Tag: magic mushrooms

CALIFORNIA MIGHT LEGALIZE MAGIC MUSHROOMS

A BILL TO legalize psychedelics is on a trip to California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office.

On Thursday, the California Senate gave final approval to a bill legalizing certain psychedelics for people who are 21 or older. If Newsom signs the bill, it will go into effect in 2025 and make it legal to possess or grow plant-based psychedelics, including psychedelic mushrooms.

Newsom has not said where he stands on the bill, but he has mostly been a critic against the war on drugs, having been a leading voice to legalize cannabis in California and reduce nonviolent offenses like drug crimes to misdemeanors rather than felonies. Last year, however, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed three California cities to operate supervised drug-consumption sites in efforts to combat fatal overdoses.

“We respect the legislative process and don’t typically comment on pending legislation,” a Newsom spokesperson told Marijuana Moment on Thursday. “The governor will evaluate the bill on its merits when it reaches his desk.”

Keep reading

Psilocybin Associated With ‘Significantly’ Reduced Symptoms Of Major Depression After One Dose, American Medical Association Study Finds

People with major depression experienced “clinically significant sustained reduction” in their symptoms after just one dose of psilocybin, a new study published by the American Medical Association (AMA) found.

A team of 18 researchers from institutions including Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, NYU Langone Center for Psychedelic Medicine and San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center investigated the association, carrying out a randomized clinical trial involving 104 adults with major depressive disorder (MDD).

For the study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on Thursday, people with major depressive disorder were administered 25mg of synthetic psilocybin at 11 different clinics across the U.S. and monitored for changes in symptoms over the course of six weeks.

Within eight days, patients who received the psychedelic-assisted treatment, which was also accompanied by psychotherapy sessions, reported reduced depressive symptoms that “maintained across the 6-week follow-up period, without attenuation of the effect.”

Keep reading

Magic mushroom dispensaries multiplying in southwestern Ontario, with no cap in sight

Flying in the face of local law enforcement, a chain of illegal brick-and-mortar magic mushroom dispensaries with locations in London, Windsor, and across the province is expanding to more local municipalities, strengthening a trend reminiscent of the pre-legalization cannabis market.

A recently opened storefront in St. Thomas is the latest move for FunGuyz, the entity that runs at least 13 dispensaries in Canada and one in Detroit, with a spokesperson suggesting other nearby small towns may be next.

“We’re looking at Sarnia, Strathroy, smaller cities surrounding London,” said a spokesperson who identified themselves only as Edgar and said the St. Thomas store opened last week.

In the past, different spokespeople for the company have all identified themselves as Edgar, or Edgars Gorbans. When asked if the name was real by CBC Windsor in early August, one spokesperson claiming to be named Edgar Gorbans said  “could be,” and “of course not.”

The latest expansion comes despite recent police raids at FunGuyz stores. London Police raided the local store in early July, whereas Windsor Police have raided their local store multiple times, and issued an arrest warrant for the store’s owner, who they identified as Edward Gorbans. 

Keep reading

I Went to Rehab for Alcoholism 18 Times. Only Psychedelics Helped

I met Amanda at a pain therapy clinic in Zurich last December. She was sitting on a chair, hands folded neatly in her lap – she’d come here with her husband Tim for one of her regular visits to neurologist Livia Granata, one of the few specialists in Switzerland offering psychedelic therapy. 

British-born Amanda is 50 years old and has been an alcoholic for two decades. She also struggles with severe depression and anxiety stemming from childhood trauma. It took a lot for her to share her story, so she asked to be referred to on a first-name basis to protect her and her husband’s privacy. 

For the past seven years, Amanda hasn’t lived in her flat with her partner and their children, but outside on the balcony. She stays in an improvised shelter her husband made for her, only going in to use the toilet – and the pandemic only further tightened the grip her anxiety disorders have on her life.

A year ago, Amanda probably wouldn’t have shown up for this appointment at all, either cancelling at the last minute or simply letting it pass. Over the years, she’s been through too many treatments – experimental therapies that brought little to no relief. But in April 2022, she found her way to the clinic – and to the first treatment she felt ever truly worked.

Keep reading

Psychoactive drug Psilocybin being studied for treatment of anorexia

Just a single dose of psilocybin was safe and tolerable for adult women with anorexia, according to a phase I open-label feasibility study.

After receiving a 25-mg dose of synthetic psilocybin given with therapist-delivered psychological support, none of the 10 participants experienced any significant changes in vital signs, ECGs, or suicidality during the week after dosing, reported Stephanie Knatz Peck, PhD, of the University of California San Diego, and colleagues.

Meeting the primary outcome, the treatment was also well-tolerated, with no serious adverse events reported amongst participants, who had an average body mass index (BMI) of 19.7, they noted in Nature Medicine.

As for changes in psychopathology — the secondary outcome of the early-stage trial — concerns about weight significantly decreased from baseline to 1 month after psilocybin treatment.

This improvement was also maintained up to 3 months after dosing. Likewise, shape concerns significantly dropped within the month after treatment, but this change was no longer significant at the 3-month mark.

Changes in eating concerns and dietary restraint didn’t reach statistical significance, but there was a trend towards an improvement in eating concerns at the 3-month follow-up.

