Category Archives: Psychedelics

Hadas provides insights into her role at APPA and the organizations mission to seamlessly integrate psychedelic medicine into the U.S. healthcare system.

We also dive into the significance of the first-ever professional practice guidelines for psychedelic-assisted therapy co-published by APPA and BrainFutures. These guidelines are shaping the future of psychedelic therapy and ensuring its safety and effectiveness.

Additionally, we discuss APPAs strategic partnership with The Daschle Group and its role in advancing the implementation of psychedelic-assisted therapy within the healthcare system.

Join us for a captivating conversation about the transformative potential of psychedelics in healthcare and the vital work being done by APPA to make it a reality.

Learn more about APPA here.

Join us for our launch event on July 18th, where well share about the work well be doing together to actualize our personal missions, grow, and heal together.

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Insights Into the First Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Guidelines With ... - Psychedelic Spotlight

The rising effectiveness of treatments for advanced cancer has left a growing number of patients in terrible limbo.

But psilocybin — the active compound derived from magic mushrooms — can help these patients find relief, a group of Texas-based scientists wrote in the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer on Tuesday.

That’s part of a new openness in Texas — and the medical community as a whole — to ever-broader applications for the mind-expanding substances.

Next year the signatories of Tuesday’s letter — a group of researchers at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston — will begin a study investigating whether psilocybin can help restore the mental health of the increasing number of patients living with advanced cancers.

That group of long-haulers is a cadre that largely didn’t exist a decade ago, said Amit Moran, a cancer biologist at MD Anderson.

“Ten years ago, you were cured, or you died,” Moran told The Hill.

But a rise of targeted cancer treatments has created a new group of patients living on the expanding frontiers of cancer treatment.

“More and more patients survive longer with cancer — they can live two years, five years, even 10 years,” Moran said.

Many of these patients, Moran said, “experience anxiety, depression and existential crisis.”

In particular, women facing late-stage ovarian cancer face overwhelming anxiety and “existential distress” as they stare down the prospect of a painful death and leaving their families behind, Moran and his coauthors wrote.

“These people know that one day they’ll do scan and see progression [in their tumors],” he said. “And they don’t know if that will be 6 months or 10 years.” 

Moran and his colleagues are looking into whether psilocybin could help, as this compound has been shown to offer considerable relief to those dying of terminal cancer — but has never been tested on those living with it.

“Our goal is to alleviate those symptoms to allow them to go back to functioning,” Moran said.

Both the journal letter and MD Anderson study are part of a new renaissance in the medical applications of “psychedelics” — an umbrella category that lumps together such pharmacologically distant compounds as psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine.

While these have very different structures and work on different parts of the brain, they share a common ability to help a patient radically — and often rapidly — reframe their relationship to previously intolerable life circumstances.

A 2021 meta-analysis of terminally ill patients who had received psychedelics for existential distress found that  both classical psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD and “atypical” ones such as MDMA and ketamine left the dying with “positive effects on existential and spiritual well-being, quality of life, acceptance, and reduction of anxiety and depression.”

Another study of psilocybin specifically found that a single dose could leave even healthy individuals with “long-lasting increases in mindfulness.”

These findings have been persuasive enough to convince even Texas’ highly conservative legislature — partly because of the state’s disproportionate number of veterans of U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of whom returned emotionally and mentally scarred.

In 2021, the Texas legislature passed a bipartisan law authorizing the state’s Department of Health to begin studying the use of MDMA, ketamine and psilocybin for a wide range of physical and emotional ailments.

“To me, this may be one of the most hopeful pieces of legislation that members of the Legislature have the opportunity to consider this session,” former Gov. Rick Perry (R) told reporters in 2021.

By November of 2021, the first study was underway: a joint state, federal and university effort to understand whether psilocybin could help alleviate post-traumatic stress disorders in veterans.

The prevalence of psychological suffering has blunted the partisan nature around psychedelics, one researcher on that study suggested to Houston Public Media.

“I think many people are at the point of ‘I will try anything,’ whether they’re conservative, anti-drug, whatever it is,” said Lynette Averill of the Texas-based Baylor College of Medicine.

Psychedelic research remains in its infancy, Moran noted. Of the more than 140,000 active clinical trials in the country, only 79 are looking into psychedelics. Of those, only a dozen are looking at cancer — and those are all focused on those who are dying. 

While cancer treatments can keep tumors in check for a long time, Moran hopes that psychedelic treatments can “bring them back to the job market, get out of bed, regain their functionality,” he said.

“The goal is not just to give them life — but a life worth living,” he added.

Read this article:

Living with long-term cancer is depressing. Texas doctors say psychedelics could help - The Hill

The first time Isabel and her husband did MDMA together, they were at Burning Man, just a couple of weeks before their wedding. It was a profound experience.

It was like being seen for the first time for who we really were because it allows you to be super vulnerable and allows you to share these deep parts of yourself without fear of being judged, said Isabel.

I felt like we got married out there.

She and her husband Joseph, both physicians in their 40s who live in British Columbia, have been together for 15 years. VICE News has changed their names to protect their privacy because MDMA is illegal. They dont use drugs oftenthe Burning Man trip, 11 years ago, was Josephs first time taking MDMA. These days their trips look pretty different from a festival. Once a year, they get a babysitter for their two kids, rent a room at a resort and take the psychedelic to work through conflicts in their relationships.

We wind up spending a night and just pushing through about six months worth of marriage crap all at once, Joseph said. You're just kind of a different couple on the other side of it. Its very interesting.

Because of Isabels training in using both ketamine and MDMA for therapeutic reasons, the couple generally trips on their own while going through their issues. But theyve also had a guided trip with an underground therapist who serves people under the influence of psychedelics. Theyre part of a growing number of couples who are adding psychedelics to their couples therapy experiences.

