across the U.S., Canada, and international locations, the platform aims to be the most comprehensive and trusted resource for those curious in exploring the legal use of psychedelics as medicine, and offers a community-reviewed, curated database of practitioners available to connect with clients directly through the platform.

Psychedelic-assisted therapy refers to the therapeutic practices that involve the use of certain psychedelics for healing purposes. Recent studies have shown that when administered under the supervision of a therapist, along with proper aftercare and integration support, psychedelic-assisted therapy can have impactful results when it comes to treating those suffering from migraines, addiction, PTSD, depression, mental health issues, emotional trauma, and other ailments. For those looking for alternative, holistic options in taking care of their mental health, psychedelic-assisted therapy is a powerful new tool.

As the understanding of psychedelics as medicine grows and research confirms that they can offer transformative healing, interest in the field has grown among Western medical communities, State governments, and those seeking lasting treatments for a variety of ailments.

Psychable is a comprehensive resource for those at any stage of their journey with psychedelics, featuring proprietary, medically-reviewed articles written by the Psychable medical team and access to listed professionals ranging from credentialed and licensed therapists trained in Western medicine to experienced guides with years of hands-on experience.

Designed to be a community-driven platform, visitors can search listings through a variety of filters including substance type and geolocation. From there, they can learn more about each practitioner through listings, as well as community-generated reviews on treatments, interactions and experiences, and connect directly with the practitioner of their choosing located near them.

The launch of Psychable is the first step in the companys mission to provide education around the role of psychedelics as part of holistic health, advance the dialogue in culture and key communities surrounding psychedelics, and advocate for legislation that increases access to legal psychedelic treatments.

The launch of Psychable is a significant step forward for psychedelic-assisted therapy, as it provides a safe environment for both those seeking treatment options and practitioners to connect securely and discuss individual health plans that may provide transformative, lasting relief, said Jemie Sae Koo, CEO, Psychable. Psychable brings together generations of wisdom from Indigenous healers across the globe, information on the encouraging research in Western science that showcases the impactful healing power of psychedelics, and firsthand testimonials from patients into one place to provide a powerful resource for those at any stage of their journey with psychedelics from information seeking to aftercare.

The company is founded by serial entrepreneurs Jemie Sae Koo and Matt Zemon, a pair united in a belief that psychedelics can provide meaningful and transformative treatments for not only those struggling with a myriad of ailments, but also those looking to transform their lives for the better. With both having transformative experiences with psychedelic medicine that led them to each pursue a Master of Science Degree in Psychology with a focus on Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy, theyve curated a team of experts with deep experience to lead the Psychable community to support all phases of the journey from information to integration.

Psychable is open to all those who seek information on psychedelic-assisted therapy and connects them to practitioners who can help. For more information, to create your profile or secure your listing, please visitwww.Psychable.com. Follow along with Psychable via social media onLinkedin,Instagram,Twitter, andFacebook. Join the social discussion through #NatureHeals.

About PsychablePsychable is the comprehensive online community connecting those who would like to legally explore the healing power of psychedelics with medically and peer-reviewed practitioners. The community offers support for those seeking information, current patients, and practitioners wherever they are in their journey with psychedelic-assisted therapy. Our mission is to transform the lives of millions of people, especially those suffering with conditions such as depression, PTSD, and addiction by connecting them to psychedelic-based treatments, including integration, psychedelic-assisted therapy, and retreats. Psychable launched in 2021 and is led by Jemie Sae Koo and Matt Zemon, successful entrepreneurs whose transformative experiences with psychedelic medicine led them to each pursue a Master of Science Degree in Psychology with a focus on Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy. The platform is supported by a passionate team of experts in psychology, business, medicine, and law. For more information on our mission and community, visithttps://psychable.com/, or follow us onLinkedin,Instagram,Twitter, andFacebook.

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Psychable, the Online Platform for Psychedelic Healthcare, is Live the Comprehensive Resource Connects Those Seeking Information on Legal...

Welcome to theCannabis Countdown, the Legal Marijuana Industrys Number One Curated Weekly News Recap.

In This Weeks Edition, We Recap and Countdown the Top 10 Cannabis and Psychedelics Industry News Stories for the Week of April 12th 18th, 2021.

Without further ado,lets get started.

*Yahoo Finance readers, pleaseclick here to view the full article.

10. Brad Rogers, Chairman & CEO of Red White & Bloom Appears on FOX 5 New York and The Dales Report

Rogers Interview With TDR Touched on a Variety of Topics, Including the Companys Impressive Revenue Growth and the Potential Passage of the SAFE Banking Act

Red White & Bloom (CSE:RWB) (OTCQX:RWBYF)announced that its Chairman & CEO Brad Rogers appeared on the FOX 5 New York TV segment NY Street Soldiers The Business of Legal Marijuana hosted by Lisa Evers on Friday, April 16th, 2021. In addition to his appearance on FOX 5 New York, RWB head honcho Brad Rogers also sat down for an interview with The Dales Report, a popular digital business media website.

