Category Archives: Psychedelics

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Everyones Talking About How Well Cannabis Did In The Election, But Hemp Was A Winner, Too

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I wont be the last: Kamala Harris, first woman elected US VP, accepts place in history

President-elect Joe Biden appeals to Trump voters in call for unity: Lets give each other a chance

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As Advocates Celebrate a Renaissance, Could Psychedelics Become the Next Cannabis?

D.C. and Oregon Vote to Start Decriminalizing Shrooms

Psychedelic Reform Wins in DC, Oregon Send a Message to Congress

Oregon becomes first state to legalize psychedelic mushrooms

Live results: Oregon Measure 109 and Washington DC Initiative 81 on psychedelic drugs

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Kamala Harris and Black WomenVoters Helped Joe Biden Get Elected. Heres How America Can Do Right by Them

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Kamala Harris speech: I may be the first woman to hold this office. But I wont be the last.

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News Roll Up: Election Nets Huge Wins For Cannabis, Psychedelics and Drug Reform | Cannabis News & Culture - Heady Vermont

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Were still awaiting final results from battleground states in the 2020 election, but Joe Bidens position is strengtheningwhich means its time for industries to start considering the implications of a Biden administration if they havent already. To lend a hand, Adweek developed a primer on what to expect from the most intensely debated tech policy issues of the moment. For instance, a Biden presidency likely wouldnt significantly change the trajectory of the Department of Justices antitrust lawsuit against Googleand antitrust efforts against the major players in Big Tech may continue to ramp up. On the social media front, legislative action around Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act may continue to be a factor under Biden.

Whats next? Learn how the potential Biden administration would approach net neutrality, privacy laws and Chinese tech.

The presidential campaigns are over, but the fundraising emails keep on comingwith new language asking people to donate in light of potentially long legal battles and vote recounts. The Trump campaign has maintained its high-frequency, high-aggression strategy with shock-value subject lines, while Biden was requesting donations to the Biden Fight Fund, which seeks to ensure that every vote is counted.

Will it work? We asked the experts about the strategiesand whether they think the new messaging will spur more donations.

Also in election updates for marketers:

Despite the massive impact the election is having on many facets of American life, it may not change brand strategy that much. After all, the marketing world has grown used to uncertainty amid the pandemic.

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Now that Oregon has become the first U.S. state to legalize psychedelics, many are considering whether hallucinogens could follow the same trajectory as cannabis has over the past few years. Shrooms are unlikely to be sold in dispensaries in the foreseeable future, but cannabis has forged a path for legal recreational drug use, and its certainly a cultural shift: Americans are more and more open to decriminalization and legalization across the board.

How brands and pop culture are leaning in: Dr. Bronners has famously supported drug legalization and decriminalization efforts.

An exclusive survey of 70 brand marketers conducted by Adweek Intelligence sought to get a reading on what brands think of their agencies performance during the pandemic and discover how that could impact 2021 budgets. Although agencies made extraordinary pivots to help clients overcome their challenges, the survey found that almost 40% of brands may be looking for a new agency in 2021. Of course, it may not be entirely due to agency performancein fact, brands described agencies in positive termsbut rather due to other factors in the relationship or the broader environment, which was exacerbated by the crisis.

More findings: These charts show how brands believe agencies have been performing, what brands want from agencies and more.

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What a Biden Future Looks Like; Are Psychedelics the New Cannabis?: Fridays First Things First - Adweek

Robust new research, published in the journal Translational Psychiatry, is reporting on several years of animal studies showing how a psychedelic drug called dimethyltryptamine (DMT) can promote brain plasticity and induce the formation of new neurons. The research presents evidence to suggest the hallucinogenic effects of the drug may be able to be separated from this neuron-generating mechanism.

Ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic preparation known to be consumed in shamanic and religious contexts by indigenous populations in South America. DMT is the main psychoactive compound in the psychedelic brew, and it has become the focus of a great deal of research due to its profoundly powerful, but short-acting, hallucinogenic qualities.

