Category Archives: Psychedelics

Charles Wininger has been a psychotherapist and "psychonaut"a user of psychoactive substances ranging from LSD to marijuana to psilocybinfor decades. In his new memoir and practical guide, Listening To Ecstasy: The Transformative Power of MDMA, the 71-year-old New Yorker comes out of the "chemical closet" to talk about how MDMA has helped to revitalize his personal and professional life, what important lessons today's "psychedelic renaissance" has learned from the 1960s counterculture, and why "serious fun" that leads to both self-actualization and the revitalization of community is within our grasp.

As MDMA-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder enters Phase 3 trials for FDA approval and voters around the country legalize or decriminalize the use of psychedelics, Wininger believes that the time has come to have honest discussions of how best to use what the government calls illicit drugs to create a better world. One way we make that happen, he says, "is for those who can do so and who dare to do so to come out of the chemical closet and say, 'I am a user of these compounds, they do me a lot of good, and they help me function in a better way. They help me become more creative, more alive and more useful to society as a whole.'"

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Charles Wininger: Why We Should Listen To Ecstasy and Other Psychedelics - Reason

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 04, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lui Franciosi of Franciosi Consulting Ltd. has been intrigued with the growing interest in the use of psychedelic drugs for treating depression, anxiety and addiction. He has been reviewing the scientific literature and the history of these drugs to better understand their merit. The most commonly mentioned drugs and promising alternatives for patients unresponsive to traditional treatments are ayahuasca, psilocybin, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), or lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). These psychedelics appear to be well-tolerated with the most common adverse effects being transient anxiety, short-lived headaches, nausea and mild increases in heart rate and blood pressure. Overall, they seem to be effective in reducing many disease symptoms. However, the scientific consensus is that even though these substances demonstrate rapid, sustained and well tolerated therapeutic effects with single or even a few doses, there is still a need for large-scale, randomised controlled studies to elucidate their potential safety and use in clinical practice.

Lui Franciosi states, This is indeed an exciting class of drugs to look at it in that they are hallucinogens which act as full or partial agonists at receptors where naturally occurring serotonin binds in the brain. They induce a state of altered perception, thought, and feeling. A similar class of hallucinogens dissociative anesthetics are antagonists at glutamate / NMDA (N-Methyl-D-aspartate) receptors in the brain and have been used clinically for years, in particular, ketamine for treating pain. This drug is now being suggested to have effects on treatment-resistant depression, suicide prevention, and substance use disorders; and it is changing how all hallucinogens are being viewed at levels of society.

For more information about Lui Franciosi and his company Franciosi Consulting Ltd., please visit https://franciosiconsulting.com/ or his YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7PSoeH8yN-HuLg5xFi5Qxw/. Dr. Franciosi advises on the operational and research needs of the pharmaceutical and seniors care industries. He also discusses topics online such as running your own business, chronic pain, the importance of long-term senior care, Lyme Disease, as well as COVID-19 & the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

About Lui Franciosi

Lui Franciosi is a consultant with over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He has worked as a pharmacologist and an executive in the pharmaceutical industry in Canada, Europe, and Asia. He holds a Masters degree and a Doctorate from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He also studied business at the University of Warwick in the U.K. He went on to become the COO at Verona Pharma for seven years. Lui Franciosi founded Franciosi Consulting Ltd. in 2015 and is the president and CEO.

Contactlui@franciosiconsulting.com+1.778.998.6260

Originally posted here:

Franciosi Consulting Reviewing the Science and History of Psychedelic Drug Use for Treating Depression, Anxiety and Addiction - GlobeNewswire

While Joanna Harcourt-Smith, the subject ofErrol Morriss latest documentary, My Psychedelic Love Story, passed away in October from breast cancer, she was able to see the completed film before she passed. I was privileged to show her the completed movie just before she died. She watched it, Ive been told by her family, six or seven times the week of her death and she loved it, Morris says in our recent webchat (watch the exclusive video above). But even though Harcourt-Smith is no longer with us, Morris still finds her story to be immensely captivating. Its a great story and the story continues and Im still writing about it. It still has its hooks in me.

My Psychedelic Love Story, which is currently available to watch through Showtime, showcases the story of Harcourt-Smith and, in particular, her relationship withDr. Timothy Leary from 1972 to 1977. The two met in Switzerland while Leary, who had been an advocate of the use of psychedelics like LSD, was wanted for escaping a California prison in 1970. Harcourt-Smith fell in love with Leary but he was extradited back to the U.S. shortly afterward. Harcourt-Smith then dedicated several years to advocating for Learys release from federal custody.

When asked about whether he thought some of Harcourt-Smiths stories to be, literally, unbelievable, Morris was surprisingly candid about it. Constantly! I sit there and listen to stories that I still dont completely understand, he exclaims. While he did find himself questioning some of her claims about her encounters before meeting Leary, he did reference the uncertainty that both he and Harcourt-Smith had about the time following Learys forced return to the United States. After they got back from Afghanistan, there are so many, many questions and so much moral ambiguity. Its a very rich, puzzling, intricate story.