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9. Bicycle Day And the 1962 Harvard Experiment That Showed Psilocybin Can Create Lasting, Positive Spiritual Change

April 19 is a Big Day Every Year for People Who Love Psychedelics as its the Anniversary of a Momentous, Stoned Bicycle Ride Taken in 1943 by Albert Hofmann, the Chemist Who First Synthesized Both LSD and Psilocybin

While working for Sandoz Pharmaceuticals in 1938, he had synthesized LSD from ergot, an invasive fungus that infects rye. Five years later he accidentally scratched some LSD into his skin. Intrigued by the mental changes he experienced, he purposefully ingested 250 mg of the drug a few days later; that was a whopper of a dose. Hofmann asked his lab assistant for help getting home. They both got on their bicycles, and the assistant escorted him to safety. Today on April 19 we celebrate that Hofmann made it home at all and that the psychedelic era was launched.

READ FULL BICYCLE DAY ARTICLE

8. Largest Virtual Cannabis Investor Conference to be Held On 4/20

The Event Will Include Over 30 Video Presentations By Publicly Traded Cannabis Companies in the Hemp and CBD Space

SRAX (NASDAQ:SRAX), a financial technology company that unlocks data and insights for publicly traded companies through Sequire, its SaaS platform, will be hosting a cannabis-focused virtual conference, held on April 20th, 2021 (or as some call it, 4/20) from 11:30 AM 5:00 PM EST. The event will also host Dr. Sue Sisley who is an Arizona Physician and President of Scottsdale Research Institute who will be chatting with Steven Hawkins who is the Interim CEO of the United States Cannabis Council and Executive Director of the Marijuana Policy Project.

READ FULL CANNABIS CONFERENCE ARTICLE

7. In Canada, Psychedelics Re-Emerge in Treatment of Depression

To Manage Her Stress and Fears, Andrea Bird Who is Suffering From Terminal Cancer Uses Psychedelics, Which Are Seeing a Sudden Re-Emergence in Canada as a Possible Treatment for Mental Health Conditions Such as Anxiety and Depression

The 60-year-old Canadian was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012. Despite aggressive treatment, the disease returned five years later, spreading to her lungs, bones and brain. As she tries to cope with her incurable ailment, Bird uses psilocybin, the psychoactive substance of hallucinogenic mushrooms that was banned in the 1970s.

READ FULL CANADA PSYCHEDELICS ARTICLE

6. Poll: 69% Of Americans Support Cannabis Legalization

A Record-High 69% of Americans Support the Legalization of Marijuana, According to a New Quinnipiac University Poll

Thats up by 18% compared to the first time interviewers conducted the survey in 2012, and 12% from 2019. The survey showed that 62% of Republicans favor ending prohibition. In addition, Democrats support the cause as well, with 78% of them being in favor.

READ FULL LEGALIZATION POLL ARTICLE

5. Researchers in Europe, U.S. Team Up to Produce First Ever 5-MeO-DMT Psychedelic Training Program

From Magic Mushrooms to Ketamine, Psychedelic Drugs Are Having a Serious Heyday Across the Planet

Currently seeing considerable interest and acceptance by the public to treat emotional distress, the so-called third wave of psychedelics is cresting. And with that swelling attention is the creation of the essential machinery to support the new medical model including consistent protocols and training preparation for clinicians.

READ FULL PSYCHEDELIC TRAINING ARTICLE

4. Why Cannabis Operators Expect Record 420 Despite Coronavirus Concerns

The High Holy Day of Pot is Almost Here and Ready to Shake Off the Rust From Last Year

April 20, the most celebrated day in cannabis, is usually marked with copious amounts of pot. Last year, the online marketplace I Heart Jane saw a 35% sales increase the week of 420 versus a typical sales week. Data from Headset shows cannabis sales spikes around 420 in California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Beverages (54%), topicals (41%) and concentrates (41%) were the highest growers during the period.

READ FULL 420 ARTICLE

3. Could Psilocybin Be as Effective as Antidepressants?

A Small Study Indicates That Psilocybin, the Active Compound in Psychedelic Mushrooms, Could Have Similar Effects to Pharmaceuticals

Over the past few years, there has been an emerging body of evidence thatPsilocybin, or the active compound in magic mushrooms, could serve as a potentially effective treatment for major depressive disorder. On Wednesday, the New England Journal of Medicine added to that body of research with a small study from Imperial College London, which indicated that psilocybin could potentially be a more efficient, and equally effective, treatment for depression as a common antidepressant.

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2. California Bill to Legalize Possession of Psychedelics Clears Second Senate Committee

A Second California Senate Committee Has Approved a Bill to Legalize Possession of a Wide Range of Psychedelics and Create a Working Group to Study Broader Reform

The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Scott Wiener (D), advanced through the Health Committee on a 6-2 vote on Wednesday. This comes one week after the Public Safety Committee approved the proposal. If enacted into law, the bill would remove criminal penalties for possessing or sharing numerousPsychedelicsincludingPsilocybinmushrooms,DMT,MDMA,LSDandIbogainefor adults 21 and older.

READ FULL CALIFORNIA PSYCHEDELICS ARTICLE

1. U.S. House Approves Marijuana Banking Bill For Fourth Time, Setting Up Senate Consideration

The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday Approved a Bill to Protect Banks That Service State-Legal Marijuana Businesses From Being Penalized By Federal Regulators

After receiving an initial voice vote earlier in the afternoon, members passed theSAFE Actlegislation by a final recorded vote of 321-101. The legislation, which was reintroduced by Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) and a long bipartisan list of cosponsors last month, was taken up under a process known as suspension of the rules, which does not allow for amendments and requires a 2/3rd supermajority to pass.