Psychedelics are having a renaissance, with substances like ketamine, psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms), and MDMA being studied and used to treat issues like depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, drug addiction, and end-of-life anxiety. While MDMA remains illegal in the U.S. and Canada, last year the nonprofit group Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) completed a second phase-three trial on using the drug as PTSD treatment and is expecting the Food and Drug Administration to evaluate its findings in 2023, potentially approving it for people with the disorder. In the meantime, MAPS and other groups already offer training in psychedelic-assisted therapy, while some therapists are already adding ketamine to their services because its legal. Others are offering discreet therapy sessions using illegal drugs. And both underground and above ground practitioners told VICE News demand is growing among couples who think psychedelics could help them take on their issues.

I tell my couples, Look, this is not a magic pill. It's an assist. And I would say that if they're willing to do the work, it expedites forgiveness, said Jayne Gumpel, a Woodstock, New York-based clinical social worker who has treated around 150 couples using ketamine.

Some of them have recommitted to each other after being on the brink of divorce, she said.

Gumpel also offers group retreats for couples; private sessions run for $200 an hour, while four-day retreats are $1,850 a person on a sliding scale. She said people often choose partners who provoke their defences or trigger trauma for their childhood, but they dont necessarily realize it. While using ketamine, she said peoples defences are lowered and theyre less attached to the idea that their side of the story is correct.

When the person who's listening learns how to hold that space and not get reactive...what happens is the person who's sharing their frustration about messiness starts to talk about their childhood when their mother was alcoholic and the house was a mess and they took it upon themselves to have to be the one to keep things organized. And that's how she felt safe, Gumpel explained. All of a sudden, the partner who feels ragged on because he's sloppy has empathy for the person who's complaining to him about it.

Its like a magical moment when theyre now understanding they have consciousness of this pattern theyre stuck in, she added.

Recently, Isabel said she and Joseph had a similar revelation, where she told him about something really horrible that happened to her as a child.

It was one of those moments in the relationship where youre like, Oh, that explains 40 percent of what I've been wondering about you for 15 years, Joseph said, adding that it gave context to questions he had about her relationship with her family. During other sessions, theyve cried, and even vomited.

Dr. Reid Robison, chief clinical officer at Numinus, a mental health care company that provides ketamine-assisted therapy to couples in the U.S. and Canada, said having one partner supporting the other as they work through trauma can be a powerful bonding experience.

We can identify the barriers that we have to love in ourselves, and then we can just do it so much more freely in our partnership. Numinus charges around $300 for dosing sessions, but typically a person also has integration sessions afterwards to talk about what they learned.

Robison said whether a person is using MDMA or ketamine, the drugs help people in turning towards each other instead of turning away. Hes even seen it work with people going through a divorce, helping them to get over old wounds so that they can co-parent better.

Isabel and Joseph have put up signs in their home that say turn towardsgentle reminders that theyve put in place to integrate the lessons theyve learned while on MDMA. She said theyve managed to break a pattern where she would complain about something, and he would withdraw, causing her to also pull away.

Both of them said doing MDMA, which boosts a persons levels of dopamine and serotonin (neurotransmitters that impact pleasure and sexual desire), has also greatly improved their sex life.

We had a good sex life, but now we have an amazing sex life, Isabel said, noting theyll typically put in five hours of work on their relationship before having sex during one of their resort stays. It really allowed us to explore breathing together and doing all these like deepening, like soul connection things.

Joseph said he considers MDMA a medicine, not a drug, and that it should be legally available to people. In fact, it was legal and used for couples therapy in the 1970s and 1980s, before being designated a Schedule I drug in 1985, meaning the government determined it had no medical use and a high potential for abuse. Early reports found that it was useful in navigating relationship issues and communication.

Depending on what happens with the FDAs evaluation of MAPS study, it may soon be available for people with PTSD.

Robison said that could open the door for it being allowed to be used for people with other issues, though itll be a slow process. He said people with PTSD can also struggle with relationships or have depression and anxiety, though, so there are ripple effects to their healing work that will be felt in their partnerships.

He said more research is needed on the impact of psychedelics on couples and he expects to see more therapists wanting to work with it in the years to come.

Read more here:

Couples Are Doing MDMA and Ketamine Therapy To Save Their Relationships - VICE

The way people are using psychedelics is changing as awareness about substances like psilocybin and MDMA increases and more jurisdictions enact reform. But while a majority of American voters support regulating psychedelics therapy or decriminalizing them, according to a new poll, there are still some lingering negative sentiments toward the use of entheogens.

The complete findings from the UC Berkeleys Center for the Science of Psychedelics (BCSP) survey were released earlier this week, offering one of the most comprehensive examinations of public attitudes toward the substances at a time when the laws governing them are being debated everywhere from the local level to Congress.

The center released top-line findings from the survey late last month, showing that 61 percent of U.S. registered voters support creating a regulated legal framework for the therapeutic use of psychedelics, including 35 percent who strongly support it, for example.

But beyond the policy considerations, the newly published broader results of the survey also speak to how people are experiencing psychedelics and dive deeper into their opinions about specific substances and trends.

The poll found that 47 percent of Americans have heard about psychedelics recently, and a strong plurality of those (48 percent) say that the message theyve received is that the drugs are being used as a mental health treatment option. That makes particular sense given both the increased media attention to psychedelics research and volume of legislation in recent years that addresses that issue.

Asked about their familiarity with various psychedelics, 96 percent said theyve heard about LSD, followed by MDMA (91 percent), psilocybin (83 percent), peyote/mescaline (67 percent), ketamine (66 percent), DMT (37 percent), ayahuasca (35 percent) and ibogaine (12 percent).For a baseline comparison, 99 percent of respondents said theyre familiar with marijuana.

More than half of respondents (52 percent) said that they or someone close to them have used psychedelics. And notably, of that group, 48 percent said that their use occurred within the last five years.

People were then asked about to characterize their use the entheogens. Seventy-three percent of people who have consumer psychedelics said it was for recreational use, following by therapeutic (39 percent), spiritual (32 percent), microdosing (27 percent), artistic (25 percent) and something else (16 percent). They were able to select multiple options, which is why the numbers total over 100 percent.

While recreational was the most common description of the usage, a follow-up question about the recency of their experience reveals that theres been a significant shift in why people are pursuing psychedelics, with therapeutic use and microdosing on the rise.