Morris also touched on the experience he had when he won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 2003 for The Fog of War. He recalls, Someone asked me why win an Oscar and I said, Well, you dont have to feel bitter about not having won an Oscar, because you have. Morris also touched on the craziness that was involved in making the short film that opened the 75th Academy Awards that featured a bunch of people (both regular and celebrities) talking about their favorite movies. The experience of having in the green room, at one time: Walter Cronkite, Jesse Norman, Mikhail Gorbachev, Iggy Pop and Donald Trump, thats never going to happen again. Its insane!

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Errol Morris (My Psychedelic Love Story) on Joanna Harcourt-Smiths reaction to the film about her life with Timothy Leary [EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW]...

Psychedelic medicine will begin to cross over into the mental health mainstream in 2021. In both Europe and the US, medicines regulators have eased restrictions on using MDMA to treat post-traumatic disorder (PTSD), and on psilocybin the active substance in magic mushrooms to treat depression. 2021 will bring new clinical trials, as support for the use of psychedelics in medicine continues to gain momentum.

Clinical research into psychedelics has boomed in the past five years and investors are taking note. The US Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), which researches the topic, reached a $30 million (23 million) fundraising target in 2020, on top of $80m of historical funds. This money will enable the completion of a phase-3 trial in the use of MDMA to treat PTSD, which will be necessary to achieve Food and Drug Administration approval. In the UK, London-based mental-health care company COMPASS Pathways has raised more than $115m to fund its efforts and bring to market a psilocybin treatment for depression. In August, the company filed an application to issue an IPO on the Nasdaq.

One barrier to the use of psychedelics in medicine is government regulation. The 1971 United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances placed psychedelics in its most restrictive category, Schedule 1, above drugs such as fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine. Legal-access loopholes exist in pockets of Europe and the Americas, but now governments are being increasingly lobbied to revise what many see as out-of-date policies. In November 2020, legal, regulated psilocybin therapy was approved for use in Oregon.

It is important not to underestimate the effect of drugs such as psilocybin. In a study we carried out at Imperial College Londons Centre for Psychedelic Research, which I head, 100 per cent of participants ranked a 25mg psilocybin experience as the single most intense state of consciousness of their lives. Because of this, 2021 will see the arrival of smartphone apps for those who use psychedelics, which will focus on harm reduction, including an app being developed by Imperial called MyDelica.

We are launching this app not only because of concerns about the growth of psychedelic misuse, but also the need to establish guidelines for their safe use, and to help with ongoing research. Without these, psychedelics might no longer show the same safety and efficacy that weve become accustomed to seeing from controlled research, and set back progress.

In 2021, big pharma could also enter the psychedelic space, as we continue to understand the drawbacks of treatments such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Since they were introduced to the market in 1987, SSRIs have been hugely profitable for pharmaceutical companies, but their efficacy and safety continue to be questioned. In one clinical trial of 59 individuals with a major depressive disorder, which we completed in 2020, we compared 43 daily doses of the SSRI antidepressant escitalopram with just two 25mg doses of psilocybin plus equivalent psychological support for each condition. The results will be published in early 2021.

As patents on many conventional antidepressants begin to expire and public and regulatory opinion regarding psychedelics is changing 2021 will be the time that psychedelic therapy casts a spotlight on the limitations of current mental-health care treatments, and highlights a bold alternative.

Robin Carhart-Harris is head of the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College, London

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Big pharma is about to tune in to the potential of psychedelics - Wired.co.uk

Psychedelics, a type of hallucinogenic, are a class of psychoactive substances that produce changes in perception, mood and cognitive processes. Despite these drugs being looked down upon by many, their positive side effects are being closely examined in laboratories acrossthe world. There is a strong stereotype that psychedelics, mainly LSD, always cause a bad trip, where people believe that by taking the drug, your mind will be altered in such a negative way that all you are left with is panic for 12 hours until the drug wears off. Bad trips were shown in campaigns to warn people that taking LSD is dangerous, they showed people thinking they can fly on acid and jumping out of windows, getting attacked by their own hallucinogens and even losing any control over their bodily functions. Indeed, bad trips do occur, but there is a way of avoiding them - by making sure three things are perfect before you trip: setting, people and mind set. By this I mean the person tripping must feel completely safe in their surroundings; they must feel both safe with the people they are with and the environment they are in. Without these two aspects considered, a bad trip may occur as the drug heightens any emotion you feel; if you are already uncomfortable before the trip, you will be extremely uncomfortable during it. The third aspect, mindset, refers to your intention; if your intention is to get really high, you will trip so hard until you cannot handle it, however, if your intention is to broaden your mind or deal with current emotions, you will be rewarded with just that. As a result of all these things being accounted for in a laboratory, with professionals, since the start of psychedelic research, beginning in the 1990s, out of a thousand volunteers, not one serious adverse has been reported. In fact, this is how psychedelics were discovered as a treatment rather than a party drug.