READ FULL CANNABIS BANKING ARTICL

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Cannabis Countdown: Top 10 Marijuana And Psychedelics Industry News Stories Of The Week, 4/20/2021 - Benzinga

(J. the Jewish News of Northern CaliforniaviaJTA) Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, while some people were dabbling with new hobbies, Rabbi Zac Kamenetz was going all in on a lifelong fantasy.

Kamenetz has a vision. He dreams of a world in which the trauma of the Jewish past can be healed through psychedelic experiences, a world in which chemically assisted mystical encounters are a normative part of Jewish spirituality.

Someday I see a space, maybe in the East Bay, where people can have safe and supported psychedelic experiences individually, and then integrate those experiences in a community that is invested in the application of mystical experiences with other people, he told J. the Jewish News of Northern California, in 2019. This is total science fiction because it doesnt exist.

It does now. After losing his job as the director of Jewish learning and living at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco during a round of pandemic layoffs, Kamenetz decided to go for it. He founded Shefa, which means flow in Hebrew; the organizations tagline is Connect With Divine Flow.

In less than a year, Kamenetz has secured funding from Jewish donors, as well as Dr. Bronners Family Foundation (as in Dr. Bronners Magic Soaps, the earthy brand with fine print all over the bottle) and the Riverstyx Foundation, which funds a number of psycho-spiritual projects.

He also has begun to hold regular integration circles, support group-like gatherings in which fellow travelers discuss and come to terms with their psychedelic experiences.

Later this spring Kamenetz is staging a two-day event that promises to put Shefa on the map the first-ever Jewish Psychedelic Summit. Its a collaboration among Kamenetz; Madison Margolin, editor of the psychedelics magazine DoubleBlind; and Natalie Lyla Ginsberg, director of policy and advocacy at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies.

Ginsbergs group, MAPS, has deep Jewish roots. Its founder, Rick Doblin, was inspired by a dream about surviving the Nazis to devote his life to promoting psychedelics as a cure for human ills and an insurance policy against another Holocaust. The organization has supported research and policy to advance psychedelics as a therapeutic tool.

Shefas summit will zoom in on uniquely Jewish questions related to psychedelics. To be held virtually with four sessions each on May 2-3, the summit will bring together dozens of rabbis, scholars, artists and more for panels with topics such as Did Psychedelics Play a Role in Ancient Jewish Practice? What Draws so Many Jews to India? and Jewish Trauma and Psychedelic Therapy: What Is Culturally Informed Care?

Psychedelic substances whether organic, such as psilocybin (magic mushrooms) or synthetic (such as LSD) are illegal virtually everywhere in the country, although some have been decriminalized to varying degrees in Oakland and Santa Cruz, California; Denver, Colorado; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and the state of Oregon. But that hasnt stopped researchers and other practitioners some funded by MAPS from beginning to delve into the medical applications of these substances, such as treating PTSD, anxiety, depression and other conditions.

Kamenetz has had two experiences with psilocybin, and both were done legally as part of a Johns Hopkins University study of psychedelic experiences in clergy of various religions.

Those experiences were among the most powerful of his life, he said, and convinced him of the need for psychedelic-assisted healing in the Jewish community.

Im one of the very few people who can say theyve had a legal experience with psychedelics in this country, Kamenetz said. To be able to speak freely about it without the stigma because its not just people talking about doing illegal things its allowed people to start having a more open conversation about it. When theres the opportunity to hear from someone who did this in a legal environment, people will listen more.

And for Jews who have already been working with or using psychedelics, Kamenetz is proud to be creating a platform where they can talk about it more openly.

I think weve gotten ahead of the market, he said. If it wasnt me, it wouldve been someone else.

Ben, a 34-year-old graduate student who didnt want to use his full name, is one of the many Jews who have used psychedelic substances. Hes attended two Shefa integration circles, 90-minute affairs that can include some Jewish chanting, brief text study and discussion of personal psychedelic experiences.

He appreciates the open, nonhierarchical vibe.

People are encouraged to share about their experiences, ask questions, receive feedback, Ben said.

I have a significant and long-standing psychedelic background. I have had a lot of conversations about it with similarly inclined Jews.

Ben first heard about Shefawhen Kamenetz was interviewed on the Judaism Unbound podcast.

I knew right away this is a conversation I want to be part of, he said. And I sort of got the same sense from a lot of other people, a shared sense that it was important to talk about and do and explore this, to create spaces where we can talk about it.

When the Jewish Psychedelic Summit was announced, Ben didnt even bother looking at the list of speakers.

I just saw the name [of the conference] and said sign me up, he said, though he admits hes excited about hearing from Rodger Kamenetz, the poet and author of The Jew in The Lotus.

RabbiKamenetz (no relation) is excited, too.

Weve got this big Jewish family of psychedelic enthusiasts who are coming and contributing to making this thing happen, he said. Thats why it feels so significant to me. Ive never been part of something that really felt like a movement.