Just 21 percent of respondents whose use happened more than 10 years ago said that it was for therapeutic purposes, and that increases to 53 percent for those whove used in the past five years. Likewise, microdosing jumped from 14 percent to 41 percent for those two categories.

But while most people support psychedelics policy reform and promoting research into the substances, another interesting part of the survey reveals widely held negative views about the drugs. For example, 59 percent said that psychedelics are dangerous, and 59 percent also said that the substances can have long-term negative impacts on health.

Even among the 61 percent of Americans who support legalizing and regulating psychedelics therapy, 47 percent said the substances are not good for society. Another 63 percent said that psychedelics are not something for people like me.

Having a first-degree connection with psychedelics has a significant impact on perceptions. Fifty-three percent of people with connections to the substances said they can improve creativity, versus just 19 percent among those with no such connection.

Also, those who have personally experienced entheogens or are close with someone who has were far more likely to say psychedelics are an important topic of scientific research (70 percent), compared to those who dont have a first-degree connection (43 percent).

When it comes to who people trust to provide information about psychedelics, nurses, scientific researchers and doctors were considered the most trustworthy. Thats followed by psychiatrists, indigenous practitioners, veterans whove used psychedelics and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Law enforcement, parent groups, politicians and faith leaders were considered the least trustworthy.

The survey also found that liberal voters were most likely to support legalizing psychedelics for therapeutic purposes (80 percent), compared to 66 percent of moderates and 45 percent of conservatives.

The UC Berkeley Psychedelics Survey provides information vital to understanding where the public stands on psychedelics right now. This is critical for anyone working in the psychedelic field, Michael Pollan, an author who founded the psychedelics center, said in a press release. Nuanced debate in media, policy reforms and public education programs will be most effective when informed by data-driven insights rather than assumption and conducted in thoughtful response to the hopes, fears, and perceptions held by different communities across the U.S.

BCSP Executive Director Imran Khan said that our mission is to support the burgeoning field of psychedelics with vital evidence and trustworthy data and the UC Berkeley Psychedelics Survey provides this much-needed information for policy, business, media and research now and in the future.

The survey involved interviews with 1,500 Americans from June 9-15. Its margin of error is +/- 2.5 percentage points.

While there are countless surveys showing the growing, bipartisan support for marijuana reform in the U.S., comprehensive polling on psychedelics is rare.

One othernational survey of likely voters released in Marchdid similarly find majority support for allowing regulated access to psychedelics for therapy and federal decriminalization. But beside these two examples, psychedelics polling has been largely limited to specific regions, such asColoradoandWashington, D.C.

Considering that Denver became the first city in the country to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms just four years ago, the consistent majority support for reform is notableand that interest has been reflected in the massive push at the local, state and federal level to change laws governing the hallucinogenic substances.

GOP Lawmakers Outraged About Marijuana And Cocaine Found At Biden White House, With One Saying It Endangers Presidents Well-Being

Photo elements courtesy of carlosemmaskype and Apollo.

Excerpt from:

The Way People Are Using Psychedelics Is Changing Amid Reform ... - Marijuana Moment

Psychedelic drugs could become the new cannabis amid increasing calls around the world to destigmatize and legalise substances such as magic mushrooms for medical and recreational use.

This, according to senior policy analyst, Steve Rolles, is due to certain similarities between cannabis and certain psychedelics. Psychedelics, while still having their own risks, are on the lower end of the risk spectrum, he said.

Rolles is a senior drug policy analyst at the Transform Drug Policy Foundation in the UK and a frequent participant in the public discussion of drug law and policy. Sitting down with MaltaToday, Rolles spoke about the recent rise in acceptance of psychedelic drugs, after global moral panic following their association with the hippie movement in the United States in the 1960s.

Rolles was in Malta to participate in a thematic roundtable focussed on decriminalisation, social justice and sustainable development organised by the Authority for the Responsible Use of Canabis, the Maltese regulator of the cannabis sector.

Psychedelics have been used for millennia

Indigenous societies have long utilized psychedelic substances such as peyote and psilocybin mushrooms in various rituals and spiritual practices for centuries. During the 1960s, psychedelics gained significant popularity and acceptance within the counterculture movement.

Due to legal restrictions, research on psychedelics faced significant challenges, resulting in most studies being discontinued by the mid-1970s. In light of recent promising findings, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recognized psilocybin-assisted therapy for treatment-resistant depression as a breakthrough therapy. Consequently, several cities and countries now permit the use of psychedelic drugs for therapeutic or spiritual purposes.

In the UK, magic mushrooms were legal from 2003 to 2005, and there was an open market in magic mushrooms. It wasnt even regulated at all. Nothing really bad happened, explained Rolles. In fact, he noted, a noticeable amount of drug users shifted from some illegal drugs, to magic mushrooms, a trend which Rolles sees as positive, due to the substance being safer than drugs such as cocaine and heroin.

Rolles said that during this brief period in the UK where prohibition of the drug was lifted, they werent associated with significant public health harms, and so, it seems like a natural next step.

Im not pro magic mushroom use, Im just being pragmatic, Rolles clarified.

But could we be moving from the 1960s counter-culture era phrase Turn on, tune in, drop out to turn on, tune in, legalise?

Legalisation to end the war on drugs

Beyond magic mushrooms and other psychedelic substances, Rolles acknowledged that while, the legalisation of drugs is a difficult debate, it is one of the few long-term solutions for tackling drug traffickers and the violence which is brought about by organised crime.

This however, according to Rolles is only possible if lower risk drugs, such as cannabis and psychedelics are first to be legalised, and should only be legalised in a cautious and responsible manner.

Colorado and Oregon have legalised magic mushrooms in a similar way that Malta has legalised cannabis, in that you can grow your own mushrooms, he said.

Key to the success of ending the war on drugs, according to Rolles, is discarding the mentality associated with the war and making sure that the legalisation of the so-called low risk drugs is done in an honest manner. Speaking about Malta and its attempt to take the first step, Rolles urged to stay true to the principles of harm reduction, crime reduction and public safety, while avoiding the risks of commercialisation.