In Switzerland in 2014, Peter Gasser, Katharina Kirchner, and Torsten Passie published the results of their experiment, which aimed to show that LSD-assisted psychotherapy in patients with anxiety will improve their life-threatening condition. They gave 12 months of LSD psychotherapy to 10 participants who were tested for anxiety (STAI) and reported a reduction in anxiety (77.8%) and a rise in quality of life (66.7%) after a Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) was carried out. Furthermore, they suggested that LSD administrated in a medically supervised psychotherapeutic setting can be safe and generate long lasting benefits in patients.

Slowly, the stigma around psychedelics being a street drug is fading and the real benefits are arising. The medical use of these drugs is showing more certain positive effects than any other anti-anxiety drug prescribed by doctors. With the right environment and professionals around, psychedelics have the potential to cure many mental illnesses through introspection; studies like the one in Switzerland is only the start to a breakthrough in medical history.

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Psychedelics: the new cure for anxiety by Livia Herbert, Ewell Castle - This is Local London

This article was originally published onMicrodose Psychedelic Insightsand appears here with permission.

The current pharmaceutical regulatory process is, to say the least, inherently daunting for most drug development efforts. The drug discovery and development pipeline can take up to 15 years to complete. Even then, only14 percent of drugsthat make it to their respective clinical trials will gain regulatory approval, and a large amount of money is spent whether that drug reaches approval or not. According to a2018 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Healthresearch team, just the final, pivotal clinical trials alone that support FDA approvals of new drugs have a median cost of $19 million, while a2016 Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development reportestimated the average total cost of developing a new drug at $2 3 billion. The regulatory restrictions behind the high cost and high failure rate of drug approvals also apply to the emerging psychedelic medicine industry.

However, innovators at MagicMed Industries have significantly de-risked this process for stakeholders of psychedelic medicine. Through theirunique approach to psychedelic drug development, MagicMed has addressed many of these aforementioned problems. From drug synthesis, testing, and licensing, MagicMed is employing problem mitigating approaches to the previously acknowledged drug development headaches.

MagicMeds psychedelic medicine discovery and development model expedites products to the market for multiple partners at once, simultaneously creating a diversified revenue stream for the company and low risk model for investors. This has created an overwhelming interest in MagicMed, made evident by their recent$8.1 million closing to an oversubscribed and upsized financing deal.

Furthermore, the companys signature psychedelic derivatives library, the Psybrary, has piqued the interest of the clinical and investor community alike. This vast library of novel, IP-protected drug candidates is particularly useful to the psychedelic pharmaceutical industry, enabling MagicMed partners to get their products to the market faster and smoother. Likewise, partners can search the Psybraryfor molecules especially tailored for specific patient needs allowing endless drug candidates to be capitalized on. Partners are therefore able to test such drug candidates and further tailor them to serve even the most niche purposes.

MagicMeds approach is good for the industry, good for the company, and therefore,greatfor investors. In order to understand their approach, however, one must familiarize themselves with the current drug development pathway. Only then can we begin to ask how will psychedelics become medicine?

The traditional drug development process begins by testing a large number of molecules, roughly 5,000-20,000 compounds, for desirable properties. The pharmaceutical industry has traditionally started this process with some hypothesis, or evidence based theory, that a molecule will exhibit the desired effect. Its worth noting that a pre-existing chemical library is often used at the very beginning of the drug development process in pharmaceutical endeavours. The Psybrary would fulfill a similar resource role to the psychedelic pharmaceutical industry, listing numerous drug derivatives based on the core structures of psychedelic molecules.

In the past, pharmaceutical companies would create new molecules using synthetic chemistry. MagicMed uses not just synthetic chemistry, but synthetic biology/enzymatic catalysis in conjunction with cutting edge technology. The end result is not just more drug candidates, but more diverse drug candidates. New mental health drugs are very much needed at this time of societal distress and resulting individual emotional crisis and anxiety. Considering this, the need for diversity among novel drugs cannot be overstated.

Once compounds reach the pre-clinical development phase, molecules are tested in various pharmacology assays to determine whether or not the candidates will move forward to pre-clinical testing. This includes receptor-binding assays and cardiac-focused assays (e.g., hERG assays) to ensure the drug has a chance to cause the desired effect without producing adverse side effects. After in-vitro assays are performed, a select few drugs will be moved into animal testing to test toxicity and potential efficacy. This is the final step before the clinical trial process begins.

The best of the best candidates will be moved into clinical trials via filing an IND with the FDA or the appropriate documentation within your jurisdiction. From here, there are three clinical trial phases:

Finally, the FDA reviews the companys preclinical and clinical data to determine if it gains approval. If the drug is found to do more harm than good, it will not be approved. The very few drugs products that make it through the approval process can then be brought to market.

This timely and expensive process is excessive, but mandatory. However, there are ways to expedite this process.

Of the thousands of drugs that are initially screened, only one is likely to be approved for your targeted effect. If thats the case, then creating more drug candidates from the outset can increase a companys chance of reaching approval. MagicMeds combination of synthetic chemistry and synthetic biology create beneficial structural and functional diversity in the pool of potential drug candidates. MagicMed then performs preliminary testing on these novel candidates, which in turn, reduces their partners costs. As the candidate proceeds along the development path, MagicMed is able to further tailor a specific psychedelic derivative to meet a partners needs, as desired. Finally, the partner exclusively licenses the drug candidate of choice and continues to develop it through the clinical trial process on to marketing approval.