RELATED: Meet Rick Doblin, the Jewish psychedelics advocate working to turn a club drug into legal medicine

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Jewish psychedelics movement gets a boost from a laid-off rabbi and a first-ever conference - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Proactive Research analyst Ed Stacey takes a closer look atLtd (CSE: PSYC) (OTCQB: PSYCF), a health supplements company developing a unique range of products which harness the properties of a specific type of mushroom.

The functional mushrooms market is a large and growing segment in consumer health, currently running at around US$30bn per year globally.

Within the sector, many companies are looking at ways to work with psychedelic mushrooms, which are believed to offer physical and mental health benefits when consumed at low doses.

Click here to read Proactive analyst Ed Stacey's initiation report on 'Psyched Wellness - The drink of the gods'

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Psyched Wellness: Partly psychedelics and partly consumer wellness - Proactive Investors UK

Toronto To manage her stress and fears, Andrea Bird who is suffering from terminal cancer uses psychedelics, which are seeing a sudden re-emergence in Canada as a possible treatment for mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.

The 60-year-old Canadian was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012. Despite aggressive treatment, the disease returned five years later, spreading to her lungs, bones and brain.

As she tries to cope with her incurable ailment, Bird uses psilocybin, the psychoactive substance of hallucinogenic mushrooms that was banned in the 1970s.

I found it to be the most helpful thing that I did in coming to terms with the fact that my life is ending much sooner than I thought it would, Bird said.

Im still dying, she said matter-of-factly, but added that psilocybin makes me feel like I can stand up.

I really love my life, and I really dont want to die, but I have to find a way to surrender to what is actually happening.

Bird, who lives in Ontario, is among about 30 Canadians, most of them struggling to face the end of their lives, who have received federal dispensation since August 2020 to use psilocybin for therapeutic purposes.

TheraPsil, a nonprofit organization based in British Columbia, has helped most of them get exemptions to Canadas controlled substances and drug act for compassionate treatment.

The group also has connected patients to doctors and therapists who oversee their use of the drug.

These trial cases come amid mounting interest from researchers and investors, as well as a public push to reconsider bans on psilocybin, LSD, DMT, mescaline and other mind-altering substances such as MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy.

In the U.S., Oregon legalized psilocybin for therapeutic use last November.

Psychedelics have been used by indigenous peoples for millennia, but Western researchers only started delving into their properties and potential uses in earnest in the middle of last century.

But that work came grinding to a halt when the substances quickly became symbols of the anti-establishment counter-culture movement of the 1960s and were banned.

Over the past 20 years, however, the persistence of some researchers, a mental health crisis and a shift in public opinion toward greater tolerance of drugs such as cannabis which Canada legalized for recreational use in 2018 paved the way for a psychedelics renaissance.

Now there are more people who are willing to just look at the facts rather than the political weight they may carry, explains Rotem Petranker, associate director of the University of Torontos Psychedelic Studies Research Program, which looks at the effects of micro-dosing on mood and creativity.

Researchers are studying the potential benefits of these substances for treating depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance addictions and anorexia.

The most advanced clinical trials are focused on using psilocybin for severe or treatment-resistant depression and MDMA for PTSD.

Ecstasy powder after a seizure of drugs in Nice, France. | AFP-JIJI

Some of the studies have yielded promising results.

A recent clinical trial from Marylands Johns Hopkins University which has just opened a research center dedicated to psychedelics showed that two doses of psilocybin, accompanied by psychotherapy, produced large, rapid and sustained effects in patients suffering from serious depression.

Of the 24 participants, 71% showed a reduction of more than 50% of their symptoms after four weeks and half went into remission, the study revealed.

Another small-scale study involving 59 participants, conducted by Imperial College Londons Center for Psychedelic Research, showed psilocybin was at least as effective as conventional antidepressants, the research team said this week, though adding that larger trials were needed.

Were experiencing a revolution in psychiatry, said Alexandre Lehmann, a cognitive neuroscientist who teaches at McGill University in Montreal.

There are new approaches to alleviating and curing serious and disabling mental health problems, which affect a large number of people, and for which there are currently no good solutions.

Since their discovery in the 1950s, drug treatments for depression have hardly changed at all.

Conventional antidepressants which notably target serotonin, a key hormone that regulates mood have been criticized for being slow to act and for their side effects, including dulling emotions and reducing creativity.

They also dont always work, explains Nisha Ravindran, psychiatrist and professor at the University of Toronto.

We know that standard antidepressants dont help a significant proportion of the population. In fact, more than 30 to 40% simply dont respond and require alternatives, he said.

For some patients, psychedelics could come to the rescue through a new model of therapy involving a limited number of doses providing a transformative experience that might address their core issues.

Psychedelics can cause a profound alteration of perceptions and consciousness. The experience is unpredictable. For some, it can seem otherworldly.

Although much is still not known about how the drugs work, researchers believe they act on the brains default mode network, associated with introspective thoughts and ruminations, by temporarily lulling the ego, explains Lehmann.

Animal studies suggest they enhance brain plasticity, helping to re-organize neural connections, he says.

Psychedelics have low toxicity and are generally not addictive, but they can cause paranoia and anxiety attacks, especially in high doses. Researchers are still unsure about the addictive nature of MDMA, a derivative of amphetamines.

