The year started with many exciting news. More people started talking about the benefits of psychedelic treatment and the need of its legalization. Here are the biggest news on psychedelics this week.
An advocacy group claims that Health Canada is not acting in good faith regarding exemptions for the use of psilocybin.
Source: thegrowthop.com
The GrowthOp obtained some documents that show Health Canada’s actions are inconsistent with their internal guidance.
According to the source, TheraPsil, a non-profit organization that supports access to psilocybin therapy, launched a training program tailored for healthcare professionals who applied for CDSA exemptions and wanted to get education on psychedelic therapy.
After overwhelming amount of applications from thousands of Canadians seeking access to psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy for conditions like end-of-life distress and depression TheraPsil was ready to train up to 500 specialists, however, was denied health care practitioners access to psilocybin for training purposes.
A lawmaker from Missouri submitted a bill for the 2023 legislative session that would legalize psilocybin therapy.
Source: house.mo.gov
Rep. Tony Lovasco has introduced a revised version of legislation related to psilocybin therapy, after some previous attempts to push it forward. This is another example of legislators in the United States taking steps to change laws around psychedelics amid pervasive mental health crises.
The bill is to address the crises that, according to the lawmaker, affects every sector of the society. In the press release, Lavasco mentioned “I am especially encouraged at clinical research suggesting psilocybin may be a tool to address our opiate addiction crisis.”
The recent policy change in Alberta may move Canadians closer to embracing psychedelic-assisted therapy
Source: theconversation.com
As of January 16th, patients in Alberta can now legally consider using psychedelic-assisted therapy as a treatment option for mental illnesses. The province’s psychiatrists and policymakers are establishing regulations to ensure that these substances are used safely in a therapeutic setting. The option is only available through licensed psychiatrists in Alberta.
This can be a big positive step for individuals, researchers, and advocacy group who argue that psychedelic drugs must be accepted as natural medicine and not be subject to legal restrictions.
MAPS has announced that its phase 3 trial of MDMA as a treatment for PTSD has been successful.
Source: psychedelichealth.co.uk
The trial involved 104 participants who were treated either with MDMA-assisted therapy or placebo therapy. The results of the trial are consistent with the findings of the previous Phase 3 trial (MAPP1), with no serious adverse events reported among the participants.
The organization’s founder and executive director, Rick Doblin, Ph.D. stated that they are close to providing a new therapy for the millions of Americans living with PTSD who weren’t positively affected by current treatments, despite initial skepticism about the possibility of gaining FDA approval for a psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Recent paper shows that psychedelic integration challenges may be relatively common.
Source: akjournals.com
The research focused on examination of integration challenges that were experienced by individuals who attended legal psilocybin truffle retreat in the Netherlands. The study used interviews to study mood fluctuations, ‘post-ecstatic blues’, disconnection from community, re-experiencing symptoms, spiritual bypass and perceived lack of support.
The paper concludes that the integration challenges may be common even if the set as setting is optimally controlled, and the experience was positive. The paper also mentions that “future research studies should actively investigate the phenomenology of psychedelic integration challenges, as well as their frequency, severity, duration and any dose-related effects.”