Using the Psybrary, MagicMed can screen drug candidates for the desired effect their partners are looking for. This inherently expedites the product-to-market process for the industry at large. Additionally and importantly, this allows MagicMed to contribute to multiple IP-protected pharmaceutical candidates, multiple treatment outcomes, and multiple mental health markets.

The company further solidified their status as a key player in the psychedelic pharmaceutical development process in October when they announced their partnership with the University of Calgary. A research agreement with the University was signed to accelerate the development of the Psybrary, and thus accelerating the pace of this industrys drug development efforts.

All of the points discussed above illustrate why investors are turning to MagicMed.MagicMed Industries recentlyannounced a very successful close to their upsized and oversubscribed financing deal of $8.1 million.The private placement of MagicMed units, led by Gravitas Securities Inc., was initially a $2.5 million offering. However, due to significant investor interest, the offering upsized to the aforementioned $8.1 million.

Moreover, investor appetite is demonstrated by The Conscious Funds significant contribution to this recent round of funding. The leading early-stage venture funds investment in MagicMed communicates to the psychedelic industry the sheer importance and magnitude of MagicMeds operations.

With $8.1 million already raised, MagicMed is already a de-risked investment opportunity for years to come. By partnering with multiple other drug developers to move their desired derivative molecules through preclinical and clinical testing, the company has solidified a diverse revenue stream (not to mention, potentially copious amounts of drug patent royalties). This low risk, high reward opportunity is not lost on investors, and certainly, not lost on the countless partners who will work with MagicMed as the psychedelic renaissance unfolds.

Read the original Article onMicrodose Psychedelic Insights.

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How Will Psychedelics Become Medicine? A Scientific Review Of The Drug Development Pathway - Benzinga

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Weve legalized pot as a treatment for everything from nausea to anxiety to glaucoma. Weve even made it recreational (now, as they say in Hamilton, everything is legal in New Jersey). These days, scientists are dragging another drug from your dorm-room days into medical legitimacy: psychedelics. For those of you who spent college drinking light beer after you turned 21, psychedelics like magic mushrooms and LSD are powerful hallucinogens that induce an altered state of consciousness generally called tripping your face off but which, it turns out, scientists know very little about.

Until now.

Now we know psychedelics may be a new first-line treatment for depression. They may help people stop smoking. They may become a part of palliative care for cancer patients. And they could help cure addiction. Forget your trippy wall art and your Jefferson Airplane. Psychedelics just stepped from handshake drugs to medical legitimacy.

According to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), most of the early studies on LSD were conducted by the CIA as part of their super-classified, super-shady MK-Ultra Project in hopes of developing a truth serum. These didnt go well. Scientists later discovered psilocin and psilocybin from mushrooms, adding these to their therapeutic arsenal. They thought LSD mostly induced a state of psychosis or schizophrenia. Experiments tended in those directions.

And the therapies, like most attempts to cure people with severe mental illness in the 1950s and 1960s, didnt go well. They were neither particularly gentle, combining psychedelics with electroshock and insulin shock, nor particularly ethical, in some cases dosing people without consent. By then, doctors had begun to believe that psychedelics could break down the brain into a primitive state and induce a mystical experience that could allow a person to see some of their conflicts. Yeah, that sounds medical-ish and scientific-al.

In the 1960s, says Scientific American, then-Harvard psychologist Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert were expelled from said university for dosing students in the name of science, partly due to their sloppy methodology (they were also on psychedelics, for example, when they conducted the experiments. How could this seem like a good idea to anyone?!). By then, scientists had found psilocybin to be an effective treatment for substance abuse, including heroin but funding dried up when the drug became illegal in 1968.

Were a long way from a stoned Timothy Leary shoving tabs of acid under freshmens tongues. Now none other than Johns Hopkins, the flagship university for medical studies, has opened an institute dedicated to examining the therapeutic effects of psychedelics. Psychedelics have merited it: promising studies have emerged about their efficacy in treating depression, addiction, and PTSD, says Scientific American.

And they have the potential, many believe, to treat a hell of a lot more. In addition to a smoking cessation study thats already shown amazing success, Johns Hopkins is conducting, or has plans to conduct, studies on opioid addiction, PTSD, anorexia, post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, Alzheimers disease and alcoholism in people with depression.

Its because of these studies that psilocybin has become legal in Oregon not so you and your roommate can watch the wallpaper melt. Its tightly controlled; only licensed therapists can grow the shrooms, extract the drug, dose people, or set up a center for treatment. There arent, like, magic mushroom dispensaries on the streets of Portland. Psilocybin was legalized so therapists can use it to treat patients for conditions like depression, for which its shown a lot of promise.

Heres the deal.