Rolles commented on a common misconception regarding a link between a drugs legality and its use, noting that while tobacco is legal, governments around the world have slowly implemented measures to discourage its consumption. What we havent done is criminalise tobacco uses. Despite this, he noted that tobacco use is declining slowly, as governments invest in public information campaigns, while not criminalising anyone who smokes, stating that responsible regulation is key.

The Maltese cannabis model

Rolles emphasised that one must not repeat the same mistakes with other drugs that were fully commercialised, such as alcohol and tobacco.

I very much welcome the approach taken by Malta, (on cannabis) which feels to me like theyve learnt their lessons from mistakes that were made on alcohol and tobacco in particular. Rolles noted that as is the case with all drugs, tobacco and alcohol have risks linked to health and dependency, and despite this, the companies which sold these drugs were allowed to have massive power over legislators around the world. This, he says, lead to the companies having complete control over the markets with no regard to public health.

We need to be very careful to not repeat those mistakes with cannabis. In the case of Malta, Rolles applauded its model for moving away from commercialisation, even noting that this trait in the Maltese model is drawing attention from a number of countries that are looking to legalise cannabis themselves.

In fact, he said at the UNs annual Commission on Narcotic Drugs, as well as the Brazilian Congresss discussion on legalising cannabis, Malta is being seen as a leading example in this difficult reform.

Regarding the delay in setting up the associations in Malta, Rolles stated that, these things do take time, and has welcomed the caution of the Maltese model in what he described as a bold step forward. I think its in everybodys interest that this bold experiment is a success, he said, while adding that many who once dreamt of legalising cannabis are very keen to see the Maltese model succeed.

Originally posted here:

[WATCH] Turn on, tune in, legalise: Could psychedelics be next in ... - MaltaToday

A handful of entities are in various stages of the FDA approval process for MDMA and psilocybin drugs (seehereandhere for some of our prior analysis of the issues). FDA approval could happen in the next few years.

But theres a catch: psilocybin and MDMA are both schedule I drugs under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). And schedule I narcotics are essentially off limits for prescription. So, how will this new system work?

In order for physicians and medical professionals to prescribe and administer FDA approved MDMA and psilocybin formulations, the federal government has to reschedule them. One question I get frequently is whether this would mean a categorical rescheduling of MDMA and psilocybin. In other words, would the government move psilocybin and MDMA, as a whole, to a lower schedule.

The answer to this question is almost certainly no. In all likelihood, the federal government will reschedule the FDA approved drug formulations and leave MDMA and psilocybin on schedule I. There is precedent for this. Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (or GHB) is a schedule I depressant under the CSA. Drug manufacturers have gotten FDA approval for drugs that contain formulations of GHB for example, XYWAV, and according to that link:

XYWAV is a Schedule III controlled substance. The active moiety of XYWAV is oxybate, also known as gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), a Schedule I controlled substance. Abuse of illicit GHB, either alone or in combination with other CNS depressants, is associated with CNS adverse reactions, including seizure, respiratory depression, decreases in the level of consciousness, coma, and death. The rapid onset of sedation, coupled with the amnestic features of GHB particularly when combined with alcohol, has proven to be dangerous for the voluntary and involuntary user (eg, assault victim). Physicians should carefully evaluate patients for a history of drug abuse and follow such patients closely.

Indeed, if you take a look at the DEAs CSA regulations, youll see right there under schedule III: Any drug product containing gamma hydroxybutyric acid, including its salts, isomers, and salts of isomers, for which an application is approved under section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Translated into English: if a drug containing GHB gets FDA approval, it is a schedule III drug.

All signs point to something similar happening for both MDMA and psilocybin. Theres virtually no way the federal government will loosen up CSA restrictions for non-approved formulations, so well likely see carveouts for those FDA approved drugs on schedule II or III. That will allow a regulated medical market while giving the DEA wide enforcement powers for everyone else.

I should also point out here that the expected rescheduling wont effect the service center market in places like Oregon or Colorado. Those service centers will use psilocybin produced in state-regulated manners, not FDA approved formulations. So none of the benefits of, say, moving a drug to schedule III and getting rid of 280E risks, are going to happen.

Make sure to stay tuned to the Psychedelics Law Blogfor more updates on the psychedelics industry.

Original post:

Will Psychedelics Be Rescheduled After FDA Approval? - Harris Bricken

The journey itself is only one part of the psychedelic experience. But while many people are now recognizing the need for integrationprocessing, interpreting and incorporating what happened during your tripfewer are focused on what happens before it starts.

Preparation is just as crucial as integration, if not more so, believes Rosalind McAlpine, a PhD candidate at University College London. Most studies and trials include a preparation stage, but there are no established standards for what that entails, and the people designing and leading research often dont have firsthand experience. Its why she helped create the first Psychedelic Preparedness Scale (PPS): Based on feedback from people who actually use psychedelics, it measures the degree to which a person is prepared for a trip.

In societies where plant medicine is part of everyday life, many aspects of what we might call preparedness are often woven into the fabric of the culture, and the community itself acts as a container, McAlpine told Filter. But in the Global North, this is a relatively new construct [and] theres an active need to make time and space for adequate preparation.

Anything we can do before going in to increase the likelihood of having a safe, meaningful and potentially transformative experience should be exposed.

In a presentation at Breaking Convention 2023, she likened it to a day trip to Paris: You dont have to pack, research, or plan a route; youll still have an experience. But youll probably end up missing a lot of what you hoped to encounter, and you might even end up in an unsafe situation.

Psychedelics, too, will bring you an experience no matter whatbut without familiarizing yourself with the possibilities, you could not only miss the benefits, but potentially suffer real harms.

Challenging experiences are often the most transformative parts of psychedelic journeys, but these can be incredibly intense: from encounters with death or otherworldly entities, to repressed memories resurfacing. People need tools to navigate these moments when they arise.

Blogs and articles provide blanket advice; retreat centers give attendees guidelines; but none of this is standardized or geared toward the clinical setting, and little of what users and practitioners are doing is documented, McAlpine said.

The PPS aims to change that. From the perspective of harm reduction, she said, anything we can do before going in to increase the likelihood of having a safe, meaningful and potentially transformative experience, reducing the risks involved and potentiating challenging experiences as growth opportunities rather than traumatic events should be exposed.