For therapy uses, doses are prepared in labs and the experience is supervised, so the risks are limited, Lehmann says.

The substances make patients more sensitive to their emotions and allow them to examine their thoughts from a new perspective.

Psychedelics are catalysts for psychotherapy, Lehmann says.

Before receiving government dispensation to use the drugs, Bird had twice tried psychedelics on her own, ingesting them at her home in the company of a guide.

She brewed and drank a hallucinogenic mushroom tea that led to several hours of vivid waking dreams. It took months of analysis to make sense of them, she says.

Death showed up a couple of times but it was not at all scary it was just waiting for me, she said of her first experience in late 2018.

It was the idea that this happens to everyone, that life is a gift that we get to have for a little while and then we have to give it back. And that became very clear to me.

Since the cancer spread to her brain, Bird has on the advice of her doctors reduced her intake of the drug and now takes micro-doses.

Hallucinogenic mushrooms for sale at a shop in Amsterdam. | AFP-JIJI

The potential medical benefits of psychedelics have piqued the interest of a growing number of investors in recent years.

Some startups are developing treatments based on these substances, while others are opening psychedelic therapy clinics.

Several are listed on stock exchanges, notably in Toronto and New York, which already trade shares in numerous cannabis companies.

The British firm Compass Pathways, one of the heavyweights in the sector, is currently valued at more than $1.4 billion on the Nasdaq.

Field Trip Health is one of those companies betting on psychedelics.

Founded in Toronto in 2019, it has already opened five clinics in Canada and the United States and plans to build a network of 75 clinics in North America by 2024.

Psychedelics are happening, says Ronan Levy, one of the founders.

The company offers psychotherapy enhanced by low doses of ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic that is legal for medical use, which can induce a trance-like state or a sense of disconnect between body and mind.

Ketamine has been used in surgeries since the 1960s and also became a fixture on the club scene. Some studies have suggested it may allow rapid relief of depressive symptoms for people with treatment-resistant depression.

With moss-covered walls, essential oil diffusers and comfy armchairs, the Field Trip Health clinic in Toronto located in a trendy neighborhood, in a loft with exposed pipes and with a view of the iconic CN Tower has the feel of a spa.

The clinic is accessible to those whose depression or other mental disorder is clinically resistant to treatment, meaning patients must have already tried at least two types of conventional treatments.

A typical course of treatment costing 4,700 Canadian dollars (about 409,000) includes six doses of ketamine and about ten sessions of psychotherapy.

Lying on a zero gravity chair with a mask over their eyes and music in their ears, patients let a ketamine lozenge melt under their tongues and are transported on a trip of about an hour.

A therapist stays in the room throughout the treatment, and then talks to the patients.

Mathieu, a 35-year-old who underwent treatment in June 2020 and asked only to be identified by his first name, called the experience really powerful.

I had the impression of breaking into a thousand pieces and being everywhere at the same time, he said.

When I was going back down, there was an hour window where my emotions felt pure what I had in mind came out without worry, I had no more filters.

Putting aside the hype and promising early results, the use of ketamine in mental health care is not universally backed.

The length of its effects appear to be limited, and critics point to risks of dependence and other possible complications. There is also no consensus on the value of combining its use with psychotherapy.

In the United States, many are worried about the boom in private clinics offering intravenous ketamine, without systematic psychiatric follow-up.

For Jeffrey Lieberman, chief psychiatrist at Columbia University Medical Center, it is a worrying sign that the practice has leapt ahead of the research.

More generally, others note that there is still a lack of solid evidence on the benefits of psychedelics. They say more and larger clinical trials are needed.

LSD blotter tabs on top of a U.S. coin. | AFP-JIJI

Some researchers are also concerned that the current commercial craze and enthusiasm among top proponents are giving rise to a sense that psychedelics are a miracle pill, leading some to try it alone or with low-quality substances.

In Canada, reports have surfaced of people turning to unlicensed therapists and bootleg psychedelics for personal growth or to ease pandemic fatigue, leading to a blossoming black market.

Proponents of ketamine therapy say it helps lay the groundwork for the future use of classic psychedelics such as psilocybin, with the most enthusiastic projections suggesting the first new treatments will be approved in the coming years.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has already indicated that it is receptive to the idea: Since 2017, it has granted a breakthrough therapy designation for trials on psilocybin and MDMA.

In Canada, a pioneer of the cannabis industry, legalization of psychedelics is not yet on the table, but Health Minister Patty Hajdu has said she is open to supporting research, saying it would help move forward this conversation.

In addition to exemptions for patients, the government has just authorized 19 health professionals to test psilocybin themselves in an effort to understand its effects and train themselves on how to use it in a therapeutic context.

The country has also announced its intention to restore access to restricted drugs including psychedelics through its Special Access Program, which allows doctors to request the use of substances not yet approved for clinical use in dire situations. A public consultation ended in mid-February.

If the proposal is approved, requests will be handled on a case-by-case basis, meaning access to these therapies for certain patients could be facilitated.

Bird says she hesitated before speaking publicly about her use of psychedelics, but she says she felt it was important to do so to help remove the stigma and try to illuminate this option for other people.

Im not that adventurous, drug-wise, she said. But it has been really helpful to me So, why hide that?