Weve come a long way, through neural imaging and an expanded understanding of how the brain works, from the scientificalish jibber-jabber of Timothy Leary and his dosed-up pals. When dosed with psilocybin, according to Inverse, the brain creates a feedback loop of neuron activity and neurotransmitter release (the chemical messengers that neurons use to communicate). This leads, they think, to a destabilization of individual brain networks and a whole reorganization of the way the neurons communicate in the brain. This, in turn, creates new neural pathways.

Basically, youre tearing up your crumbly old road system and building a shiny new one one without the same depressing potholes and thought traps.

This could explain why, people feel reorganized in a way they dont with other drugs, Johns Hopkins neuropharmacologist Roland Griffiths tells Scientific American. He recently delivered synthetic psilocybin to a group of people with major depressive disorder. 71% had a clinically significant response (an improvement that lasted at least four weeks after treatment). 54% reported a complete remission.

In 2016, Griffiths, along with others, found that psilocybin, when used with psychotherapy, caused a significant decrease in depressed mood and anxiety in terminal cancer patients. And doctors at Imperial College London reported marked and sustained improvements in 12 patients with treatment-resistant depression after psilocybin therapy; there was, however, no control group.

First of all, Scientific American says that, In 2019 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration grantedbreakthrough status to a company called Compass Pathways to study the use of psilocybinin conjunction with psychotherapyfor treatment-resistant depression. This means they expedited the process. So it looks like soon, people with treatment-resistant depression may be the first to have access to psilocybin treatment, at least as a general guideline.

Obviously, those in Oregon will have access first, and probably for several indications, much like medical marijuana. I welcome the broadening of the indications, because I think psilocybin is likely to be effective in a range of disorders, David Nutt, author of the initial 2016 study on psilocybin and depression, and director of the neuropsychopharmacology unit in the division of brain sciences at Imperial College London, tells Scientific American. But both he and another scientist urged caution: psilocybin cant cure everyone, and its crucial that people be screened for psychotic predispositions.

The reality is that they are NOT for everyone, Rachel Aiden, a professional therapist and CEO of Synthesis Group, a Netherlands psilocybin retreat center, told Scientific American.

I hear you, Rachel. But as someone with depression, Im willing to find out if theyre for me.

Originally posted here:

Scientists Are Eyeing Shrooms As A Legitimately Effective Treatment For Depression - Scary Mommy

We survived 2020.

What lessons have the cannabis, hemp, and psychedelic plant medicine industries gleamed from this chaotic lap around the sun? Against the odds, the progress made has been undeniable.

In 2020, we secured the bag.

Cannabis was deemed essential, a hard-fought turning point for the nascent industry from which there is no turning back. Legalization came as close on the federal level as it ever has with the passage of the MORE Act through Congress (even though it has not been brought to the Senate floor). Colorado also surpassed the $1 billion mark for cannabis tax revenue since legalization in 2014. Five states progressed their laws, voting for medical or adult-use cannabis legalization in some form, in the 2020 election.

Whether we feel nostalgia for this years trials or not, it was monumental. I spoke with 8 industry heavyweights who look back on their year and offer advice to other entrepreneurs in the space about pivots made and optimism for the future.

Tech had its moment, according to Vic Patil, Chief Technology Officer at Backbone. Weve been seeing savvy operators in the cannabis and hemp space increasingly using technology to scale out their processes, automate their data collection and regulatory compliance, and enable market segmentation strategies for building brand awareness, says Patil, CTO of the software company focused on supply chain management for the cannabis and hemp industries. Cloud-based solutions are giving our customers the insight into their process to quickly expand new operations, coordinate with upstream or downstream partners, and deploy embedded systems to drive their large-scale extraction.

For me, 2020 will always stand out as the year that cannabis businesses were declared essential businesses in Colorado and most other states in which cannabis is legal, says Danny Murr-Sloat, Founder of AlpinStash, a family-owned craft cannabis and hemp grower based in Lafayette, Colorado. Murr-Sloat says the essential designation has, made the juxtaposition of legal regulated cannabis states and those who are still experiencing prohibition so much starker.

The way that my wife and I support our family would land us in prison in three out of the four states that border Colorado. Yet here we are, being allowed and encouraged to operate during the pandemic. Our state, and the public, have officially recognized the benefits cannabis has to offer, not just in general, but especially in a time of such widespread and intense social and existential stress, says Murr-Sloat, who has operated his mountain grow facility with his partner Kristin Murr-Sloat since its 2014 founding. I know many people who have relied on cannabis to help them cope with what is turning out to be the most stressful time most of us have been through. I think that we will look back and see 2020 as the year in which cannabis really gained the recognition and acceptance that it deserves.

Danny Murr-Sloat, co-founder of AlphinStash, looks back on the roller-coaster ride that was 2020 for ... [+] the cannabis industry.

This past year I learned a lot about resilience, says Marie Montmarquet, Co-Founder of MD Numbers, Inc. Founded in 2015, MD Numbers is a rare vertically-integrated cannabis company born in Redwood City, California. Montmarquet began the company first with the customer supply chain link, as a delivery service. Unexpectedly, many cannabis companies have been revived by the current COVID economic strife. Seeing different industries crash, while cannabis has been able to become an essential business category was such a necessary blessing for our industry and customers during this trying time. We have the chance to thrive.

