Regulations Archives | Psychedelics Today

May 19, 2023May 19, 2023

Psychedelics Weekly – Challenging the ‘Gifting’ Part of Prop 122, Public Perception in Oregon, and The Medicine of Music

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and Kyle are both on the road, so David and Alexa take the helm.

They cover news stories about:

-a man in Colorado facing a Class 3 drug felony for giving people psilocybin mushrooms in exchange for monetary donations – pointing out the bold (or stupid?) stances some are taking to highlight the absurdity of legislation that allows possession and donation as long as no money changes hands;

-a study showing what many of us have felt ourselves: that the day after psilocybin-assisted therapy, depressed patients had a stronger brain response to music and saw improvements in the ability to find pleasure in previously empty activities;

-a trip report from a psychedelically-naive 50-year old, showing the power and beauty of MDMA-assisted therapy;

-the New Hampshire state Senate continuing to be behind the times and voting down House Bill 639, which would have created a legal recreational cannabis framework for the state;

-a video where people on the street in Oregon were asked how much they thought psilocybin therapy would cost, showing a drastic misalignment between public perception and reality;

and a local TV news feature touring Rose City Laboratories, the first licensed psilocybin testing lab in Oregon.

And in conversation, they talk about some of the lesser-discussed (and often dismissed) tools like CBD, THC patches, and very low-dose edibles; the problem with drug dealers and harm reduction; the power of music in guiding a psychedelic experience (and in living a pleasurable life); and the importance of dosing and listening to your body to know what’s right for you.

Links

(bolded links are the discussed articles)

Myjewishlearning.com: Why Cheesecake on Shavuot?

Tales of Transformation: A panel on how psychedelic experiences can evolve into collective transformation and new life callings, featuring Ifetayo Harvey, Juliana Mulligan, Raad Seraj

Hemplucid.com (Use PSYCHEDELICS10 for 10% off)

YouTube: “Moms on Mushrooms”: A Growing Trend? (Tracey Tee on Dr. Phil)

Our IG live with Tracey Tee, hosted by Victoria

Entheoventures substack: Balancing the Psychedelic Narrative: A Call for Accuracy and Responsibility from All Sides

Summitdaily.com: Dillon man accused of selling psychedelic ‘magic mushrooms’ claims he was gifting them under Colorado’s new proposition

Psypost.org: Psilocybin therapy for depression appears to have a curious effect on the brain’s response to music

Sciencedirect.com: Increased low-frequency brain responses to music after psilocybin therapy for depression

Journal of Psychopharmacology: Changes in music-evoked emotion and ventral striatal functional connectivity after psilocybin therapy for depression

Alexa Jesse (with Host Bodies)- “Hourglass”

Psychedelicscene.com: The Healing Beauty of Ecstasy

Erowid.org

Hightimes.com: New Hampshire Senate Votes Down Cannabis Legalization Bill

Marysmedicinals.com

Wweek.com: How Much Would You Expect to Pay for Psilocybin Mushroom Therapy?

Epichealingeugene.com

Kgw.com: Touring the first Oregon lab licensed to test the strength of legal psilocybin

Psycon.org

Psychedelicscience.org (use code PT15 for 15% off)

May 12, 2023May 12, 2023

Psychedelics Weekly – Multi-Stakeholder Capitalism, Psilocybin Service Centers Begin Opening in Oregon, and Vancouver’s ‘The Drugs Store’

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and temporary-Colorado-resident Kyle once again record in-person, discussing how psychedelics could change business, the drug war and safe supply, and more.

They cover:

-a Rolling Stone profile on David Bronner, who makes the case for multi-stakeholder capitalism; where businesses are accountable to their workers, customers, the environment, and surrounding Indigenous communities instead of just investors – an idea more people would likely align with after a psychedelic experience;

-The first psilocybin service center in Oregon (EPIC Healing Eugene) finally receiving their license via the Oregon Health Authority;

-A man who saw his color blindness improve for four months after a 5g mushroom experience;

-Delaware officially legalizing recreational cannabis;

-The opening of ‘The Drugs Store’ in Vancouver, British Columbia: a mobile store selling drugs illegally as a response to the opioid epidemic and constant influx of untested and laced drugs – the “inevitable result of the government doing nothing” towards offering a safe supply;

-and a survey from the CDC showing that cannabis use among teenagers has declined since legal dispensaries began opening, disproving one of the most common prohibitionist arguments that legalization would only increase use.

And of course, these topics bring on a lot of conversation: how businesses need to be more reflective on how they’re operating; concern over if too much regulation is nerfing the world; the human cost of the drug war and the ever-escalating amount of ODs and drug poisoning cases; HPPD and the need for research around psychedelics and vision/perception; why we will always need both clinical access and the recreational underground, and more.