In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

PHOTO GALLERY (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

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In Canada, psychedelics re-emerge in treatment of depression - The Japan Times

To manage her stress and fears, Andrea Bird who is suffering from terminal cancer uses psychedelics, which are seeing a sudden re-emergence in Canada as a possible treatment for mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.

The 60-year-old Canadian was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012. Despite aggressive treatment, the disease returned five years later, spreading to her lungs, bones and brain.

As she tries to cope with her incurable ailment, Bird uses psilocybin, the psychoactive substance of hallucinogenic mushrooms that was banned in the 1970s.

"I found it to be the most helpful thing that I did in coming to terms with the fact that my life is ending much sooner than I thought it would," Bird told AFP.

"I'm still dying," she said matter-of-factly, but added that psilocybin "makes me feel like I can stand up."

"I really love my life, and I really don't want to die, but I have to find a way to surrender to what is actually happening."

Bird, who lives in Ontario province, is among about 30 Canadians, most of them struggling to face the end of their lives, who have received federal dispensation since August 2020 to use psilocybin for therapeutic purposes.

Read |Canada Post's psychedelic trucks bring cheer amid pandemic gloom

TheraPsil, a non-profit organization based in British Columbia, has helped most of them get exemptions to Canada's controlled substances and drug act for "compassionate treatment."

The group also has connected patients to doctors and therapists who oversee their use of the drug.

These trial cases come amid mounting interest from researchers and investors, as well as a public push to reconsider bans on psilocybin, LSD, DMT, mescaline and other mind-altering substances such as MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy.

The US state of Oregon legalized psilocybin for therapeutic use last November.

Psychedelics have been used by indigenous peoples for millennia, but Western researchers only started delving into their properties and potential uses in earnest in the middle of last century.

But that work came grinding to a halt when the substances quickly became symbols of the anti-establishment counter-culture movement of the 1960s and were banned.

Over the past 20 years, however, the persistence of some researchers, a mental health crisis and a shift in public opinion towards greater tolerance of drugs such as cannabis -- which Canada legalized for recreational use in 2018 paved the way for a psychedelics renaissance.

"Now there are more people who are willing to just look at the facts rather than the political weight they may carry," explains Rotem Petranker, associate director of the University of Toronto's Psychedelic Studies Research Program, which looks at the effects of micro-dosing on mood and creativity.

Researchers are studying the potential benefits of these substances for treating depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance addictions and anorexia.

The most advanced clinical trials are focused on using psilocybin for severe or treatment-resistant depression, and MDMA for PTSD.

Some of the studies have yielded promising results.

A recent clinical trial from Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University which has just opened a research centre dedicated to psychedelics -- showed that two doses of psilocybin, accompanied by psychotherapy, produced "large, rapid and sustained" effects in patients suffering from serious depression.

Of the 24 participants, 71 per cent showed a reduction of more than 50 per cent of their symptoms after four weeks and half went into remission, the study revealed.

Another small-scale study involving 59 participants, conducted by Imperial College London's Centre for Psychedelic Research, showed psilocybin was "at least as effective" as conventional antidepressants, the research team said this week, though adding that larger trials were needed.

"We're experiencing a revolution in psychiatry," Alexandre Lehmann, a cognitive neuroscientist who teaches at McGill University in Montreal, told AFP.

"There are new approaches to alleviating and curing serious and disabling mental health problems, which affect a large number of people, and for which there are currently no good solutions."

Since their discovery in the 1950s, drug treatments for depression have hardly changed at all.

Conventional antidepressants -- which notably target serotonin, a key hormone that regulates mood -- have been criticized for being slow to act and for their side effects, including dulling emotions and reducing creativity.

They also don't always work, explains Nisha Ravindran, psychiatrist and professor at the University of Toronto.

"We know that standard antidepressants don't help a significant proportion of the population. In fact, more than 30 to 40 per cent simply don't respond and require alternatives," he said.

For some patients, psychedelics could come to the rescue through a new model of therapy involving a limited number of doses providing a "transformative experience" that might address their core issues.

Psychedelics can cause a profound alteration of perceptions and consciousness. The experience is unpredictable. For some, it can seem otherworldly.

Although much is still not known about how the drugs work, researchers believe they act on the brain's default mode network, associated with introspective thoughts and ruminations, by "temporarily lulling the ego," explains Lehmann.

Animal studies suggest they enhance brain plasticity, helping to re-organize neural connections, he says.

Psychedelics have low toxicity and are generally not addictive, but they can cause paranoia and anxiety attacks, especially in high doses. Researchers are still unsure about the addictive nature of MDMA, a derivative of amphetamines.

For therapy uses, doses are prepared in labs and the experience is supervised, so the "risks are limited," says Lehmann.

The substances make patients more sensitive to their emotions and allow them to examine their thoughts from a new perspective.

"Psychedelics are catalysts for psychotherapy," says Lehmann.

Before receiving government dispensation to use the drugs, Bird had twice tried psychedelics on the sly, ingesting them at her home in the company of a "guide."

She brewed and drank a hallucinogenic mushroom tea that led to several hours of "vivid" waking dreams. It took months of analysis to make sense of them, she says.

"Death showed up a couple of times but it was not at all scary... it was just waiting for me," she said of her first experience in late 2018.

