There was a good mix of psychedelic news categories this month. Since 2020 is an election year there were naturally quite a few updates on ongoing efforts to reform drug policies, but in addition to that there was some increased access to psychedelic therapy in Canada, the announcement of an upcoming clinical trial looking at candyflipping, a successful MAPS fundraising campaign, and much more.
Here is a slimmed-down video recap version that is available for those who prefer an easier-to-digest option:
Without further ado, let’s jump into the news:
Four Dying Canadians Granted Exemption for Psilocybin Therapy
Starting things off this month, Canada granted a legal exemption to four terminal cancer patients that will allow them to access compassionate psilocybin therapy. This form of psychedelic-assisted therapy will be used to treat end-of-life stress and anxiety, making these four individuals the first-ever to receive a legal exemption from the Canadian Drugs and Substances Act.
The exemption only applies to these four people, at least for now. And since there isn’t a way for them to legally receive psilocybin therapy from the government or healthcare system, it the patients will be responsible for procuring their own supply of magic mushrooms and finding an underground therapist. Still, this is a progressive move by the Canadian government.
Study: Candyflipping to Avoid Bad Trips
Taking a page from the underground community, the psychedelic company known as MindMed is planning to put candyflipping to the test in a Phase 1 clinical trial later this year. That’s right—MindMed is planning to explore the subjective effects of combining MDMA with LSD, in an attempt to reduce the chance that patients will have a bad acid trip.
The rationale behind the study is that MDMA’s ability to induce feelings of well-being might reduce any potential negative effects that can occur after taking LSD, which would hopefully improve the overall outcomes for psychedelic therapy.
While it does stand to reason that candyflipping might have the potential of reducing anxiety in some people, I have seen firsthand that the unskillful combination of multiple drugs (including MDMA+LSD specifically) can result in the complete opposite experience. However, set, setting, and dosage play a large role in the outcome of mixing drugs and it’s same to assume that a clinical trial will pay close attention to these factors when designing the study and any future treatment protocols.
MAPS Raises $30 Million for MDMA Study
In yet another sign that big money has entered the world of psychedelics, the Capstone Challenge raised $30 million in non-profit donations to the Multidimensional Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) that will enable the organization to conduct a Phase 3 study looking at using MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to treat PTSD.
About 2500 individual donors helped MAPS meet its fundraising goal within six months, which included several notable business leaders from outside the drug policy space, such as David Bronner (CEO of Dr. Bronner’s), Bob Parsons (founder of GoDaddy), Blake Mycoskie (founder of TOMS Shoes) and Tim Ferriss (author and podcaster).
MAPS has spearheaded psychedelic research in this area for decades and is hoping to gain FDA approval for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy by 2022. If successful, this treatment protocol would be the first-ever psychedelic option to gain approval.
Plant Medicine Church in Oakland Gets Raided
Although the city council in Oakland, CA voted to decriminalize natural psychedelic plants and fungi last year, a local plant medicine church named Zide Door was raided by Oakland police this month. At first glance this doesn’t seem to make much sense—why would a local police raid happen if the church was operating in Oakland, where psychedelic plants and fungi were recently decriminalized?
Well, since Zide Door was using cannabis and psilocybin as its religious sacraments, and last year’s Decriminalize Nature resolution didn’t cover cannabis, which was already handled by a different set of state and local regulations, the entheogenic church was accused of operating a marijuana dispensary without a permit. This scenario, combined with an uptick of shootings in the area, prompted local police to force their way into Zide Door’s front door and shut the place down.
All that we’re left with now are questions. Will Zide Door be forced to permanently cancel its religious services or will the church be allowed to open back up in the future? Will there be additional raids on other entheogenic churches in Oakland? Only time will tell.
Prolific Ayahuasca Researcher Passes Away
Unfortunately there has been another death in the psychedelic community, as the world lost one of the most prolific ayahuasca researchers in the field this month.