Keep reading

GOP Congresswoman Pushes For Psychedelics And Marijuana Research For Veterans In Floor Speech

A GOP congresswoman is touting recently released Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidance on psychedelics research and calling for additional work to study the therapeutic benefits of marijuana for military veterans.

In a speech on the House floor on Wednesday, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) talked about the need to support “novel forms of research” to unlock the potential of psychedelics and cannabis for the treatment of conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that commonly afflict veterans.

“As a doctor, former director of the Iowa Department of Public Health and 24-year U.S. Army veteran, the mental, emotional and physical health of my constituents and fellow veterans is one of my top priorities in Congress,” she said. “For too long, PTSD and other mental or physical ailments have had devastating effects and far too often go untreated.”

Keep reading

FDA creates path for psychedelic drug trials

Federal regulators are laying out guidance for psychedelic drug trials for the first time, in a move that could encourage the mainstreaming of substances like magic mushrooms and LSD as behavioral health treatments.

Why it matters: Psychedelics are turning into a multi-billion industry and gaining widespread acceptance after decades of concerns about recreational use of the products — and the high risk for misuse. But research to date has largely been backed by private sponsors.

Driving the news: The Food and Drug Administration on Friday released first-ever draft guidance outlining considerations — including trial conduct, data collection and subject safety — for researchers looking into psychedelic treatments for a variety of conditions, including PTSD, depression and anxiety.

  • The agency filed the 14-page document two days after a bipartisan coalition in Congress led by Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) introduced legislation directing the issuance of clinical trial guidelines.
  • It also came as 10,000 attendees and hundreds of exhibitors converged on Denver for what was billed as the “largest psychedelic conference in history,” with guests ranging from New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers to National Institute of Mental Health director Joshua Gordon.

Keep reading

Cops Bust Psilocybin Grow Operation in Northeast Portland Mansion

On June 8, court documents show, police busted a psilocybin grow house and major interstate mushroom and weed distribution operation in a 5,000-square-foot mansion bordering a Northeast Portland country club.

Oregon voters legalized psilocybin mushrooms in 2020 by passing Measure 109. But the measure only sanctions use of the hallucinogen in tightly regulated therapeutic settings. Such niceties have done little to discourage the expansion of a “mushroom underground,” with state-licensed therapists offering guided trips in private homes and Airbnbs. Psilocybin mushrooms are easily obtained across Portland, even after the shuttering of a retail operation, Shroom House, on West Burnside Street.

A probable cause affidavit filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Friday offers some insight into where that supply might be coming from—and alleges that interstate psilocybin traffickers have set up shop in Portland.

It’s not clear from the affidavit what led police to the $1.3 million home bordering Columbia Edgewater Country Club, which features panoramic views of the golf course, a “unique triple barrel-vaulted ceiling,” and parking for 16 cars, according to a real estate listing online.

Keep reading

Rhode Island Lawmakers Approve Psilocybin Legalization Bill

A Rhode Island legislative committee this week approved a bill to legalize the possession and cultivation of psilocybin mushrooms, making the state the latest of several to propose or advance legislation to ease the prohibitions on magic mushrooms and other psychedelic drugs. The measure, House Bill 5923, was approved by the House Judiciary Committee by a 12-2 vote on Tuesday, according to a report from Marijuana Moment. A companion bill is pending in the Rhode Island Senate, where the chamber’s Judiciary Committee is holding the bill for further study.

If passed, the legislation would eliminate criminal penalties for adults who possess or cultivate up to one ounce of psilocybin mushrooms for personal use. Up to one ounce of mushrooms could also be shared by one adult with another. The bill is slated to go into effect on July 1, and an amendment approved by the Judiciary Committee sets a July 1, 2025, sunset for the legislation.

Keep reading

LSD and Magic Mushrooms Dramatically Rewire the Brain, New Study Reveals

From ketamine drips to microdosing on LSD, psychedelics are shaking up the way we approach and treat mental health. A growing body of scientific evidence shows that these long-stigmatized substances could be potential antidepressants, alleviating symptoms by slipping into areas of the brain traditional SSRIs can’t reach, and encouraging new neural connections.

Despite these advances, psychedelics remain fairly mysterious. Researchers haven’t yet pinned down the various mechanisms through which they work inside our bodies. But now, they might be one step closer.

An international team of scientists led by the University of Helsinki in Finland believes they’ve struck biochemical gold. In a study published Monday in the journal Nature Neuroscience, the researchers found that psychedelics psilocin (the primary chemical in magic mushrooms) and LSD exert an antidepressant effect by binding to a protein, receptor tyrosine kinase beta (TrkB), which then activates brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that plays a crucial role in the growth, development, and maintenance of neurons; kind of like Miracle-Gro for the brain.

“I think [this study] is very exciting,” Greg Fonzo, co-director of the Center for Psychedelic Research and Therapy at The University of Texas at Austin’s Dell Medical School, who wasn’t involved in the study, tells Inverse. “It establishes a potential common mechanism for psychedelics along with other kinds of antidepressant treatments.” The researchers hope that this new information could potentially lead to creating more effective treatments for mental health disorders.

Keep reading