Links

(bolded links are the discussed articles)

Rollingstone.com: ‘It’s Ripped the World Apart’: David Bronner on How Psychedelics Could Be a Cure for Capitalism

Psychedelics Today: PT367 – Colorado Proposition 122 and the Decriminalization of Natural Medicines

Marijuanamoment.net: Oregon Approves Nation’s First Psilocybin Service Center For Adults To Receive Psychedelic Treatment

Epichealingeugene.com

Imdb.com: Wall-E

Goodreads.com: Janis Joplin quote

Saving Normal: An Insider’s Revolt Against Out-Of-Control Psychiatric Diagnosis, DSM-5, Big Pharma, and the Medicalization of Ordinary Life, by Allen Frances

Technologynetworks.com: Consuming Psychedelics Temporarily Improves Man’s Color Blindness

Louisville.edu: UofL researchers discover procedure to regenerate dormant cone cells, potentially to improve vision in retinitis pigmentosa

Psychedelics Today: PT229 – Dr. Matthew Johnson – What is Consciousness?

Psychedelics Today: HPPD and Flashbacks: Everything You Need To Know – And What We Don’t Know, Too, by Ed Prideaux

Futureconevents.com

Cato.org: Jeffrey Singer

Victorialitmanlaw.com

Lhthehealingground.com (Veronica Lightning Horse)

The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct, by Thomas S. Szasz, M.D.

Studentsforliberty.org

Vice.com: A Store Selling Heroin, Meth, and Cocaine Just Opened in Canada

Dancesafe.org

Teen Marijuana Use Has Been Declining Since Legal Dispensaries Started Opening, Federal CDC Study Shows

May 5, 2023May 5, 2023

Psychedelics Weekly – Psychedelics and Sports, The Risks of Over-Regulation, and What Makes Music Psychedelic?

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and Kyle record in-person again, discussing psychedelics and parenthood, sports, music, and more.

They cover:

-an Elle (!) article about how mushrooms are becoming the new ‘Cali sober,’ with more and more people starting to microdose – including parents;

-ESPN’s documentary, “Peace of Mind,” highlighting the rise of psychedelic use among athletes, including retired NHL player, Riley Cote;

-An article discussing how interest in psychedelics has skyrocketed in Oregon since the passing of Measure 109, and how over-regulation and the glacial speed of the government is only driving the growth of the black market;

-An essay attempting to define what it is that leads people to describe music as psychedelic (with several recommendations from Joe);

-DMT aficionados using AI to create and catalog depictions of the entities they’ve seen;

and more!

And they have larger discussions about the drug war, how famous athletes are opening people’s minds to psychedelics, how strict regulation in psychedelic legislation can create more harm, how we need to collaborate more in the psychedelic space, the concept of a DMT ‘hyper-slap,’ and the problem of psychedelic exceptionalism and thinking your drug is good while others are bad.

Links

(bolded links are the discussed articles)

Psychedelic Neuroscience Demystified: How Psychedelics Alter Consciousness and Produce Therapeutic Effects

PT403 – Understanding the Brain: Psychedelic Neuroscience Demystified, featuring: Melanie Pincus, Ph.D. & Manesh Girn

Trailblazerspresents.com

Psychedelics Weekly – Breaking Convention, Decolonizing the Psychedelic Space, and How Colorado’s Senate Bill 23-290 Will Affect Prop 122 (Kyle and David break down SB23-290)

Psychedelics Today: PT217 – Erika Dyck – Canadian Psychedelic History

Elle.com: Shrooms Are the New Cali Sober

Psychedelics Today: Psychedelics Weekly – Roland Griffiths Faces the End, The NBA Lifts Its Cannabis Ban, and The Rising Popularity of Mushrooms for Moms

Espnpressroom.com: New ESPN E60 Examines Use of Psychedelics in Mental Health Treatment of Athletes

Wweek.com: Oregon’s Appetite for Psilocybin Is Being Fed Outside the Law in the Mushroom Underground

Cnn.com: High Profits (available to purchase on Amazon)

Psilotemple.org

Wikipedia.org: Fugio Cent

The Politics of Experience, by R.D. Laing

Psychedelicmedicinepac.com

Mapsbcorp.com: American Medical Association to Issue First New Code for Psychedelic Therapies

Psychedelicscene.com: What Makes Psychedelic Music Psychedelic?

YouTube: Shpongle – Hammock Therapy

Spotify: The Mars Volta – The Bedlam in Goliath (not their most acclaimed, but it’s this show notes writer’s favorite, and I think, most psychedelic)

The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds (Joe called it “Animal Sounds”…)

YouTube: The Beatles – Revolution 9 (Remastered 2009)

Spotify: LSDREAM

YouTube: Paul McCartney flipping people off

YouTube: Grateful Dead – Drums/Space – 12/28/1980 – Oakland Auditorium (Official)

Vice.com: DMT Users Are Using AI to Draw the Strange Beings They Meet While Tripping

Women of Visionary Art, by David Jay Brown & Rebecca Ann Hill

Psychedelics Today: Daniel McQueen – DMTx and Future Psychedelic Technologies

Reddit.com: Ever been hyperslapped? What happened?