"It was the idea that this happens to everyone, that life is a gift that we get to have for a little while and then we have to give it back. And that became very clear to me."

Since the cancer spread to her brain, Bird has -- on the advice of her doctors -- reduced her intake of the drug and now takes micro-doses.

The potential medical benefits of psychedelics have piqued the interest of a growing number of investors in recent years.

Some startups are developing treatments based on these substances, while others are opening psychedelic therapy clinics.

Several are listed on stock exchanges, notably in Toronto and New York, which already trade shares in numerous cannabis companies.

The British firm Compass Pathways, one of the heavyweights in the sector, is currently valued at more than Can$1.8 billion (US$1.4 billion) on the Nasdaq.

Field Trip Health is one of those companies betting on psychedelics.

Founded in Toronto in 2019, it has already opened five clinics in Canada and the United States and plans to build a network of 75 clinics in North America by 2024.

"Psychedelics are happening," Ronan Levy, one of the founders, told AFP.

The company offers psychotherapy enhanced by low doses of ketamine, a dissociative anaesthetic that is legal for medical use, which can induce a trance-like state or a sense of disconnect between body and mind.

Ketamine has been used in surgeries since the 1960s, and also became a fixture on the club scene. Some studies have suggested it may allow rapid relief of depressive symptoms for people with treatment-resistant depression.

With moss-covered walls, essential oil diffusers and comfy armchairs, the Field Trip Health clinic in Toronto located in a trendy neighbourhood, in a loft with exposed pipes and with a view of the iconic CN Tower has the feel of a spa.

The clinic is accessible to those whose depression or other mental disorder is clinically resistant to treatment, meaning patients must have already tried at least two types of conventional treatments.

A typical course of treatment costing Can$4,700 (US$3,700) includes six doses of ketamine and about ten sessions of psychotherapy.

Lying on a zero gravity chair with a mask over their eyes and music in their ears, patients let a ketamine lozenge melt under their tongues and are transported on a "trip" of about an hour.

A therapist stays in the room throughout the treatment, and then talks to the patients.

Mathieu, a 35-year-old Canadian who underwent treatment in June 2020 and asked only to be identified by his first name, called the experience "really powerful."

"I had the impression of breaking into a thousand pieces and being everywhere at the same time," he told AFP.

"When I was going back down, there was an hour window where my emotions felt pure -- what I had in mind came out without worry, I had no more filters."

Putting aside the hype and promising early results, the use of ketamine in mental health care is not universally backed.

The length of its effects appear to be limited, and critics point to risks of dependence and other possible complications. There is also no consensus on the value of combining its use with psychotherapy.

In the United States, many are worried about the boom in private clinics offering intravenous ketamine, without systematic psychiatric follow-up.

For Jeffrey Lieberman, chief psychiatrist at Columbia University Medical Center, it is a worrying sign that "the practice has leapt ahead of the research."

More generally, others note that there is still a lack of solid evidence on the benefits of psychedelics. They say more and larger clinical trials are needed.

Some researchers are also concerned that the current commercial craze and enthusiasm among top proponents are giving rise to a sense that psychedelics are a "miracle pill," leading some to try it alone or with low-quality substances.

In Canada, reports have surfaced of people turning to unlicensed therapists and bootleg psychedelics for personal growth or to ease pandemic fatigue, leading to a blossoming black market.

Proponents of ketamine therapy say it helps lay the groundwork for the future use of classic psychedelics such as psilocybin, with the most enthusiastic projections suggesting the first new treatments will be approved in the coming years.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already indicated that it is receptive to the idea: since 2017, it has granted a "breakthrough therapy" designation for trials on psilocybin and MDMA.

In Canada, a pioneer of the cannabis industry, legalization of psychedelics is not yet on the table, but Health Minister Patty Hajdu has said she is open to supporting research, saying it would "help move forward this conversation."

In addition to exemptions for patients, the government has just authorized 19 health professionals to test psilocybin themselves in an effort to understand its effects and train themselves on how to use it in a therapeutic context.

The country has also announced its intention to restore access to restricted drugs including psychedelics through its Special Access Program, which allows doctors to request the use of substances not yet approved for clinical use in dire situations. A public consultation ended in mid-February.

If the proposal is approved, requests will be handled on a case-by-case basis, meaning access to these therapies for certain patients could be facilitated.

Bird says she hesitated before speaking publicly about her use of psychedelics, but she says she felt it was important to do so to help "remove the stigma" and "try to illuminate this option for other people."

"I'm not that adventurous, drug-wise," she said. "But it has been really helpful to me... So, why hide that?"

See the original post here:

Psychedelics re-emerge in treatment of depression in Canada - Deccan Herald

People under the influence of psilocybin the active component of magic mushrooms report having more profound and original thoughts, but tend to score lower on cognitive tests of creative ability, according to new research published in Translational Psychiatry. But the findings indicate that the psychedelic substance can still boost creative ability in the long-term.

The study also collected functional magnetic resonance imaging and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy data, providing some new insights into the underlying neurobiological mechanisms associated with creative ability.

Creativity is an essential cognitive ability linked to all areas of our everyday life, allowing us to adapt to an ever-changing environment and come up with ways to solve problems, said lead researcher Natasha Mason (@NL_Mason), a PhD candidate at Maastricht University.