The recent renaissance in psychedelic science has found hallucinogenic drugs such as psilocybin can induce potent antidepressant effects. Preliminary studies investigating ayahuasca have seen similar antidepressant outcomes. It has been hypothesized that the positive mental health outcomes from these psychedelic compounds stems from their ability to stimulate new neuron production, a process referred to as neurogenesis.

This new research, led by a team of Spanish scientists, set out to understand by what mechanism DMT could induce neurogenesis. Across several mouse experiments the study first established DMT does indeed promote acute neurogenesis, and furthermore, these new neurons can be linked to detectable improvements in the animals memory and cognition.

these [new hippocampal neurons] have a functional impact since DMT treatment during 21 days clearly improved mouse performance in learning and memory tasks, in which the hippocampus is considered to play an essential role, the researchers write in the new study. These observations are in agreement with previous works showing that adult hippocampal neurogenesis plays an important role in these cognitive functions.

Perhaps the most compelling finding in the new research is the confirmation that this psychedelic-induced neurogenesis seems to be produced by a mechanism that is separate to that which generates the drugs hallucinogenic effect.

The hallucinogenic qualities of most psychedelics are commonly thought to be generated through the stimulation of 5-HT2A serotonin receptors in the brain but it is still up for debate whether neurogenesis induced by psychedelics is mediated through the same serotonin receptor activity.

This new research suggests neurogenesis may be mediated through sigma-1 receptors (S1R), which prior research has established are also influenced by DMT. The study reveals the neurogenic effect of DMT could be effectively blocked when mice were administered a S1R antagonist.

The results here obtained indicate that the observed effects of DMT are mediated by the activation of the S1R, the researchers write in the study. In this regard, it has been shown that the stimulation of the S1R by different agonists enhances neurogenesis in the hippocampus.

What all this ultimately means is that is seems possible the new-neuron-stimulating effect of DMT could be divorced from its hallucinogenic and psychoactive properties. Jos ngel Morales, an author on the new research, suggests this promisingly points to new research pathways investigating ways to harness the therapeutic potential of neurogenesis.

This capacity to modulate brain plasticity suggests that it has great therapeutic potential for a wide range of psychiatric and neurological disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases," says Morales.

This research is not the first to raise the possibility of divorcing the therapeutic potential of psychedelics from their hallucinatory effects. Both the US government and commercial pharmaceutical companies are investigating ways to either moderate, or eliminate altogether, the psychedelic effect of psychedelics. However, there is considerable debate within the psychedelic research community as to how fundamentally important the overwhelming psychoactive experience actually is to the drug's subsequent therapeutic benefits.

"The challenge is to activate our dormant capacity to form neurons and thus replace the neurons that die as a result of the disease, notes Morales. This study shows that DMT is capable of activating neural stem cells and forming new neurons.

The new study was published in the journal Translational Psychiatry.

Source: Complutense University of Madrid via MedicalXpress

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How psychedelic DMT promotes the production of new brain cells - New Atlas

Psilocybin mushrooms, otherwise known as shrooms or magic mushrooms, are a group of wild or cultivated fungi that induce psychoactive and hallucinogenic effects. Psilocybin is considered a Schedule I drug in the United States, meaning there is high potential for drug abuse.

The active ingredient, psilocybin, was first discovered by Dr. Albert Hofmann in 1958. Hofmann also discovered lysergic acid diethylamide, otherwise known as LSD.

Magic mushrooms are legal in the Netherlands, Jamaica, Austria, Costa Rica, Canada, Spain and more. Shrooms are decriminalized in Denver and Oakland.

In Denver, there are no legal mushroom dispensaries, but therapists are able to provide mushrooms for depressed clients and are trained on how to deal with traumatic trips and any possible negative side effects of the drug. By passing this new law in May of 2019, Denver police and prosecutors are unable to target the use of psychedelic mushrooms. Since 2019, there have been no new psilocybin charges in the city.