Joe’s tweet about psychedelic exceptionalism

Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear, by Carl L. Hart

Psychedelics Today: PT236 – Drugs: Honesty, Responsibility, and Logic, featuring: Dr. Carl Hart

April 28, 2023

Psychedelics Weekly – Breaking Convention, Decolonizing the Psychedelic Space, and How Colorado’s Senate Bill 23-290 Will Affect Prop 122

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, David speaks with Kyle, who recorded at Joe’s place while he was away at Trailblazers in NYC.

They talk about David’s trip to the UK last week for Breaking Convention, then discuss a recent Vice article about looking outside the binary and confined thinking of Western medicine and embracing the underground – that there are cheaper and more accessible peer support models and affinity groups for everyone, but in going underground, we need to be careful that more accessible models aren’t dangerous or re-traumatizing. While businesses are competing to make headway in the psychedelic space, nobody is controlling all of it, which leads to both possibility and risk.

They cover SB23-290, the bill Senate President Steve Fenberg created to establish a regulatory framework for psilocybin access and administration in Colorado in lieu of the advisory board that should have been put in place as part of Prop 122. They break down the positives and negatives of this framework, and ask: how much do these committees who are passing legislation really know about psilocybin?

And they briefly discuss an article on what MDMA therapy may look like when MAPS hopefully gets approval via the FDA early next year, Rick Doblin’s speech at Breaking Convention, and his concept of society eventually having “net zero trauma.”

Links

(bolded links are the discussed articles)

Breakingconvention.co.uk

Philosophy and Psychedelics: Frameworks for Exceptional Experience, edited by Christine Hauskeller & Peter Sjostedt-Hughes

Breaking Convention: Celia Morgan

Breaking Convention: Leor Roseman

The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World, by Michael Pollan

Vice.com: Inside the Quest to Decolonise Psychedelics

Marijuanamoment.net: Colorado Senate Passes Psychedelics Regulation Bill

Senate Bill 23-290

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures, by Anne Fadiman

Nature.com: US could soon approve MDMA therapy — opening an era of psychedelic medicine

YouTube: PSYCH Interview: Rick Doblin – Net Zero Trauma by 2050

April 14, 2023April 14, 2023

PT405 – The Psychedelic Medicine PAC: The Push for Federal Funding and Politicians Who Will Fight for Us

In this episode, Joe interviews Melissa Lavasani: CEO of Washington, DC-based Psychedelic Medicine Coalition, and now, President of the brand new Psychedelic Medicine PAC.

She discusses her path to psychedelics, how she ended up running the Initiative 81 campaign (the Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020), and how she came to realize that decriminalization efforts can’t be the only option we go for – that, like it or not, we live in a system where politics and money are major factors behind any systematic change, and if we want to make any headway, we have to play the game. The Psychedelic Medicine PAC (Political Action Committee) was created to open up federal funding for psychedelic research, as nearly all research today (of which there still isn’t enough) is being funded by private companies. They will use donations to support politicians who are on our side and can advance psychedelic progress, who will push for federal funding to get the new and necessary data people who aren’t bought in yet need to see.

They talk about speaking with people from the other side of the aisle at a recent education campaign in DC; how federal funding is neutral money; what she learned from DC’s deprioritization of cannabis policing; how personal stories and one-on-one human connection can change minds better than traditional confrontational activism; and the need to get ahead of the inevitable wave of big pharma propaganda they’ll bring when they officially step up to the table. She believes the path to helping the most people is advancing science and data through federal funding, and that begins with education and getting more politicians on our side. If you agree, follow them for details about their upcoming event in May, visit their table at Psychedelic Science this June (use PT15 for 15% off tickets), and donate to the PAC or the coalition.

Also, as a bonus, this episode begins with a mini version of Psychedelics Weekly. Joe and Kyle didn’t have enough time to record a full episode, but still wanted to check in and review a few notable stories and highlight our recent Vital graduation ceremony. See you next week!

Notable Quotes

“I dipped my toes with the microdosing [and] I found immediate effects of that. I engaged with my children for the first time in many years, and with my son for, really, the first time since he was born. So that was a really mind-blowing experience of taking something for only a few days and feeling my humanity come back again.”

“I think when you take the media out of it and you isolate them in a place they feel very safe (in their office) and there’s no cameras around and they don’t feel the need to get their talking points across, and you have a human-to-human conversation with them about this issue, the result is that much better because you isolate all of these external influences that they’re constantly under and you say, ‘Listen, I am talking to you as a human being. This was my experience. This is what I did to heal myself.’ …Watching them have their epiphany about this is so fun.”

“When these campaigns win with very small margins (like 1%, 3%, 5%), that means half of the state voted against it, and that means half the state wasn’t being spoken to in these campaigns in the right way. …The U.S. is extremely diverse, and not just racially, but within perspectives that exist in this country, and we cannot just be speaking to one side of this issue. We have to really engage with the public in a meaningful way, and that is speaking to the half of the country that doesn’t understand this.”