The team gathered items for the scale based on feedback from both learned experience experts and lived experience experts.

McAlpines team defines psychedelic preparedness as a state preceding the session that is conducive to a safe and personally meaningful experience. The state will allow the participant to be psychologically, physically, and socially ready for the content and consequences of the experience, and will most likely involve a variety of extra-pharmacological factors.

The team gathered items for the scale based on feedback from both learned experience experts in psychiatry, philosophy and psychedelic research and, uniquely, lived experience experts undergoing psychedelic healing, whose perspective is often missing from scientific literature.

The intention was to include patient and public involvement [or PPI], throughout the whole process, McAlpine said, from creating the scale to implementing and optimizing it, in order to reflect not only the rigorous, hard-science framework, but also the voices of those people who would most benefit. PPI aims to bring accountability, transparency, and relevance to scientific studiesdefined by the authors of a paper that inspired the team as research performed with or by patients and members of the public, rather than to, about, or for them.

The scale was built in a three-study process. This involved collecting feedback through focus groups and interviews to determine which measures should be included; exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to gauge which measures most impacted preparedness; and preliminary implementation. The scale was then validated by two online samples of psychedelics users (516 and 716 people, respectively), and tested on 46 people attending psilocybin retreats at partnering centers, tracking preparedness levels and outcomes.

Preparedness elements defined by the PPS fall into four categories. These include knowledge expectations, meaning the person had an understanding of the substance itself and what the experience might be like; support and planning, meaning they felt the substance was safe to take and had a supportive physical environment; and psychophysical readiness, or being prepared for the whole range of emotional experiences, from bliss to horror, as well as physical possibilities, like vomiting or urination.

Across the board, participants with higher levels of preparedness had significantly better outcomes than those with lower levels.

The final category was intention preparation, involving measures like journaling, breathwork, and meditationrated most important by participants. McAlpines team plans to pilot a meditation-based preparedness intervention at UCL.

Through meditation, one participant said, I was able to enter the psychedelic state with a more open and receptive mindset. It helped me shed some of my preconceptions and allow the experience to unfold organically, without trying to control it or impose my own expectations.

Another noted, [Meditation] allowed me to approach the experience with a sense of curiosity and exploration, rather than fear or resistance.

Measures of participants outcomes included emotional breakthrough; mystical experience; challenging experience; post-psychedelic growth; the centrality of the event (whether, and how, the experience became central to their identity and a turning or reference point for their life story); wellbeing; relationship attachment style; extraversion; altered states of consciousness (gauging the acute experience); and depression, anxiety, and stress.

The scale doesnt prevent difficult things from happening, but it can point you in the right direction to reduce harm and maximize benefit.

Across the board, participants with higher levels of preparedness had significantly better outcomes than those with lower levels. High preparers had higher scores on positive measures such as unity, spiritual experience, blissful state, and insightfulness than low preparers; they also showed significantly greater reductions in depression, anxiety, and stress. When high preparers did have challenging moments in a trip, they were more likely to turn them into growth opportunities, and they were also more likely to experience positive changes in wellbeing after the experience.

The scale doesnt prevent difficult things from happening, but it can point you in the right direction to reduce harm and maximize benefit, McAlpine said. If one went into those experiences with no idea that was going to happen, it can be an unnecessary challenge Even a little bit of psychoeducation [and] expectation management can go incredibly far.

The PPS could serve as a valuable screening tool to identify individuals who may require additional preparation or support prior to undergoing psychedelic interventions, thereby functioning as a pre-intervention assessment to pinpoint areas of preparedness that necessitate attention, the researchers wrote. Furthermore, the PPS could serve as an outcome measure to evaluate the effectiveness of psychedelic preparedness interventions or to compare the efficacy of different preparation protocols.

Just because a study is conducted in a scientific setting doesnt mean its safe, as evidenced by allegations of abuse and misconduct in some of the MDMA trials conducted by MAPS. There needs to be more investigation and reporting of whats going on in those preparation sessions, specifically within the context of clinical psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, McAlpine said.

While the PPS was co-created with people who use psychedelics, the studies behind it focused on clinical settings, limiting researchers to including only people who could legally disclose their psychedelic usethose who had participated in research studies, clinical trials, or retreats. (Only clinical-trial participants contributed to the creation of the scale items.)

The last thing we want is to be like, Were the scientists, were right.

Obviously, this misses a massive swath of the user base, as McAlpine lamented, and vastly underrepresents the Indigenous people who are the original keepers of the largest body of knowledge on the subject. It also impacts the demographic makeup of their samples: The academic contributors, unsurprisingly, were predominantly white men. The lived-experience experts were more diverse by gender and nationality (data on sexual and gender identity were not collected). But respondents were still largely white, educated and well-off, hailing from the United Kingdom (mostly) and other European countries.

The PPS is open-access, and McAlpine encourages everyone to use it. She now calls upon others to pick up where her teams research left off, capturing a broader scope of lived experience. The scale is currently being used in a DMT neuroimaging study at University College London, and organizations such as the Institute of Psychedelic Therapy have used it for therapist training.

The aim is to keep it iterative and intuitive, learning from as many sources as possible to shed light on what works and what doesnt, McAlpine said, [while] giving voice to people who dont always get it. The last thing we want is to be like, Were the scientists, were right.

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As interest in psychedelic substances grows, ensuring the safety and purity of these substances is an increasingly important thing to practice. One of the most effective ways to mitigate risks associated with drug use is through the use of testing kits. Organizations like DanceSafe.org offer testing kits that allow individuals to analyze the composition of various psychedelic drugs, helping identify potential adulterants or contaminants.

Before delving into the specifics of testing various psychedelic drugs, it is essential to comprehend the purpose and benefits of testing kits. These kits are designed to provide users with crucial information about the contents of a particular substance. By analyzing the presence of adulterants, such as harmful chemicals or other drugs, testing kits help individuals make informed decisions and reduce the risks associated with substance use.