This decriminalization has encouraged states around the nation to look into the therapeutic effects of mushrooms. In Sept., the University of California at Berkeley launched a new center for psychedelics research and education. Scientists in this building are researching how psychedelics interact with the human brain.

Researchers at John Hopkins have noted the powerful therapeutic properties of mushrooms from treating smoking addiction, anorexia, drug addiction and depression. Scientists are trying to elaborate on this research to see the full potential of shrooms and how they can be beneficial to society.

Shrooms can cause people to see, hear and feel sensations that are not truly there. These effects vary depending on dosage, age, weight, emotional state, environment and mental illness. People consume psychedelic mushrooms for an experience of self-discovery. All mushrooms are capable of emitting a psychedelic effect. This heightens existing colors, patterns, sounds, tastes and textures that allow individuals to force their perspective on the world.

Similar to the legalization of marijuana, there has been a wide public debate on legalizing mushrooms. Many studies have confirmed that carefully monitored and controlled use of mushrooms may be beneficial for psychiatric disorders, personal development and creative enhancement.

The research is done by nonprofit organizations like the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), the Beckley Foundation and the Heffter Research Institute. This research is not supported by academic or government institutions due to controversy surrounding its status as a Schedule I drug. These drugs are not currently accepted as a medical use at a federal level. Similarly, marijuana is considered a Schedule I drug. This strengthens the arguments and controversy around decriminalizing and legalizing marijuana and mushrooms.

The Food and Drug Administration in early 2019 has approved research into psychedelic mushrooms as a promising treatment for depression. One dose of psilocybin can impact the brain and create positive long-lasting impacts that dissolve depressive symptoms.

Clinical trials are currently happening and have been very successful. Phase two of the trials is expected to end in 2021, and scientists expect the research to move quickly into phase three out of four. This step could potentially move the nation towards decriminalization on a federal level, and improve the overall societal perception of psychedelic mushrooms.

The positives of using psilocybin to treat depression are founded on the mushrooms ability to help patients reconnect with their emotions. It acts quickly and in a manner suitable for long-term use. The negatives include unsettling experiences, such as paranoia, confusion, distressing thoughts and bad hallucinations. These side effects are more common with consuming a high dose of shrooms, or if they are being taken in a stressful or bad environment. These side effects vary greatly on the person.

Scientists are hopeful that further breakthroughs with psilocybin will improve how the medical industry treats patients with depression. There is still more research to be done on the effects of the psilocybin mushrooms, states and countries around the world are investing time and money into the legalization and study of this promising, albeit controversial, new drug.

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Driscoll Green: The research and legislation behind psychedelic mushrooms - DU Clarion

Researchers at the nonprofit Usona Institute in Fitchburg are looking to improve how depression is treated by turning to an unorthodox medicine: psychedelic mushrooms.

These so-called magic mushrooms contain a substance known as psilocybin, which has shown promising results in early clinical trials for patients with clinical depression. According to Charles Raison, a professor at UW-Madisons School of Medicine and Public Health, psilocybin could provide a more effective treatment than standard antidepressants with little to no drawbacks.

Unlike regular antidepressants which take a couple weeks to really begin showing an effect usually, psilocybin shows a large effect within a day. People often feel much better, very very quickly, he said yesterday during a webinar hosted by the Wisconsin Technology Council.

Typical treatments for clinical depression, also called major depressive disorder, often involve prolonged use of antidepressants. But Raison says these medications dont work for everyone, and in certain cases can harm certain patients by weakening their brain in the long-term.

For certain people who have a strong response to antidepressants, symptoms can return with a vengeance if they stop treatment, and patients can even end up more depressed than before going on the drugs. And for others, research shows they would have fared better with a placebo alone, Raison said.

We need antidepressants, but we need new things too, he said. Thats one of the reasons psychedelics are so interesting.

The Usona Institute is currently recruiting participants for a Phase 2 clinical trial, but an earlier study out of Johns Hopkins University suggests psilocybin could impart long-lasting benefits after a single treatment. A group of 55 patients who were experiencing depression and anxiety received one dose of psilocybin under controlled circumstances. Researchers followed up after several weeks, and again after six months to track their symptoms.