“We forget that the traditional pharmaceutical industry has yet to step in on this issue. I think that they’re very closely watching what’s going to happen with psychedelics, but they have yet to stick their lobbyists on the hill. And that is the day that I am not looking forward to, because they have one of the most powerful lobbies in the country and they have budgets for this kind of work in the billions of dollars, really. So how is the psychedelic industry going to compete with that? How you counter that is: you educate members of congress, you educate those influential people before the pharmaceutical industry gets there so they can’t fill their heads with misinformation.”

Links

Psychedelic Neuroscience Demystified: How Psychedelics Alter Consciousness and Produce Therapeutic Effects

Maps.org: Zendo Project Celebrates a Decade at Burning Man and a New Beginning for the Organization

BBC.com: People were taking drugs in Spain 3,000 years ago, study finds

Telegraph.co.uk: Rory Lamont: ‘My rugby injuries made me suicidal – psychedelic drugs saved me’

Benzinga.com: Bipartisan Letter Calls For Including Active Service Members In Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Research

Benzinga.com: This South American Country Wants To Legalize Natural Psychedelics: What’s Going On In Uruguay?

———————————————

Psychedelicmedicinecoalition.org

Psychedelicmedicinepac.com

Psychedelics Today: PT338 – Melissa Lavasani – The Power of Storytelling, The Preservation of Peyote, and “How to Change Your Mind”

NBCnews.com: Candidates who support psychedelics as medicine get a political action committee

Psychedelics Today: PT327 – Rick Doblin, Ph.D. – Confronting Abuse in Clinical Trials and the Future of Psychedelic Medicine

Psychedelics Today: PT229 – Dr. Matthew Johnson – What is Consciousness?

Governing.com: What Can Communities Do to Prevent Psychedelic Healing Centers?

Arpa-h.gov

April 7, 2023

Psychedelics Weekly – Roland Griffiths Faces the End, The NBA Lifts Its Cannabis Ban, and The Rising Popularity of Mushrooms for Moms

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Kyle is back in Colorado and in-person with Joe, and they discuss what stood out to them in the news this week:

-A New York Times interview with Roland Griffths, where he talks about his cancer diagnosis and how meditation and psychedelics have helped him prepare for the inevitable end;

-An article on the rising popularity of psychedelics among mothers, and the benefits and risks of moms rejecting alcohol culture in favor of something new (and largely illegal);

-The NBA removing cannabis from its list of banned substances and allowing players to invest in cannabis companies, which follows years of other sports slowly accepting that cannabis is a part of our culture and there’s no need to play the part of “big brother” anymore;

and an article looking at legalization from the perspectives of people who were against recent measures like Prop 122, and how some towns in Colorado and Oregon are looking for ways to prevent the creation of psilocybin service centers from being built in their backyards.

They also go further into the Psychedelic Medicine Coalition’s recently created Political Action Committee and the work they’re doing to educate lawmakers; Harvard Law School hosting webinars comparing psychedelic legislation and the role of psychedelics in Indigenous groups in Europe, Australia, and North America; Arizona’s HB-2486, which would give $30 million in grants to universities and non-profit organizations to conduct psilocybin research; and Rick Doblin’s recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience.

They also discuss the many events we’ll be at in the coming months, and the excitement and often overwhelming aspects of psychedelic conferences, which are outlined in this week’s blog from Dennis Walker. If you’re attending any, come say hi! And for discounts: use code PSYCTODAY for 30% off tickets to DiscoveryCon, use PSYCHTODAYBC10 for 10% off tickets to Breaking Convention, and use code PT15 for 15% off tickets for MAPS’ Psychedelic Science 2023.

Links

(bolded links are the articles they discussed)

Psychedelics Today: Expanding Your Horizons: The Ultimate Guide to Attending a Psychedelic Conference

The Joe Rogan Experience: #1964 – Rick Doblin

Psychedelics Today: PT403 – Understanding the Brain: Psychedelic Neuroscience Demystified, featuring: Melanie Pincus, Ph.D. & Manesh Girn

Ssdp.org: 30 Under 30 Women in Psychedelics

NYtimes.com: A Psychedelics Pioneer Takes the Ultimate Trip

Griffithsfund.org

Romper.com: The Rise Of The Mushroom Moms

Psychedelics Today: PT396 – Moms on Mushrooms: Motherhood and Psychedelics Inside a Broken Culture, featuring: Tracey Tee

The ‘Housewife Syndrome’: An Indicator of Madness or Oppression?