The hemp industry has faced immense challenges in 2020, says Morris Beegle, Co-Founder & President of WAFBA (We Are For Better Alternatives), a brand umbrella that houses the largest hemp-centric conferences and expositions in the world, including NoCo Hemp Expo, as well as digital media platform Let's Talk Hemp. From the pandemic turning the world upside down to the oversupply of hemp-derived CBD biomass, crude oil, isolate and distillate, and the ongoing uncertainty in FDA and USDA regulations pertaining to the industry. And...the DEA still refuses to get out of hemp industry business when it no longer falls under their jurisdiction. That said, the industry has a strong and positive future ahead of it because hemp is resilient and so are those driving the bus.

Allen Hackett, left, and Marie Montmarquet, right, are the co-founders of MD Numbers.

When I think of this industry and all that has been placed upon us in 2020, I see resilience and promise for better days! Angela White, Equity for Industry Program Manager at Success Centers, is optimistic as she muses on the massive strides the cannabis industry has made regarding equity in 2020, finally opening its eyes to include social justice at the forefront of the legalization movement. The cannabis community has been so supportive of the work I'm doing at Success Centers with the equity community in this space during these uncertain times, she says.

White says the cannabis community reaching out to help has been one of the brighter moments of the year. Those that have stepped up to the plate to work with Success Centers in its equity mission include Aster Farms, MD Numbers, The Apothecarium SF, Meadow, Caliva, Eaze, and Cookies California, says White. Ive received an outpour of requests asking how can we help? from companies reaching out. Success Centers has also seen a handful of its equity participants launch their businesses amid the 2020 chaos: Reese Benton of Posh Green Retail, the first Black female sole proprietor in the state, to Cindy De La Vega of Stiiizy Union Square, the first Latina cannabis dispensary owner in San Francisco, Authentic 415 CEO Karim Mayfield will be launching this month, and Damien Posey of High Purpose in 2021. Equity brands, including SF Roots, Gift of Dosia, Cannabis on Fire and others, are now on the shelves of many dispensaries. Calexo and Simply Extracts are taking off, as well, says White.

Co-founders of equity initiative Success Centers: Liz Jackson-Simpson, left, and Angela White, ... [+] right.

This little plant... She's my greatest guide, says Brooke Burgstahler, comedian and cannabis reporter and Founder of Budding Mind, a content platform for creators in the space. Cannabis has held me down this year. While many of my friends experienced job loss in 2020, I was fortunate enough to land the job of my weed dreams just one month before the lockdown.

My work kept me focused, sane, informed, and hopeful, says Burgstahler. All day I read, write, and talk about cannabis an industry and a plant that has been somewhat immune to the woes of the times, if not stronger from them. When cannabis was deemed essential by our state governments, it meant our industry would survive this storm, and when a wave of new canna-curious consumers went looking for ways to stay sane at home, our industry was able to thrive throughout this storm."

Brooke Burgstahler, founder of Budding Mind and cannabis industry creative, looks back on the ... [+] lessons of 2020.

"As I look back on this eventful and enlightening 2020, a main point that comes to mind is the show must go on, says Cait Curley, an entrepreneur, artist, and cannabis activist. The circumstances of this year have taught us invaluable lessons about human nature, persistence and rapid adjusting. It was a great period to reflect on ourselves individually and a species as a whole. I think a lot of people took the opportunity to use tools like cannabis and psychedelics to expand their consciousness and reduce anxiety. Involvement and experiences like that are helping these heightened tools move forward in acceptance and understanding."

2020 has been a wild ride for Lady Jays and the cannabis industry. Coming from a space that was once illegaland is still illegal in many statesto becoming an essential business during the COVID 19 shut down, we were lucky to have a business that was able to stay open and continue producing, says Jade Daniels, Founder of cannabis clothing line Ladies of Paradise and the chic CBD hemp preroll brand Lady Jays.

There were losses, Daniels says, of the community and in-person connections made in years past. We did miss trade shows and events and other forms of ways to stay connected with our customers, says Daniels. We looked to social media and Zoom calls to stay connected (like the rest of the world!) and are really hoping for 2021 to be a big breath of fresh air for us all.

Jade Daniels, co-founder of Ladies of Paradise and Lady Jays, speaks to the changes seen in her ... [+] industries in 2020.

Investors set their sights on an exciting new frontier in 2020: psychedelic medicine. Amid the great pause of 2020, it seems the psychedelics industry is moving faster than ever, says Shelby Hartman, Editor-in-Chief and Co-founder of DoubleBlind Magazine, a publication that covers psychedelics and plant medicine and the effect of drug decriminalization on worldwide health. Hundreds of millions of dollars in capital have poured into psychedelic drug development, and every day, at DoubleBlind, it feels we're contacted by an investor interested in getting into the space.