Six months after a single dose of psilocybin, people who were extremely depressed and anxious are largely in remission, he said. Seventy percent of the people meet criteria for full remission without further treatment. Now, this is unheard of shocking.

Raison said he was astounded by the results, and subsequent studies in patients with chronic treatment-resistant depression showed the same pattern.

Its not quite as robust, but its also a much more difficult-to-treat population. But we see that same pattern of a single dose of psilocybin producing a very long-term antidepressant effect that far outlasts its presence in the body, he said.

Many new drugs take as long as a decade to develop, but Raison noted that research has been conducted into the effects of psychedelic mushrooms for decades, stretching back to the 1950s and 60s. That means scientists can make progress more quickly as they work to develop treatments from psilocybin. More recently, psychedelic mushrooms have seen a resurgence in popularity among health researchers for a variety of conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder.

Researchers at the Usona Institute have received breakthrough therapy designation from the FDA for their proposed depression treatment, and aim to be ready for a Phase 3 study by mid- to late-2021. Beyond that, theyre looking to file a new drug application with the FDA by 2024 or 2025.

We could offer a new and affordable treatment for depression, said Tura Patterson, senior director of strategic partnerships for the Usona Institute. This could, by a nonprofit model, lead to greater access, affordability and potential impact for those who need it the most.

She said researchers are looking ahead to a promising and expanding new field of research, potentially using psychedelics to treat anxiety, addiction, anorexia and cluster headaches.

-By Alex Moe

WisBusiness.com

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Researchers looking to treat depression with psychedelic mushrooms - Wisbusiness.com

Psychedelics are the next billion dollar industry, according to market analysts, and investors and donors are taking note.

Over the past six months, $30 million in donations has gone to the nonprofit funding research into MDMA-assisted therapy, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), according to the groups announcement on Aug. 20. Major donors, who each donated at least $1 million, include GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons, hedge fund billionaire Steven Cohen, and Joby Pritzker, co-founder of Tao Capital Management and part of the family behind Hyatt Hotels.

MDMA isnt the only psychedelic gaining support. Earlier this month, the Canadian government ruled that four citizens could legally use psilocybin (the psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms), to treat end-of-life anxiety. Meanwhile, clinical studies on psilocybin are racing towards the final stages of trials at a similar pace to MDMA, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just approved its second ketamine-based treatment for depression.

Should psychedelics be legalized, the drugs will present both a transformative mental health treatment and a major industry. In March, MindMed, which focuses on treatments for addiction, became the first psychedelic company to go public. Other major players include Compass Pathways, which was granted a patent for its method of producing psilocybin in January, and Field Trip Ventures, which is building psychedelic clinics across North America in anticipation of their legal use.

The $30 million in donations to MAPS will help the nonprofit complete the final phase of trials on MDMA-assisted therapy before it can apply to the FDA for treatment approval. The FDA has indicated that it is receptive: It has granted the treatment breakthrough therapy designation, meaning itll be fast tracked through the development process.

Several of the MAPS donors are personally invested in helping to create new mental health treatments. Parsons is a Vietnam war veteran who still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to MAPS, while donor George Sarlo, founder of Walden Venture Capital, says he used psychedelic therapy to treat his Holocaust trauma.

Psychedelic therapy is still unproven medical treatment and, as Quartz reported earlier this year, has yet to reckon with its potential for sexual abuse. But, with millions of people suffering from mental health conditions, psychedelic treatments present a major opportunity for both patients and investors.

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Wall Street donors are racing to back psychedelic therapy - Quartz

The Canadian government will have to officially respond to a petition calling for the decriminalization of psychedelics after it garnered nearly 15,000 signaturesand theres legislation in the works that could make the policy change happen.

The petition, which is not binding but must be sponsored by a member of Parliament, discusses the historical use of entheogenic plants and fungi and the therapeutic potential of those substances.