Psychedelicspotlight.com: Indiana Nurse Faces Ten Years in Prison for Microdosing Psilocybin Mushrooms

Psychedelics Today: PT319 – Kole – Activism and Trust: A Cautionary Tale From Someone Who Got Caught

The Lancet: Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse

Madinamerica.com: JAMA Psychiatry: We Must Look at the Harms of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy

Plantph.com

Momsonmushrooms.com

Marijuanamoment.net: The NBA Is Lifting Its Ban On Marijuana In New Deal With Players Union, According To Report

Politico.com: Psychedelics coalition grows its advocacy footprint

Psychedelicmedicinecoalition.org: Donate

12news.com: There’s a push to legalize a specific psychedelic for medical research out of the Arizona legislature

Governing.com: What Can Communities Do to Prevent Psychedelic Healing Centers?

Thecrimson.com: Experts Discuss Psychedelics Policy in the Global North at Harvard Law School Webinar

Cnn.com: High Profits

March 17, 2023March 17, 2023

Psychedelics Weekly – Field Trip Health Closes Five Clinics, Legalization Bills Introduced in VT, and Ketamine Telehealth Uncertainty

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Joe and Kyle join up once again to discuss the news and articles they found the most interesting this week.

They start with the business news everyone is talking about: Field Trip Health & Wellness closing 5 of their clinics due to financial struggles (a deficit of $48.7 million since their inception and a net loss of $6.9 million reported for the last quarter), little confidence they’d be able to receive more funding, and the changing landscape of ketamine telehealth now that the Covid Public Health Emergency should finally come to an end in May. They also highlight an article dissecting the collapse of Synthesis Institute and the lessons to be learned, with both stories really showing just how new and unstable psychedelic business still is, and how the allure of first-mover advantage can be a dangerous gamble.

They also discuss four drug reform bills introduced in Vermont: two of which would decriminalize simple possession of all drugs, making a “personal use supply of drugs” a civil offense with a $50 fine; one removing penalties for using or selling psilocybin; and the last decriminalizing certain psychedelic plants and fungi.

And they look at a research study aiming to learn more about people’s lives after they’ve been involved in a clinical trial, Time Magazine’s article about psychedelics and couples therapy, and a study that found that while 64% of survey respondents said at-home ketamine helped their symptoms, 55% (and 58% of Millennials) said they used more than the recommended dose – either by accident or on purpose.

Links

Investorsobserver.com: Field Trip Health to Close Ketamine Clinics as it Struggles to Find Profits

Meetfieldtrip.com: Field Trip Health & Wellness to Close Clinics in 5 Locations

Meetfieldtrip.com: Field Trip Health & Wellness Provides Business Update and Reports Fiscal Third Quarter 2023 Results

Harrisbricken.com: Good News for Ketamine Telehealth

Ecstaticintegration.substack.com: Synthesis and the shadow of psychedelic capitalism

Opb.org: Most students will continue with Oregon psilocybin program that ran out of money, new provider says

Twitter: @Eddietalksdrugs(Have you participated in a clinical trial involving #psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy? How has life been after the trial? Contact psychedelic.experiences@psych.ox.ac.uk for more information.)

Psychedelics Today: PT302 – Dr. Adele Lafrance – Vital Psychedelic Conversations

Boingboing.net: Oregonians work to make psychedelic psychiatric care a regulated, safe practice

Time.com: Psychedelics Could Revolutionize Couples Therapy

Psychedelicspotlight.com: Vermont Lawmakers File Bills To Legalize Psychedelics And Decriminalize All Drugs

Marijuanamoment.net: Vermont Lawmakers File Bills To Legalize Psychedelics And Decriminalize All Drugs

Legislature.vermont.gov: H.439

Legislature.vermont.gov: S.114

Dancesafe.org

Psychiatrictimes.com: Report Reveals More Than 50% of Americans Misuse At-Home Ketamine

Plusapn.com: 2023 Future of Mental Health: Ketamine Therapy Report

NYtimes.com: A Fraught New Frontier in Telehealth: Ketamine

Painnewsnetwork.org: New CDC Guideline: Too Little, Too Late for Chronic Pain Patients

The Stories of Vital 2022-2023 | Psychedelic Therapy Training

February 24, 2023April 17, 2023

PT393 – Religious Freedom and the Church of Psilomethoxin

In this episode, Joe interviews Greg Lake, Esq.: Co-Founder of the Church of Psilomethoxin, author, and trial and appellate attorney specializing in working with entheogen-based religious practitioners in establishing their right to consume their sacraments under existing religious freedom laws.

Psilomethoxin (4-Hydroxy-5-methoxydimethyltryptamine or 4-Hydroxy-5-MeO-DMT) was first synthesized in 2021 by mixing 5-MeO-DMT with psilocybin substrate, and after initial tests and months of user reports, it was deemed safe to use.* Lake co-founded the Church of Psilomethoxin in 2022 with the goal of shifting the paradigm of religion to primary direct experiences and individual beliefs rather than a dogma everyone must follow, with a big focus on community and discussing the ultimate questions of life together – with Psilomethoxin as the sacrament of choice. While he prefers member-to-member referrals, there is an application on the site, and he hopes to grow the church through linking people up regionally, (eventually) training people to facilitate, and partnering with a data collection company to gather real-world data on both Psilomethoxin and on why people are seeking out psychedelic churches in the first place.