Alongside this movement, we've also seen promising progress of the grassroots initiatives to decriminalize natural psychedelics, from mushrooms to ayahuasca, says Hartman. Ann Arbor recently became the third city to decriminalize psychedelics through city council, and there are three initiatives pertaining to psychedelic reform on the ballot this November. All of the momentum is exciting, but it's also a good time for those of us who care deeply about psychedelics to take a step back and reflect on what we want the psychedelic industry to look like. How can we ensure that it reflects the values of unity and compassion that have long been central to the psychedelic community?

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Psychedelic And Cannabis Industry Insiders Offer A 2020 Retrospective - Forbes

This article was originally published on Reality Sandwich, and appears here with permission.

In this moment, we humans are further dividing ourselves along lines of color, gender, political ideology, and countless other identity characteristics. Likewise, we are witnessing a growing division among the counterculture, mainstream, and various other factions within the psychedelic community. Dividing ourselves is likely an expression of some deeply embedded survival trait. However, improving the collective human condition requires us to yield to our higher selves. Our condition will only improve when we work as one human tribe toward healing our communities. We are all one.

We must elevate our thoughts and actions to a level that is truly unity-based in order to elevate the human condition. We must maintain the conviction that self-love and love for others is the only path forward.

AsRam Dassreminds us:

We are all just walking each other home.

However, the trek is more challenging for some members of our human tribe than it is for others. Therefore, empathy and compassion ask us to offer our hand to those struggling, in order to enable all of us, mankind, to walk this earthly path alongside one anotherunited.

It follows that the psychedelic community must lead by example. The various factions must cast aside divisions, adopt an inclusive attitude, and truly listen to one another. Additionally, we must be willing to embrace different perspectives to create a healing path toward a stronger, united human species.

As psychedelic practitioners, our plant medicine journeys have likely shown us the path toward an elevated condition, and possibly even visions for a better world. Access to these experiences is a privilege, and with this privilege comes responsibility. We can all play a role in advancing psychedelic science and healing practices. In addition, we can enable wider psychedelic healing access to all members of our human family, with the aim of communal and societal healing. Yet, psychedelic healing practices still involve an activity that can result in criminal charges, particularly in less privileged communities.

Taking action at the community and society level requires big thinking. The following are a few examples of organizations and individuals that are working to ensure equity, justice, and inclusion in the psychedelic realm.Consider supporting or drawing inspiration from these efforts, with the aim of expanding access for psychedelic healing.

Decriminalize Natureis leading the effort to decriminalize psychedelics and increase access at the community level. Their vision is happier, healthier individuals and communities reconnected to nature and entheogenic plant and fungi traditions and practices. Decriminalize Natures open-source format makes it easy tovolunteerand bring this movement into our own communities.

TheDrug Policy Allianceis an organization that aims to end the War on Drugs. They advocate for responsible drug policy and believe in the individuals sovereignty over their own mind and body. In particular, they work to ensure that drug policies no longer target those whom the war on drugs disproportionately affectsi.e. young people and people of color. The Drug Policy Alliance provides opportunities totake actionand support the much-needed shift in drug policy.

In her talk titledPsychedelic Justice: Intersection of Psychedelics and Collective Societal Healing, Dr. Jae Sevelius highlights the need for Community Engaged Research and Collaborative Ideation to ensure inclusivity and diversity in psychedelic research and intended outcomes. Dr. Sevelius posits that psychedelic science should be a movement for justice, humanity, and the planet.

Dr. Monnica Williamsis a Clinical Psychologist and Professor of Psychology at the University of Ottawa. She is well-known for her work in broadening access topsychedelic therapyfor minority communities and healing racial trauma. In addition, she is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion in the field of psychedelic research. In a recent interview with Reality Sandwich, Dr. Williams succinctly helps us understand theracial disparities in psychedelic culture.

TheChacruna Institute of Plant Medicinesis a research- and education-based organization that serves as a bridge between indigenous plant medicine traditions and modern psychedelic science. Accordingly, one of Chacrunas major programs aims to broaden access to psychedelic healing therapies for people of color, women, and sexual minorities. Chacruna welcomes support throughmembershipandvolunteer opportunities.

Organizations such asThe Equity Organization, are diligently working to right the wrongs of the drug war. Along with theLast Prisoner Project, they seek to free those incarcerated over cannabis charges.

In her fascinating article titledCan Psychedelics Play a Role in Making Peace and Healing Cycles of Trauma?,Natalie Lyla Ginsberg details her interviews with Israelis and Palestinians who have used psychedelics together, with the aim of reconciliation and community healing.

She observes that one of the most commonly reported experiences among both Palestinians and Israelis was a strong sense of togetherness, oneness, and connectedness, and that people commonly reported shifting their frameworks from hatred and fear and anger to love and compassion.She reports the remarkable experience of a Palestinian woman who described moments of love and open-heartedness there is no you are Jewish, Arab, Muslim, Christian. Everything was stripped, all this nonsense was out, and only acceptance and love were present.

This might be the most potent example of people wielding the power of psychedelics and their own consciousness to solve the impossible. Now, envision a scenario where Israelis and Palestinians first heal their relationship. Then, a new geographic/political solution emerges, built to reflect, support, and sustain this healed relationship. This is possible!