It states that the government should immediately discontinue enforcement of statutes or regulations that prohibit or impose onerous restrictions on informed adult use, growing, or sharing of any plant or fungi, where an established record of traditional use exists.

Additionally, legislators should amend federal drug laws to distinguish and exempt these organisms when used for therapeutic practices, as adjuncts to medical care, for healing ceremonies or solitary spiritual growth and self-development, it says.

The deadline to join the petition passed last week, with 14,910 signatures. Thats the eighth-highest number of signatures an official government petition has received this Parliament.

But while this document focuses on psychedelics, the sponsor who agreed to attach his name to it, MP Paul Manly of the Green Party, told Marijuana Moment in a phone interview that rather than introduce new legislation on the issue, he will continue to support a broader bill to decriminalize possession of all currently illicit drugs.

That measure did not advance last session, but its been reintroduced by MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith of the Liberal party.

Manly said his interest in drug reform comes from personal experience. The lawmaker said that when he was a professional musician he saw rampant substance misuse issues upfront. A friend was incarcerated over a drug offense and then raped in prison, for example, and a cousin he was close with developed a mental health condition and cycled through the criminal justice system before ultimately dying from an opioid overdose.

I see what the opioid crisis is doing to families, to work colleagues, to friends, Manly said. Everybody is touched by it in some way, some people more directly than others.

Because the decriminalization petition surpassed the minimum 500-signature threshold, it will be formally read in the House of Commons some time after the session starts on September 23. Once its read, the government will then have 45 days to issue a response. Manly said the petition process primarily serves as an expression of democratic will.

We need to have serious discussions about what legislation looks like for decriminalization, he said. Im actually in favor of full legalization and just taking the drugs out of the hands of organized criminals and regulating them properly. Thats what the governments role should be, and this current form of trying to regulate through the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and criminalization has not worked.

Trevor Millar, who introduced the petition and serves as the board chair of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelics Studies (MAPS) Canada and the executive director of the Canadian Psychedelic Association, told Marijuana Moment that it was meant to serve as an educational vehicle.

Were going to continue the education, plus were going to start doing some lobbying and reaching out to more politicians and helping to educate them around the potential benefits for some of these medicines around the mental health crisis in particular, he said, adding that he feels decriminalization is achievable within the next couple of years.

I think a tipping point could easily happen. Ive been professionally involved in this therapeutic psychedelic space for almost 10 years now, and right now were about 10 years ahead of where I thought we would be five years ago, he said. I just see the conversation is changing so quickly, and its not like these are far-fetched ideas.

Prohibition has never worked. The war on drugs is an abject failure. There is a mental health crisis thats happening right now. And I have seen so many transformations using these plant medicines that, you know, you could use the word miraculous if you didnt understand the context property. Its just needed. Its not like were asking for something thats unreasonable. Its a very reasonable request for us to just make plants legal. I find it incredibly arrogant that mankind thinks that can make plants illegal. If it grows out of the ground hasnt nature legitimized it enough?

There is something of a psychedelics and broader drug policy renaissance happening across North America. In Canada, the health minister this month granted exceptions for four cancer patients to use psilocybin mushrooms for end-of-life care in a landmark decision.

This week, the countrys director of Public Prosecutions also directed prosecutors to avoid pursuing drug possession convictions except for the most serious cases.

The top police chiefs association in Canada made a bold call for drug policy reform last month, arguing that low-level possession should be decriminalized and substance misuse should be treated as a public health matter.

Last year, a House committee similarly called for the government to decriminalize the simple possession of all drugs in an effort to address addiction as a public health issue.

Over in the U.S., a localized movement to decriminalize psychedelics is rapidly spreading.

In May 2019,Denver became the first U.S. city to decriminalize psilocybin, with the approval of a local ballot measure. Soon after, officials inOakland, California, decriminalized possession of all plant- and fungi-based psychedelics. The City Council in Santa Cruz, California, voted to make the enforcement of laws against psychedelics among the citys lowest enforcement priorities in January.