Dr. Jordi Riba spent more than two decades of his life studying the jungle brew. He published almost 80 scientific articles and was an active speaker at conferences around the world. In fact, Dr. Riba conducted the world’s first clinical trial with ayahuasca as well as the first neuroimaging studies involving the brew. And he didn’t exclusively study ayahuasca—he also investigated other psychedelics, including 5-MeO-DMT, salvia divinorum, and cannabis.
Dr. Riba will be greatly missed, no doubt, but the work that he contributed to the psychedelic community will live on forever. Thank you for your service, and may you rest in peace.
Microdosing LSD for Pain Study Reports Remarkable Results
If you’re not familiar with the first wave of psychedelic research, then the idea of using psychedelics to treat pain may strike you as a bit fantastical, but a new clinical trial that took a look at treating pain with microdoses of LSD found the treatment to be “remarkably” effective.
The study picked up a previously retired line of research that first started—and later came to its untimely end—in the 1960s. Whereas the studies conducted more than 50 years ago focused on large doses of LSD, this recent double-blind placebo-controlled trial put sub-perceptual, low doses to the test instead.
The authors of this month’s study found that microdoses of 20 micrograms significantly reduced the perception of pain when compared with lower doses or a placebo. But before you start microdosing for pain, bear in mind that this is a preliminary study and its sample size was small—only 24 people—and more research needs to be conducted before we can definitively say whether microdosing LSD can treat acute pain.
A Brief Update on 2020’s Policy Reform Efforts
There have been a few changes since last month’s roundup of psychedelic policy reform efforts, and in an attempt to get through all of them without boring you to ego death, I’m going to keep this section of news as brief as possible.
Kicking things off at the federal level, the United States House of Representatives will vote on a cannabis legalization bill next month and the President of Mexico plans to approve a marijuana legalization law that Congress is expected to pass when it reconvenes next month.
Meanwhile, Canada—as usual—is taking things one step further. After a petition to decriminalize psychedelics received nearly 15,000 signatures, it will be formally read in the House of Commons next month. The Canadian government will then have 45 days to issue a response.
At the state level, Arizona and Montana will vote on legalizing cannabis, Nebraska will weigh in on medical marijuana, and an initiative to decriminalize psychedelics in Washington D.C. officially qualified for the ballot.
Rounding things out at the local level, advocates in Oakland unveiled guidelines for a framework that would legalize psychedelic healing ceremonies and four more cities in Ohio will be voting on local measures to decriminalize cannabis this November.
Cybin Corp Is Putting Psilocybin on Dissolvable Sublingual Strips for Depression
The psychedelic industry has given birth to all sorts of innovative routes of administration for psychedelic drugs (some of which are questionable). Some of the recent ROA concepts have included nasal sprays and wearable microdosing technology.
Cybin Corporation is gunning to become the latest company to jump in the game with its new contribution: cherry-flavored dissolvable sublingual strips containing psilocybin. They will be similar to minty breath strips made by companies like Listerine and Equate.
The theory behind the dissolvable strips is that they will be capable of delivering the active ingredient directly into the bloodstream, bypassing the GI system and the liver, with the possibility of being stronger at a lower dose. We should know more about how well this ROA will work after Cybin Corp. conducts its initial clinical trial to find the optimal dose for psilocybin strips.
It’s great to see innovation like this coming out of the psychedelic industry, but the part of me that is an old school psychonaut wonders if it would be better for most people to just eat the actual mushrooms in their whole form (or make tea) instead.
Native American Tribes Take Cannabis Laws Into Their Own Hands
Rounding out this month’s recap are two stories about Native American tribes forging their own way when it comes to cannabis.
White Earth Nation, the largest reservation in Minnesota, became the second tribe in the state to legalize medical marijuana. They plan to grow their own cannabis for medicinal purposes. This is in opposition to Minnesota’s existing medical marijuana framework, which does not allow for cultivation.
A few states to the East, the Bay Mills Indian Community in Michigan is going to develop its own tribal cannabis market outside of the state’s regulated market. This will allow them to avoid paying taxes as well as state licensing, application, and renewal fees.
That’s all for this month’s update. Remember to always test and weigh your drugs and until next time—keep thinking wilder.
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