He discusses several cases that brought us here and inspired his work; why he believes Psilomethoxin won’t be a target of the Federal Analogue Act; the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the need for states to establish similar state legislation; the importance of new churches establishing evidence in the public record; how much courts take sincerity into consideration; and the concept that, while we’re quick to think of the law as the enemy, courts often don’t want to go after churches – religion is a sacred and intimate thing, so who is the victim if a court brings a church to court that hasn’t harmed anyone?

*Update, April 17, 2023: Results from analytical testing released on April 12, 2023, reveal that there is no evidence to suggest the compound psilomethoxin is present in the samples of sacrament material the Church of Psilomethoxin is offering to their members online. The report, prepared by Samuel Williamson and Alexander Sherwood of the Usona Institute, states, “Psilocybin, baeocystin, and psilocin, were, however, unambiguously identified in the sample, suggesting that the claims regarding the biosynthesis of psilomethoxin may be misguided. The implications of these findings should be critically considered within the context of public health and safety.”

We are following this story at Psychedelics Today and are working to update our community with commentary from the researchers. Stay tuned to our social media channels for more on this topic.

Notable Quotes

“I think eventually the courts will come around to realize that where medical and scientific and religious and spiritual begin or end within this space is not crystal clear, because as we’re all aware, in the research, people, even in clinical settings, are having mystical, religious experiences. And then they see that that really, at many times, translates to positive outcomes. If people, even in a medical setting, can have a religious experience, well then where does ‘This is a religious exercise, this is not’ come into play?”

“One of our core beliefs is that in the peak entheogenic experience like 5-MeO, where you experience unitive cosmic consciousness, that’s basically our moral code – that once you experience unity with all, that tells you pretty much everything that you’ll ever need to know about how you should be treating other people, how you should be treating other beings, and how you should be treating the environment.”

“One thing I’ve learned (and I learned real quick working with these churches) is that, especially post-Covid, the community, for a lot of people, is just as, if not more healing and spiritual than the actual ceremonies.”

Links

Psilomethoxin.com

*Psychedelicalpha.com: Opinions | The Church of Psilomethoxin: Fantasy Chemistry Gets Fact Checked

*Chemrxiv.org: Fungi Fiction: Analytical Investigation into the Church Of Psilomethoxin’s Alleged Novel Compound Using UPLC-HRMS

Entheoconnect.com

Psychedeliceducationcenter.com: Psychedelics and Religious Liberty in the United States

Wikipedia.org: 4-Hydroxy-5-methoxydimethyltryptamine

Cognitiveliberty.org: Ask Dr. Shulgin Online (Shulgin’s response to a question about Psilomethoxin)

Tripsitter.com: What Is the Federal Analogue Act?

Quantifiedcitizen.com

Psychedelics in Mental Health Series: Psilocybin, by George G. Lake Esq.

Law.justia.com: United States v. Meyers

Wikipedia.org: Religious Freedom Restoration Act

Wikipedia.org: Employment Division v. Smith

Wikipedia.org: City of Boerne v. Flores

Wikipedia.org: State Religious Freedom Restoration Acts

Law.justia.com: New Hampshire v. Mack

Leary.ru: Timothy Leary: Start Your Own Religion

Justia.com: Church of the Eagle and the Condor et al v. Garland et al

Psychedelics Today: Psychedelics, Religion, and the DEA’s Quest for Soul

Casetext.com: Ariz. Yage Assembly v. Garland

Cannadelic.miami

February 17, 2023February 17, 2023

Psychedelics Weekly – The Legalization of Medical MDMA & Psilocybin in Australia, and The World’s First Ayahuasca Pill

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Kyle is joined by another new voice from the PT team: one of the main instructors and facilitators from our Vital program, Diego Pinzon.

Originally from Colombia, Diego has been living in Australia since 2008 and has been involved in the Australian psychedelic scene, playing roles in the charity sector, research with Psychae Institute, and is one of the researchers in the St. Vincent’s Melbourne trial, Australia’s first trial using psilocybin for end-of-life depression and anxiety. Diego gives his insight into the recent TGA re-scheduling of psilocybin and MDMA for treatment-resistant depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, respectively.

They cover the details, unknowns, and concerns: Is there enough time to train enough people? Do they have the infrastructure for this? What are the substances actually going to be? What percentage of people who apply will be granted access? What will it cost? And while psychiatrists will be able to prescribe, how much will the program really focus on therapy?

And they discuss Vancouver’s Filament Health creating the world’s first ayahuasca pill, which is close to FDA authorization to begin a Phase 1 trial. Of course this news begs some questions as well, mainly: with psychedelic use being such an active experience, how much does something like this change our relationship to ayahuasca? And with a consistent, more predictable experience, does that kill the magic?