Importantly, as well as being an essential process for everyday functioning, the (in)ability to think outside of the box has also been associated with psychological disorders, such as depression and anxiety. These individuals can get stuck in maladaptive thought patterns, which can facilitate habitual (negative) behaviors. Thus, finding a way to enhance creativity is of broad interest.

Scientists had found some preliminary evidence in the 1960s that the psychedelic drug LSD could enhance creative problem-solving. There was also some evidence that the psychedelic state induced by LSD could harm creative ability. But the issue has received little scientific attention since then.

Over the years, a number of anecdotal reports have accumulated suggesting that the consumption of psychedelic drugs, like LSD and psilocybin, can enhance creativity, Mason said. Famous examples of psychedelic-affiliated creative breakthroughs include Kary Mullis discovery of the polymerase chain reaction, the 1960s California-based computer industry, and the literary works of authors, such as Aldous Huxley and Ken Kesey. That said, although there are a large number of claims that psychedelics do this, no one has investigated this in a placebo-controlled experimental trial.

In their study, the researchers examined two types of deliberate creativity convergent thinking and divergent thinking. The former represents the ability to generate a single optimal solution to a problem, while the latter represents the ability to generate many solutions to a problem with several possible answers.

The study included 60 healthy participants, who had previous experience with a psychedelic drug but not within the past 3 months.

Mason and her colleagues found that both types of creativity appeared to be impaired during the psychedelic state. But psilocybin appeared to produce lasting improvements in divergent thinking, when not under the influence of the substance. A week after receiving psilocybin, participants tended to generate more novel ideas for uses of everyday objects compared to those who received placebo.

We found that when under the influence, psychedelics do not enhance creativity per se. Instead, it seems a bit more complicated, Mason told PsyPost. We used classic measures of creativity, for example the alternate uses test, in which people have to come up with as many uses as possible for a brick. Here, we found that under the influence of a psychedelic, individuals performed worse than placebo (they came up with fewer uses for a brick, and the uses they did come up with were not any more original than during placebo).

However, individuals reported that they felt more creative throughout the day, in that they said they had more experiences of insight and were able to figure out solutions to their own, personal problems, Mason explained. This could mean one of two things either under the influence of psychedelics, peoples idea generation and evaluation (creativity) is impaired, but their feelings of the quality of ideas is enhanced. Or we are seeing a difference in types of creativity maybe psychedelics reduce individuals deliberate creativity (taskbased, with an end goal), but increases spontaneous creativity (insight).

We also asked participants to come back 7 days later and repeat the tasks, Mason said. Here we see that after psilocybin, individuals performed better on one part of the task. Namely, they were able to come up with more novel responses. Thus we see that maybe psychedelics do increase aspects of deliberate creativity in the long-term.

The researchers also found that psilocybin-induced changes in creativity were associated with connectivity patterns within the default mode network, a large-scale brain network involved with daydreaming, imagination, and spontaneous thinking, among other things. We found changes in the brain that predicted both the acute and long-term changes in creative performance after psilocybin, so we can start to get an idea of how these drugs are working to enhance or impair creative thinking, Mason said.

In particular, decreased integrity of the default mode network was associated with greater subjective feelings of insightfulness, as well as long-term increases in divergent thinking.

The findings are in line with previous research conducted by Mason and her colleagues, which took place at a psychedelic retreat. Unlike the current study, however, the past research was limited by its lack of a placebo condition.

But, despite the improved methodology, there is still a need for additional research. We dont know if under the influence of psychedelics, individuals just feel more creative or if these drugs are actually increasing the spontaneous side of creativity, so this needs to be further tested, Mason explained.

These distinctions are of particular importance, as psychedelics are currently being investigated to treat a number of mental health disorders, characterized by rigid, inflexible thought patterns (like anxiety and depression). Thus, it could be suggested that the ability of psilocybin to acutely alter different aspects of creative thinking could aid in the therapeutic process by opening up a window of opportunity where therapeutic interventions could prove more effective.

Namely, while under the influence of a psychedelic, rigid thought content could be decreased, while unguided, spontaneous thoughts may give rise to new insights and perspectives of previous events and current problems, Mason added. Subacutely, patients may then be able to integrate these insights with a therapist, and come up with new, more effective strategies that facilitate adaptive interpretation and coping abilities. Thus, future studies should be employed in clinical populations in order to assess this proposal, as well as the underlying neurobiological mechanisms.

The study, Spontaneous and deliberate creative cognition during and after psilocybin exposure, was published April 8, 2021.

Original post:

Psilocybins complicated relationship with creativity revealed in new placebo-controlled neuroimaging study - PsyPost

Proactive Research analyst Ed Stacey takes a closer look atLtd (CSE: PSYC) (OTCQB: PSYCF), a health supplements company developing a unique range of products which harness the properties of a specific type of mushroom.

The functional mushrooms market is a large and growing segment in consumer health, currently running at around US$30bn per year globally.

Within the sector, many companies are looking at ways to work with psychedelic mushrooms, which are believed to offer physical and mental health benefits when consumed at low doses.

Click here to read Proactive analyst Ed Stacey's initiation report on 'Psyched Wellness - The drink of the gods'

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