Testing your psychedelics is very easy and only takes 5 minutes. You should never skip testing your psychedelics, specially if buying from strangers or new dealers. Even if you have a reputable seller, always test your drugs, as you never know if their supply has changed.

If you are afraid that testing your drugs will be expensive, fear not. Testing kits are affordable. The LSD and ketamine kits are only $20 each, while the MDMA one is $50 (since it includes 3 reagents). Plus, each kit can perform between 50-75 tests. That should be enough to last you a long while.

To begin testing a psychedelic substance for adulterants, it is important to choose a suitable testing kit. DanceSafe.org is a reputable organization that offers a range of testing kits specifically designed for different types of substances which has become drug users favorite go-to brand. Their kits often utilize reagent tests, which involve adding small amounts of the substance being tested to a reagent chemical and observing color reactions to determine its composition. Additionally, DanceSafe.org provides detailed instructions and resources on how to use their testing kits effectively. (This is not a sponsored post. They are just the most popular, affordable testing kit manufacturer).

There are different types of reagent tests that can be utilized for testing a variety of drugs. The common reagent tests you can find are: Marquis, Simons, Froehde, Liebermann, Morris, Ehrlichs, Mandelin, Mecke, and Folin. Lets break down what the purpose of each is. Each link will take you to the corresponding kit page on DanceSafe.

Marquis: The Marquis reagent is a reagent that is used to test for the purity of MDMA and cocaine. It effectively reacts with amphetamines. The Marquis reagent cannot be used alone and should be with at least another reagent to confirm the purity of a substance. It is the first step in testing MDMA and second step in testing cocaine.

Simons: This is a secondary test that is almost always used alongside another reagent for confirmation. It is one of the three reagents used to test MDMA. Simons helps differentiate between MDMA and MDA, as well as methamphetamine and amphetamine.

Froehde: This is a reagent also used in testing MDMA but can produce unique color reactions with substances such as 2C-B, mescaline, and some cathinones.

Liebermann: This reagent is helpful for identifying possible cocaine adulterants like levamisole. It is also useful for testing substances like amphetamines, ketamine, and more unusual drugs.

Morris: This testing kit that can distinguish ketamine from DCK, 2-FDCK, and other novel dissociatives. It can also be used to determine the presence of cocaine.

Ehrlichs: This reagent is used to test the purity of LSD to ensure it is not adulterated with substances like 25I-NBOMe.

Mandelin: The Mandelin reagent is used as an additional layer of testing for a variety of drugs. This test provides more information when other reagents do not go as expected. It can react with amphetamines, certain cathinones, cocaine, ketamine, 2C-B, 2C-I, mescaline, PMA, PMMA, oxycodone, heroin, aspirin, and sugar.

Mecke: Similar to the Mandelin reagent, the Mecke test is used to perform more specialized and complete testing. It can help confirm the identity of substances such as entactogens, cathinones, 2C-B, 2C-I, mescaline, oxycodone, heroin, and sugar.

Folin: This last reagent is useful for detecting a class of drugs called piperazines, which include BZP and TFMPP.

LSD is commonly sold on blotter paper or in liquid form. To test LSD for adulterants, carefully cut a small portion of the blotter or gel tab and place it on a white, ceramic plate. It is important that it is white, as it will facilitate seeing the color.

Candies, purple- or blue-dyed blotters, and gel tabs can be difficult to test. Although sometimes possible, the reaction can be hard to read. Gel tabs may take longer to dissolve.

Hold the reagent bottle an inch or two above the sample and squeeze one drop of Ehrlichs reagent, and observe the color reaction over the next five minutes. A violet hue indicates the presence of LSD. Once you observe the color reaction, dispose of the small piece of the blotter. Do not consume a tested blotter. Consuming Ehrlichs reagent can be fatal.

If Ehrlichs doesnt turn purple, you definitely do not have LSD. Drugs like 25I-NBOMe do not react with Ehrlich, so it is possible the LSD sample is adulterated. Do not consume an adulterated LSD tab.

If Ehrlichs turns purple, there is a high chance you have LSD. It may be reacting with another indole, but you are not getting an immediate red flag that something is wrong.

LSD will show up purple on an Ehrlich's reagent test. No reaction indicates an adulterated substance. Source: DanceSafe

MDMA is often found in pill or powdered form. To test MDMA, you will require three different reagents: Marquis, Simons, and Froedhe. All three are required for a comprehensive analysis of the sample. To test MDMA, scrape a small amount of the pill or powder onto a testing plate. You will need enough for three different reactions.

Place a drop of the marquis reagent on your MDMA sample. In the presence of MDMA, Marquis will quickly turn black, or you will see purple at first.

This step will help you differentiate between MDMA and MDA. Simons turns blue in the presence of MDMA and will not react or turn a dark grey with a hint of green in the presence of MDA. Place a drop on another clean sample.

Lastly, this step will help test for the very rare occasion that you were sold drugs called APBs under the guise of MDMA. This reagent is most useful for testing something that was sold to to you as an APB. It can be hard to differentiate between an MDMA/MDA reaction and an APB reaction, so do not assume you have an APB reaction unless theres very, very clear purple in it. Pleace a drop on another clean sample. Do not test on previously tested samples.

Ketamine has risen in popularity in the past couple of years, especially in the club, rave, and gay scenes. With more demand for ketamine, there is the possibility of manufacturers cutting corners and adulterating it to reduce costs. There are an increasing number of drugs that are being sold under the guise of ketamine presently, and these can include ketamine analogs, PCP analogs, novel dissociatives. Because ketamine is often sold in a white powder form, it is also possible it can be adulterated with cocaine or fentanyl. To test for ketamine, Morris reagent is used. Other tests can be used to further analyze the drug such as those testing for cocaine or fentanyl. The Morris reagent is a two-part process that comes in two bottles: a pink one (Morris A) and a green one (Morris B)

Use at least 5-10mg of material to get an accurate reading. On a white ceramic plate, put a drop of the pink bottle (Morris A) that comes with the Morris testing kit onto your sample.

Put a drop of the green bottle (Morris B) on the same sample. The sample should have both Morris A and Morris B on it.

Using a toothpick or the sharp point of a knife, stir the mixture for a full 30 seconds.