Links

Svhm.org.au: Australia’s first psychedelic clinical trial commences recruitment

TGAov.au: Change to classification of psilocybin and MDMA to enable prescribing by authorised psychiatrists

Time.com: Psychedelics May Be Part of U.S. Medicine Sooner Than You Think

Psychedelicsociety.org.au

AHPRA.gov.au

Psychedelicspotlight.com: Vancouver Company Creates World’s First Ever Ayahuasca Pill

Goodreads.com: Terence McKenna’s “feather bed” quote

February 10, 2023February 10, 2023

Psychedelics Weekly – AIMS vs. the DEA: An Update on the Fight to Reschedule Psilocybin

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, David is joined by Kathryn L. Tucker, JD: Director of Advocacy at the National Psychedelics Association and a founding member of the Psychedelic Bar Association with over 35 years in advocacy in protecting the rights of dying patients.

Tucker is currently working with Dr. Sunil Agarwal of the Advanced Integrative Medical Science (AIMS) Institute in a battle against the DEA: Agarwal works with end-of-life cancer patients and approached the DEA to see how they’d accommodate state and federal Right to Try laws to grant his patients access to psilocybin, which the DEA denied. This led to the federal case, AIMS vs. the DEA (AIMS I), then AIMS II (which petitions their denial of Right to Try access), and now, AIMS III, which appeals their denial of the petition to reschedule psilocybin.

As with all things government-related, the story shows how little these people actually care about any of us, but Tucker gracefully walks us through the whole convoluted mess; explaining each step, what should happen next, where the DEA blatantly disregarded rules, what you can do to help, and ultimately, the importance of this case in how situations like these could be handled in the future (from both sides). She discusses the problems with state legalization under federal jurisdiction; what we can learn from what we saw with safe injection sites being canceled in Philadelphia; Cory Booker and Rand Paul’s Breakthrough Therapy Act; the idea of having state-legal programs actually run by the government to create a federal safe harbor; and more.

And in the news, they cover recently submitted legalization bills, Australia legalizing the medical use of psilocybin and MDMA (for specific conditions by approved practitioners), and the concern over what will happen with ketamine telehealth when the Covid-19 Emergency is finally put to an end in May.

Notable Quotes

“As you may have seen just last week in Australia, MDMA and psilocybin were rescheduled. And you might have noticed in the press release a reference to the fact that the Australian agency took in a considerable amount of medical and scientific data when it was considering that rescheduling. That’s proper. That’s necessary. That did not happen here. So what happened in Australia exemplifies and throws into sharp light that the DEA failed as a matter of process here.”

“The problem with state legalization as mentioned earlier is that it can do no more than offer state safe harbor. It cannot alter federal law. …Under the Oregon statute, all psilocybin must be consumed at a psilocybin service center, which must be licensed by the state, and it must be purchased and consumed at that center in the presence of a licensed facilitator. That is what is legal under Oregon state law. However, the operation of those psilocybin service centers is still a federal crime. And I think there has been a hope and possibly even an expectation that the federal government is going to look the other way. We have no indication that that is going to happen.”

“Within the Controlled Substances Act, there’s a provision that if the action is taken by a government official, then there is a federal safe harbor. So one of the ways that one might be looking at creatively revising these state legalizations is to have the program be run by the government. Now could you make an argument that when, for example, the Oregon Health Authority issues licenses to Oregon service centers, that that means it’s a government-run facility? Maybe. I mean, I think that’s an argument worth fully vetting, because it could bring you within federal safe harbor.”

Links

National Psychedelics Association

Psychedelic Bar Association

Psychedelics Today: PT307 – Kathryn L. Tucker, JD – The Right to Try Act and the Battle for Psilocybin Access

FDA.gov: Right to Try

Pubmed: Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer: A randomized double-blind trial

Congress.gov: S.4575 – Right to Try Clarification Act

Marijuanamoment.net: Cory Booker And Rand Paul File Bill To Reschedule Psychedelic Breakthrough Therapies And Remove Research Barriers

Shroomer.com: The 101 of the Bipartisan Breakthrough Therapy Act

DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor’s Revolutionary Research Into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences, by Rick Strassman

Sunstonetherapies.com

Marijuana Moment: Psychedelics Bills Filed In Four More States As 2023 Reform Efforts Heat Up

Psychedelicalpha.com: Psychedelic Legalization & Decriminalization Tracker

Wikipedia.org: Cole Memorandum

Justice.gov: Appellate Court Agrees with Government that Supervised Injection Sites are Illegal under Federal Law; Reverses District Court Ruling

Rstreet.org: Overdose Prevention Centers and the Federal “Crack House Statute”

Microdose.buzz: Activists Protest the DEA for Psilocybin Access

The Nowak Society: Right to Try Psilocybin Advocacy Fund

Psychedelicinvest.com: The Future of Ketamine Telehealth When Biden Ends the Covid-19 Emergencies in May 2023

Yahoo.com: Field Trip and Nue Life Are Collaborating To Bring Psychedelic Therapy Into the Home

February 7, 2023February 7, 2023

PT387 – Psychedelic Ethics & Self-Reflexivity and Proposition 122 Conflict & Resolution

In this episode, Joe interviews Jessica “Jaz” Cadoch: anthropologist, Co-Director of the Global Psychedelic Society, and Prop 122 steering committee member; and Sovereign Oshumare: Founder of XRYSALIS, an online community and retreat for queer, transgender, and intersex people of color, and Founder of Shelterwood Collective, a 900-acre eco-village and retreat center led by LGBTQ Black and Indigenous people.