Oregons secretary of state confirmed last month that separate measures tolegalize psilocybin therapyanddecriminalize possession of all drugswhile expanding treatment services will appear on the November ballot.

A measure to effectively decriminalize a wide range of psychedelics hasofficially qualified for the November ballotin Washington, D.C.

The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies announced on Thursday that it has raised $30 million in donationsincluding from several notable business leaders outside the drug policy realmthat will enable it to complete a study on using MDMA to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

Psychedelics Group Raises $30 Million From Execs At GoDaddy, SpaceX And Others For MDMA Study

Photo courtesy of Christopher Policarpio.

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Canadian Government Will Respond To Psychedelics Decriminalization Petition - Marijuana Moment

MindMed and the University Hospital Basels Liechti Lab on Tuesday announced plans to combine MDMA and LSD in a Phase 1 clinical trial scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of the year in Basel, Switzerland.

Some psychedelics, including psilocybin and LSD, have been shown to induce short-term, unpleasant effects for psychedelic-assisted therapy patients, such as negative thoughts, rumination, panic and paranoia. MDMA, meanwhile, has been found to induce feelings of well-being and trust.

Researchers conducting the study will pair LSD and MDMA within the same session to evaluate whether MDMA can reduce negative mood effects of LSD, making patients more comfortable and producing positive acute effects overall.

The potential of MDMA-LSD is to create a psychological state that may have the benefits of both substances and have longer lasting effects than standalone psilocybin or LSD, University Hospital Basels Liechti LabsMatthias Liechti, MD, MAS,said in a news release announcing the study. Inducing an overall primarily positive acute response during psychedelic assisted therapy is critical because several studies showed that a more positive acute experience is linked to a greater therapeutic long-term effect in patients.

The study is expected to take one year to complete.

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MindMed, Liechti Lab to Study Effects of Combining LSD, MDMA - Psych Congress Network

The word psychedelic certainly applies when describing Son of the White Mare, director Marcell Jankovics stunning 1981 animated odyssey, which finally makes its way to American audiences nearly 40 years later. Viewers dont have to ingest psychedelics to appreciate the visual poetry of every frame, but Jankovics masterpiece is a kind of drug trip in movie form. Its also much more than that: Comprised of shimmering bright colors, its a Hungarian folk tale that bends, twirls, and morphs, with an all-consuming energy that never lets up. Son of the White Mare may be the greatest psychedelic animated movie ever made.

The movies hypnotic power works in tandem with a simple narrative arc a fallen king, the noble son rising from the ashes to set things right, the usual jam. The animation invites readymade comparisons to two earlier stalwarts of the genre, Fantastic Planet and Yellow Submarine, owing enough to those precedents that it may as well be conceived on a grid. At the same time, the movie radiates with a refreshing energy, pushing the boundaries of the animated form even by its own hallucinogenic standards.

An epic poem and origin myth, Jankovics second feature takes place in an abstract land of shimmering light and geometric shadows. Its here that a horse gives birth to a humanoid child, a feat made all the more impressive because she pulls it off while on the lam from shadowy beings. As she raises the child in the bowels of a giant tree, he learns of the way his fathers kingdom was destroyed by evil dragons unleashed from hell. The boy grows into a muscular figure known as Treeshaker, then finds his purpose following his mothers death in searching of setting things right in the universe. Istvn Vajdas dynamic score, a blend of jarring electronic cues and symphonic swells, injects the mounting quest with constant urgency.

Having embarked on his path, Treeshaker meets two similarly powerful siblings Stonecrumbler and Irontemperer who marvel at their brothers domineering abilities, and eventually choose to join him. Their adventures unfold in episodic terms, with Treeshaker gradually learning about the stakes at hand, which mostly involve fairy princesses trapped in spinning castles and rapid-fire combat scenes he endures to rescue them. The plot doesnt exactly cut deep, but theres sophistication to the way it barrels forward; Treeshaker seems to be fighting for all of us to set things right in a broken, barren landscape.