A ketamine sample will turn purple. Cocaine will turn bright blue, like a Jolly Rancher. DCK or 2F-DCK will turn dark blue/gray. Most other drugs will turn a dull green, meaning a negative reaction.

It is important to learn how to read a ketamine test to be sure of the authenticity of your substance. Source: DanceSafe

While shrooms do containe indole groups, Ehrlichs reagent is not recommended to be used with them, as it is only meant to test LSD. There are no current reagents that test shrooms for adulterants.

The most important harm reduction practice is triple checking that you actually bought psychedelic mushrooms and are not being sold poisonous mushrooms.

If you personally harvested mushrooms in the wild, it is very important to get them identified by a professional mycologist group, forum, individual, or association especially if you do not have much experience with foraging wild mushrooms. Galerina is a genus of mushrooms that are commonly misidentified as shrooms; this genus contains some extremely poisonous species. Identifying mushrooms is not as easy as one may think, so only do so, if you are 100% sure of your skills. Ingesting a wrongly-identified mushroom can lead to serious health consequences or death.

If you are growing mushrooms at home, ensure that the spore vendor where you bought your spores from is reputable. Do your due diligence and ask around psychedelic communities for their opinion on a vendor you are thinking of using, as many people may have had experiences with them or know of a better vendor.

Although rare, there have been instances where fentanyl has been found in certain psychedelics, such as ketamine. While there are no testing strips on the market that can detect every fentanyl analog, using a strip is still good practice to detect the presence of any analog. You can test for fentanyl on any LSD, MDMA, ketamine, cocaine, pharmaceuticals, and more.

To test for fentanyl in a sample, simply dilute a sample of the drug in water. The ratio of powder to water is 10mg / ml. Dip the testing strip in. If the testing strip has two red lines, it has no fentanyl. If it has one red line, it has fentanyl.

Do not skip on testing your substances. Responsible drug use requires testing substances every time before consuming them. Always test your drugs, even if you bought them from the same seller multiple times in the past without problems. Drug dealers may change the distributor where they get their drugs from, or may be unaware where they come from. Some drug dealers test your drugs for you and show you the results of the reagent tests before selling them, but this is not common practice.

In public spaces like concerts and festivals, it is more common for people to take drugs without testing them. It is good practice to bring a testing kit with you it only takes 5 minutes of your time. Some festivals also bring harm reduction and testing organizations to their grounds to help festival goers test their drugs, and no, the police will not get you because you use them. These organizations are there to help you.

It is also common for harm reduction organizations to exist in your city. It is more than likely that someone in your city has started a harm reduction service. There are syringe exchange programs, mobile harm reduction testing sites, and harm reduction hotlines that are available to you to test your drugs, in the case you do not want to do it yourself at home.

Do not feel pressured to take drugs you arent sure of, and always suggest testing them. Doing so helps break down stigma surrounding drug testing, too. And do not fall victim to the mindset of oh, but Im wasting product by testing. Only a minimal amount is required to test a drug, and it is better off losing milligrams of your product than losing function of your body or even losing your life.

It is crucial to remember that testing kits provide preliminary information and are not infallible. While reagent tests can detect the presence of specific substances, they cannot identify all potential contaminants. Additionally, different adulterants may produce similar color reactions, requiring further testing or professional lab analysis for confirmation. Therefore, if there is any uncertainty about the results, it is advisable to err on the side of caution and refrain from consuming the substance.

Testing kits provided by organizations like DanceSafe.org play a vital role in promoting personal safety and harm reduction within the realm of psychedelic drug use. By utilizing these kits and following proper testing procedures, individuals can gain valuable insights into the composition of their substances, helping them make informed decisions about their own well-being. Part of being a person who uses drugs is responsibly doing said drugs. It is crucial to prioritize personal safety, education, and responsible drug use practices to minimize potential risks associated with psychedelic substances.

Psychedelic Spotlight's Bonfire division offers aFREE Psychedelics for Beginners coursewhere you can learn everything about the different psychedelic compounds, the importance of mindset, how to prepare for your psychedelic experience and how to integrate it.

Disclaimer: Psychedelic Spotlight does not condone the use of illegal substances. The purpose of this article is for educational and harm reduction purposes only. If you suffer from a medical or mental condition, please consult with your doctor before taking any substance.

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How to Test Psychedelics for Adulterants with Testing Kits - Psychedelic Spotlight

PROVIDENCE, R.I., July 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cannabis Science Conference (CSC), the premier cannabis science conference focusing on analytical science, medical cannabis, cultivation and psychedelics, announced today that its fall edition will make its first-ever appearance in Providence, R.I. Taking place at the Rhode Island Convention Center from September 2022, this highly anticipated conference will become the epicenter for education related to the exciting cannabis and psychedelic markets.

We are thrilled to bring the Cannabis Science Conference to Providence, said Megan LHeureux, group editorial director of Cannabis Science and Technology and Cannabis Patient Care magazines. Rhode Island is emerging as a major player in the cannabis science industry, and this event will serve as a dynamic hub for professionals to learn, network and collaborate.

Keynote speaker Dr. Peter Grinspoon, a primary care doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital, instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School, and 25-year cannabis specialist, will share his knowledge in an address titled, Cannabis Reconsidered: A Science-Based Look at the True Harms and Benefits. In a recent interview with Cannabis Science and Technology, Grinspoon discussed what he hoped attendees will learn from this presentation. We all need to be humble. We all need to forget what we think we know about cannabis. Nobody, including me, has a monopoly on the truth. We just have to think for ourselves, said Dr. Grinspoon. I'm just really hoping that by challenging some of the myths, methodology, and misconceptions that people will come away feeling more confident in thinking for themselves on this issue.

Dr. Dustin Sulak, a distinguished integrative medicine physician, will also take the stage at the fall event for a keynote address. With a deep-rooted practice in osteopathy, mind-body medicine and medical cannabis applications, Dr. Sulak is renowned for his expertise in the medical use of cannabis. His keynote address, The Knowledge and Art of Combining Cannabinoids for Treatment Success, will explore recent advancements in accessing rare cannabinoids and challenge assumptions about THC and CBD combinations. CSC will also feature several fireside chats with industry experts such as world-renowned cannabis geneticist Adam Jacques as well as a hot button discussion on THC potency inflation with leading analytical scientists.