If psychedelics are demonstrating the capacity to alleviate the most intense identity conflict of the last several millennia, imagine the possibilities for the rest of humankind.

We all want to see an end to suffering for all beings. It is imperative that we act beyond the divisive nature of our survival instincts and start walking home together.

We all have the power to participate in advancing psychedelic healing practices for our communities. We need a mindset shift from fighting against the other to healing with one another. If we need a mantra to keep us on this path, consider this bit of wisdom from the late Buckminster Fuller: You never change things by fighting against the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete.

Our plant medicine experiences have revealed the new model; it is time to build the path toward healing our communities.

*Image credit:Aina Giro de Pedro

Read the original Article on Reality Sandwich.

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Healing Our Communities With Psychedelic Solutions - Benzinga

Red Light Hollands investment through the expected acquisition of Mera Life Sciences would enable global expansion and create a major scientific research and development division to explore plant-based remedies and treatment clinics in the Caribbean

Red Light Holland Corp. (CSE: TRIP) (FSE: 4YX) (OTC: TRUFF) (Red Light Holland or the Company), is pleased to announce it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent to acquire 100% of Mera Life Sciences LLC (Mera), a company focused on developing a modern medicinal industry in St Vincent and the Grenadines, with their issued Psychedelic Licenses, which includes the following plants and compounds (the Compounds): (i) MushroomsTruffles Psilocybin; (ii) Ketamine; (iii) Ayahuasca; (iv) 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA); (v) 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MEO-DMT); (vi) Dimethyltryptamine (DMT); (vii) Sassafras; (viii) Ibogaine; (ix) Peyote (x) Papaya; (xi) Aloe Vera; (xii) Arrowroot; (xiii) Soursop; (xiv) Ginger; (xv) Moringa; and (xvi) Coconut Oil.

The acquisition of Mera and its coveted licenses would allow Red Light Holland to perform high quality psychedelic product research and development, cultivate, extract and process, and export not just Psilocybin, but with compounds such as Ayahuasca, MDMA, DMT, Peyote, Ketamine and many other natural based plants as well. We are The Peoples Company and we want to work closely with countries wishing to develop plant and fungus-based remedies including treatment clinics, and we now understand that St. Vincent and the Grenadines shares our vision. said Todd Shapiro, CEO and Director of Red Light Holland.

As well, the terms of the agreement will permit Red Light Holland to collaborate with Vincentian entities to import any of the above Compounds.

The opportunity to explore the inner molecular worlds of multiple plant species,including a variety of psychedelics, is an exciting one. This could put Red Light Hollandin the position to discover novel clinical applications for a variety of natural psychedelics. By utilizing a lab built for this purpose on the (main) island, alongwith cutting edge artificial intelligence, something Im very familiar with, Red LightHolland would be approaching the frontier of natural plant based drug discovery, saidDr. Joseph Geraci, Scientific Advisor of Red Light Holland and CEO of NetraMark Corp.

Red Light Holland is focused on establishing itself as a multi country operator with natural plants and natural fungi, from growing to distribution of legal sales to potential clinics. We look forward to the careful due diligence process and hopefully adding Mera and their ground-breaking licenses in SVG, which would instantly strengthen our Scientific and Innovation Division, Scarlette Lillie by expanding our vision for research and development and for providing access to natural psychedelics on all fronts, added Shapiro.

The emerging modern plant-based medicinal research industry in the Caribbean is the future, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines is leading on this path The islands Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Saboto Caesar pointed out. St. Vincent and the Grenadines has been able to attract experts interested in exploring the medicinal value of indigenous plants, cannabis and other plants that may thrive in tropical conditions and possess medicinal properties. re-expressed from News 784.

Further details will be announced once made available.

About Mera Life Sciences LLC

Mera Life Sciences LLC is focused on the research and development, cultivation, extraction, processing and completion, exportation and clinics using natural medicines. Mera holds the ability to work with a number of psychedelic substances as part of the previously announced medicinal feasibility study.

About Red Light Holland Corp.

The Company is an Ontario-based corporation positioning itself to engage in the production, growth and sale (through existing Smart Shops operators and an advanced e-commerce platform) of a premium brand of magic truffles to the legal market within the Netherlands, in accordance with the highest standards, in compliance with all applicable laws.

For additional information on the Company:

Todd ShapiroChief Executive Officer & DirectorTel: 647-204-7129Email: todd@redlighttruffles.comWebsite: https://redlighttruffles.com/

Forward-Looking Statements

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange (the CSE) nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This press release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Companys beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Companys control.

Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, will continue, will occur or will be achieved. The forward-looking information and forward- looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, information about the timing and other aspects of the non-binding letter of intent to acquire Mera Life Sciences and invest in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward- looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. In particular, there is no guarantee that the acquisition of Mera Life Sciences or the groundbreaking investment in St. Vincent and the Grenadines will proceed, or if it does proceed it will reflect the understanding of the parties as of the date of this release. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/71162

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Red Light Holland To Make Groundbreaking Investment in St. Vincent and the Grenadines' Plant-Based Wellness and Psychedelics Industry - Investing News...