Fans of Genndy Tartakovskys Samurai Jack and Primal will find its roots in Treeshakers mesmerizing adventures, where scale and perspective play as much a role in the ride as the context surrounding them. Its a vast, cosmic fight movie that keeps reinventing itself. You know where the story is going, but never how it will look as the movie blends an ancient, lyrical aesthetic with abrupt quasi-techno flourishes. Theres a seven-colored gnome who goes from foil to sidekick, and practically talks in autotune; a rhythmic forging of swords between the three elemental brothers feels like a Daft Punk music video that lost its way; and Treecrushers battles with a three-headed stone giant with huge testicles and weaponry that includes fiery orange barf. Theres a dark comic quality to each duel, with Jankovics anticipating video-game routines by at least 10 years (beat the bad guy, save the princess, repeat) even as that inevitability runs counter to the astonishing imagery at every turn.

Son of the White Mare can get silly, but never sophomoric. This movie unfolds like artwork etched into a cave wall and brought to restless life by an unclassifiable spell that only cinema can muster. Each scene is imbued with the timeless purpose of people fighting for their land, their rituals, and their very existence. Its an 85-minute legend told in stunning light and sound, familiar to all and yet transcendent all the same a mind-blowing journey with a lot on its mind.

Son of the White Mare is available for online rental on August 21 through several virtual cinemas and expands to more in the coming weeks. For a full list of available venues, go here.

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Son of the White Mare Review: The Greatest Psychedelic Animated Movie Ever Made - IndieWire

While Canada is making history with psilocybin, the push for psychedelic reforms in the U.S. got a boost this week from Oregonian Congressman Earl Blumenauer.

Blumenauer voiced his support for Oregon Measure 109, the Psilocybin Program Initiative, in an email blast.

If it passes, the Oregon Health Authority would oversee a program that would allow licensed service providers to administer psilocybin-producing mushroom and fungi products to those 21 and older. Voters will decide on the issue this November.

Blumenauer, who has been a public official in Portland for more than 20 years, and founded the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, believes it can pass.

This Measure can win in November, it just needs the resources to educate voters about its benefits and protections, he said in the email, which was published in full by Marijuana Moment.

Momentum is also working in their favour.

In January, Santa Cruz, California, became the latest city to decriminalize natural psychedelics. The city council voted unanimously to make the enforcement of laws against psychedelics among the lowest priorities. In 2019, Denver became the first city to decriminalize psilocybin, while Oakland also decriminalized the possession of natural psychedelics last year.

In 2018, the U.S. Federal Drug Administration gave psilocybin breakthrough therapy designation for treatment-resistant depression.

Blumenauer, a longtime proponent of health care reform, said Measure 109 tackles the issue of mental health in an innovative and responsible way.

Measure 109 gives Oregonians who suffer from depression and anxiety the opportunity to overcome their mental health challenges through a program designed for safety and support, he said.

In Congress, I have worked hard to deliver better end-of-life care to all Americans. Studies are showing that psilocybin therapy can help address the profound end-of-life depression and anxiety that can come with a terminal diagnosis. Anyone who has had to confront that issue themselves or with a loved one understands how devastating it can be. Measure 109 is an opportunity to continue Oregons leadership on improving end-of-life care.

Earlier this month, Saskatoons Thomas Hartle became the first Canadian to undergo legal psilocybin therapy. He was able to access the therapy through a personal exemption to Section 56 of the Controlled Drug and Substances Act, granted by Health Minister Patty Hajdu.

Following his therapy session, led by Dr. Bruce Tobin, a psychotherapist and professor at the University of Victoria, Hartle said he experienced the best sleep hes had since receiving his terminal cancer diagnosis four years ago and his panic attacks had stopped.

I have had anxiety for so long, I had sort of forgotten what it feels like to not have it, Hartle said earlier this month.To experience the lack of anxiety I have had this week is beyond words. Its amazing. I have no idea how long this particular benefit will last, but so long as its here, its really, really amazing and good.

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