CSC is designed to provide world-class science education and insights. Attendees can expect expert-led presentations, roundtable discussions, exhibits and a full-day pre-conference workshop called Canna Boot Camp, taking place on September 20. Canna Boot Camp covers a wide range of cannabis science topics, including cultivation, preprocessing, sample preparation, analytical testing, extraction and edibles manufacturing.

The conference boasts dedicated program chairs and an educational steering committee, ensuring the highest quality and relevant content. CSC places great emphasis on networking and collaboration opportunities among attendees, speakers and exhibitors, fostering a vibrant atmosphere for knowledge exchange and business growth within the cannabis industry.

To register and learn more, please visit the registration page.

About Cannabis Science Conference:

Cannabis Science Conference (CSC) is the industrys premier science event, focusing on analytical science, medical cannabis, cultivation and psychedelics. CSC brings together cannabis and psychedelicindustry experts, including instrument manufacturers, testing labs, research scientists, cultivators, medical practitioners, policy makers, patients and interested novices to network and share ideas. CSC runs semiannual events nationwide in emerging markets, aimed at improving cannabis and psychedelic science. Join us for world-class education, stellar networking and the opportunity to connect with thought leaders, leading scientists, pioneers in cutting-edge medical applications and industry suppliers. For more information, visitwww.cannabisscienceconference.com.

Media Contact: Lauren Garafola MJH Life Sciences lgarafola@mjhlifesciences.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0392bfc7-563b-4b86-bd0d-9e70982b71a3

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Cannabis Science Conference to debut in Providence, R.I., with ... - GlobeNewswire

Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!

RIVAS SAYS YES TO THREE CONTROVERSIAL BILLS

Via Mathew Miranda

Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas supports legalizing psychedelic drugs, raising health care worker minimum wage to $25 and a controversial housing bill opposed by some Assembly Democrats and the San Francisco Giants.

He doled out those opinions, plus more on his leadership plans and priorities for a new era in the California Legislature, at the Sacramento Press Club on Wednesday.

The housing bill, introduced by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, passed the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources despite the chairs opposition on Monday. It extends an existing law that allows streamlining of multifamily housing developments in cities that arent meeting state-mandated requirements.

Im excited to support any and all efforts to ensure that well get a good policy across, Rivas said.

Wiener is also pushing for SB 58 to decriminalize psilocybin (magic mushrooms), psilocyn, DMT, mescaline and ibogaine. The bill passed its final policy committee on Tuesday, and now advances to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. This marks the San Francisco Democrats second bid to remove criminal penalties for possession and personal use of certain psychedelics.

Rivas said yes, when asked if California should legalize psychedelics.

As for the proposed minimum wage increase, Rivas paused for 10 seconds before saying I want to be respectful of the process, yes.

NEWSOM STUMPS FOR MENTAL HEALTH BOND ISSUE

Via Maggie Angst...

With budget negotiations in the rearview mirror, Gov. Gavin Newsom is turning his attention to the next priority -- securing legislative and voter approval of his multi-billion-dollar plan to house thousands of mentally ill people across California.

Newsom held a roundtable Wednesday with state and local lawmakers and behavioral health advocates to drum up support for a proposed ballot measure that he says will help the state treat brain health early before we punish it later.

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There is no other issue that impacts more people in more ways on more days than the issue of behavioral health, the issue of mental health, Newsom said during a press briefing afterward.

A pair of bills from Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman, D-Stockton, and Assembly Member Jacqui Irwin, D-Thousand Oaks, that would enact the governors plans are making their way through the legislature.

Irwins calls for using $4.68 billion in new bond revenue to build 10,000 new mental health treatment beds. Eggmans would reform the states Mental Health Services Act, passed by voters as Proposition 63 nearly 20 years ago and used by counties to fund services for residents with serious mental health issues.

Newsoms vision is to combine the two bills into one ballot measure that would go before voters in March 2024. But first, two-thirds of lawmakers need to vote in support.

OPIOID OVERDOSE PREDICTIONS....FOR 2022

Via Gillian Brassil...

It sounds a bit odd to predict something for a year thats come and gone. But thats what the Centers for Disease Control says about opioid deaths nationwide in 2022. They stayed flat, although California is among the states where cases are still expected to have risen.

The data is predictive to adjust for incomplete reporting. Drug overdose deaths are often initially reported without a cause because they require lengthy investigation

The latest report predicts fewer than 110,000 overdose deaths for the year ending in Feb. 2023, with most caused by illicit synthetic drugs like fentanyl. Still, CDC data predicts that California cases will rise year over year by about 200 cases to roughly 12,200 deaths. It is among the half of states predicted to increase rather than decrease.

Overdose deaths had been rapidly increasing since 2019, the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. About 69,000 deaths were suspected for the year ending in Feb. 2019, ballooning to over 110,000 in the year ending in Feb. 2022.

Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said the data shows our nation is finally seeing early indications of success in the overdose rate that we must sustain with even more urgent action.

Tackling the opioid epidemic has been a Biden administration priority. This week, the White House announced a plan to curb the spread of a powerful veterinary tranquilizer, xylazine, that is being combined with illicit fentanyl.

Gov. Gavin Newsom too has made cracking down on fentanyl a priority, launching a partnership between the state and San Francisco to seize illicit drugs and approving $30 million for making its own naloxone from settlements with opioid manufacturers.

Naloxone can reduce or reverse effects of an opioid overdose. If you think someone is having an overdose, the California Department of Public Health recommends the following:

Call 911 and give naloxone.

Keep the person awake and breathing.

Lay the person on their side to prevent choking.

Stay with the person until 911 responders arrive.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

The best place for Mexican food in Sacramento? Laurel Rosenhall asked Robert Rivas at the Sacramento Press Club.

(long pause)

Really? Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silvas house he responded.

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New Speaker Rivas weighs in on psychedelics, housing and health care worker minimum wage - Yahoo News