Together, they are Co-Founders of ALKEMI, a consulting firm for psychedelic ethics and accountability, created due to the amount of businesses coming into this space who likely have very little understanding of the values that were established while they weren’t paying attention. They’re asking businesses questions many don’t consider: Is there a true need for them? Do they know their community and does the community want them there? Are their internal operations hierarchal or decentralized? Do employees feel heard and seen? And most importantly, have they taken any of the lessons from psychedelics and applied them towards the way they handle business and treat each other?

As Cadoch was a member of the steering committee for Colorado’s Natural Medicine Act (AKA Prop 122), she discusses what it was like from the inside: the problems (complaints about who was involved, if the voices from the community were a true representation, language in the bill); how the conflict showed how easily money and power could embody people; the problems with fighting over perfection while people are being sentenced to prison; and, where everyone is now: together in the aftermath, trying to figure out how to work together, unite missions, and build bridges between seemingly disparate parties.

They also discuss the problems with binary thinking, the concept of a business recalibrating its relationship to profit and ROI, what true access means, why it’s ok to go slow and not rush through the uncomfortable, and more.

Notable Quotes

“How are you really taking the lessons that the medicines are teaching us and applying them to the way you’re building your company? …Are you doing psychedelic business or are you doing business psychedelically?” -Jaz

“Each time that I’m broken, I’m rebuilt stronger. And that, to me, is such a journey. And committing to that journey is what I hope we as ALKEMI bestow upon people; giving them the endurance and stamina to be broken and be rebuilt, because we all need that. This system needs that. This world needs that. And we live in a system where we’re rewarded for not doing it.” -Sovereign

“At the end of the day, we are all we got. And the more we know who we are, the more we find alignment, the more we find each other, the more we mend our differences, the stronger we’ll be.” -Sovereign

“When we talk about access, it’s not only like financial access, but it’s also cultural access – to make it make sense for people who don’t speak this language, make it make sense for people who have survivor’s guilt from growing up in the hood in D.C., make it make sense for Hispanic rural communities, make it make sense for my Grandmother that needs a doctor in a white coat to tell her that this is safe. That’s what access means. It’s all of that.” -Jaz

Links

Alkemi-consulting.org

Alkemi-consulting.org: Community Needs Assessment

Mayahealth.com

Mayahealth.com: Ethics

Psychedelics Today: PT265 – Jessica Cadoch, MA – Cooperation, Drug Exceptionalism, and 12-step Programs

Xrysalis.net

Shelterwoodcollective.org

Montrealpsychedelicsociety.org

Thespore.org: Society for Psychedelic Outreach, Reform, and Education

Ballotpedia.org: New Approach PAC

Thenowaksociety.org

Psychedelic Club of Denver

Denver Mushroom Cooperative

Thespore.org: The People’s Medicine Council of Colorado

Thepsychedelicbar.org: The Psychedelic Bar Association

National Psychedelic Conference

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas S. Kuhn

January 20, 2023March 14, 2023

Psychedelics Weekly – Client Data Concerns in Oregon, Hopeful Legalization in New Hampshire, and Vital & The Five Elements

In this week’s episode, Joe is joined by Kyle, calling in from The Atman Retreat in Jamaica, where he’s running the fourth of five retreats offered through our Vital program.

They first discuss some news: Oregon Senator Elizabeth Steiner introducing a bill (SB-303) to essentially override many of the recommendations of the Oregon Health Authority, especially around client data – which would be provided to government agencies instead of staying private (which the people voted for); a reparations proposal in San Francisco recognizing the harms of the drug war; GOP lawmakers in Missouri and New Hampshire proposing bills for psilocybin therapy and psychedelics legalization (respectively); and Canada’s Apex Labs being granted approval for a take-home psilocybin microdosing trial.

Then, Kyle gives us an update on his very busy last few months, running Vital retreats: breathwork in Costa Rica, breathwork and cannabis in Colorado, and psilocybin in Amsterdam and Jamaica. He talks about the retreats themselves, the five components of breathwork, the idea of safety and “brave spaces,” the power of community and being witnessed, the concept of focusing on technique over the substance, what students have been saying, and finally: how the five elements relate to Vital, psychedelic therapy, seasons, and the process of growth. Reminder that applications for Vital’s 2023 edition (beginning in April) close at the end of February (update: we’ve extended the date to March 26), so if you’re curious, head to the site to learn more or attend an upcoming Q+A here!