Tag: psychedelics

Mom opens up about taking psychedelics while pregnant, breastfeeding to ‘address’ issues

A microdosing mom who took psychedelic mushrooms while pregnant and breastfeeding says it has given her “more patience” as a parent.

Mikaela de la Myco, 31, began ingesting psylocibin mushrooms – a type of hallucinogenic mushroom – four months into her pregnancy with her son, aged five.

Following battles with alcohol addiction, ingesting mushrooms was a way for Mikaela “to address” her issues before her son was born.

Microdosing is the practice of taking small doses of psychedelic substances with the aim of improving mental well-being and cognitive function.

Mikaela continues to microdose, ingesting mushrooms in a “variety of forms” including capsules, chocolate, whole dried form and in tea.

She believes there is a “stigma” placed on moms who ingest mushrooms but they can be a “catalyst” for changes in behavior.

Mikaela, an educator and folk herbalist, from San Diego, California, said: “Like many mothers I had a relationship with psylocibin mushrooms before I became pregnant and it was tremendously supportive in many areas of my life.

“I sought to consult with others on the topic and was able to receive information from an elder who expressed to me that in her tradition they ingest while pregnant and that the relationship that mothers have with mushrooms doesn’t break just because of pregnancy.

“I had some concerns in pregnancy – specifically my relationship and addiction to alcohol that I wanted to address with microdosing because I didn’t want to carry on my alcoholism experience in my own family to my child.

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Ohio Health Agency Grants $400,000 To Fund Psychedelics Education And Training For First Responders, Doctors And More

An Ohio health agency is providing a state university with a $400,000 grant to educate first responders, law enforcement, emergency departments and behavioral specialists about how to deal with potential adverse psychedelic experiences as more people use the substances for medical or recreational purposes.

Amid the expanding psychedelics reform movement, there’s been increased attention to the possible health benefits of substances like psilocybin and ibogaine. But only a handful of states allow for the regulated use of certain psychedelics, typically in medically supervised settings.

Ohio is not among those states yet, but Ohio State University (OSU) is now launching its Psychedelic Emergency, Acute, and Continuing Care Education (PEACE) initiative, with nearly half a million dollars of funding from the state Department of Behavioral Health’s (DBH) SOAR Innovation grant program.

“People have started to learn about the benefits of psychedelics while, at the same time, the federal government categorizes these as controlled substances,” Stacey Armstrong, associate director of the OSU’s Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education (CPDRE), said in a press release last week.

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‘I am melting, help me’: The 30-year-old drug website that transformed psychedelic research

Thirty years ago, drug users flocked to a website called Erowid to describe experiences on everything from Advil to LSD. Today it’s become a goldmine for researchers and governments.

“I am melting, help me.” This is not only an unusual plea for assistance. It’s also the title of a “trip report”: one person’s experience with the powerful dissociative drug phencyclidine (known as PCP). And it’s just one of many thousands of mind-bending anecdotes filed to Erowid, a website that, since the early days of the internet, has built one of the world’s most influential records of drug use and its effects.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the scrappy, grassroots project, which hosts data on everything from caffeine to cannabis to paracetamol (also known as Tylenol) to heroin, like a Wikipedia on all things pharmaceutical. Users post information about purifying street drugs, rolling joints and the health implications of drug misuse. Visitors to the site can find information about drug toxicology and interactions between chemicals. They can even wade through the archives of Albert Hoffman, the Swiss chemist who first synthesised lysergic acid diethylamide – or LSD.

But perhaps most intriguing of all are the 45,000-plus trip reports in the “Experience Vault”. These hallucinatory tales, with titles such as “Tripping Alone on 1.5 Grams From Hell”, “The Weekend At The Edge Of The Universe” and “The Thumbprint”, where an unfortunate soul loses their mind on a drug related to LSD called AL-LAD, do not just make for idle internet fodder. They have become vital for academic research, especially for esoteric and illegal substances where clinical data does not exist or is challenging to obtain.

“People publishing their personal experiences and experimenting outside of the legal and academic bubble has led to the science, in many ways,” says David Luke, associate professor of psychology at the University of Greenwich in the UK who studies psychedelics and has conducted clinical trials using microdoses of LSD. “There was so little published academic research and so few resources for exploring the use of psychoactive drugs that Erowid was invaluable for research, and to understand issues around safety and experiences.” 

Today, the social stigma around some types of drug use has softened to the point that Ayahuasca ceremonies, mushrooms and ketamine have even become a fixture in some corners of the business world. While these substances are still illegal in many countries, a growing number of places are choosing to decriminalise drugs that were previously subject to extensive crack downs. In recent years, psychedelics have also gathered renewed interest from the scientific community as a potential approach for treating conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Their use, however, remains controversial and in some places unregulated therapeutic use of these drugs has led to tragedy.

Back in 1995, when Erowid was founded, psychedelics were very much of the underground. This was a hostile time for drug reform, just over a decade since US president Ronald Reagan had expanded the war on drugs. 

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Psychedelic beer may have helped pre-Inca empire in Peru schmooze elite outsiders and consolidate power

The growth of a pre-Inca civilization known as the Wari may have been aided by psychedelic-laced beer, researchers propose in a new study.

The Wari flourished from roughly A.D. 600 to 1000 and are known for their mummified burials, human sacrifices, and elaborate objects created out of gold, silver and bronze. They also built cities such as Huari and Pikillaqta, which contained temples and dwellings for elite inhabitants, and controlled much of Peru as well as parts of Argentina and Chile.

In the new study, published Monday (Oct. 6) in the journal La Revista de Arqueología Americana (The Journal of American Archaeology), the researchers suggest that Wari rulers used psychedelics mixed in beer to help grow their empire. They explain that the “afterglow” — the long-term effect of drinking the mix — would have lasted weeks and that communal feasts where it was drunk would have brought people together. While the body may excrete psychedelics quickly, the aftereffects can last for days or weeks.

The study authors noted that the remains of seeds from a plant named Anadenanthera colubrina (also known as vilca) have been found at Wari sites, including near the remains of beer made from a plant called Schinus molle. Mixing the vilca, which is known to produce a psychedelic effect, with the beer would have “lessened but extended the high,” Justin Jennings, a curator of South American Archaeology at the Royal Ontario Museum and co-author of the paper, told Live Science in an email.

In the paper, the authors noted that scientific studies of similarly acting psychedelics found that people who took them tended to display “greater openness and empathy.”

These traits “would have been highly desirable for a Wari political system that depended on friendly, routine face-to-face interactions between people who had once been strangers or even enemies,” the researchers wrote in their paper.

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From trips to treatments: how psychedelics could revolutionise anti-inflammatory medicine

Once synonymous with hippies and hallucinatory experiences, psychedelic drugs are now being explored for their medical potential. The stigma of that era resulted in research being suppressed by drug laws, yet with mental health treatments hitting limits, scientists have returned to this controversial corner of medicine.

Substances like psilocybin (found in magic mushrooms) and ayahuasca are now being taken seriously by scientists and doctors, not for the visions they induce, but for the healing potential they possess.

Initially, this focused on treating mental health conditions like depression, where currently prescribed drugs only help a minority of patients. But these investigations have now expanded to include diseases driven by inflammation, which psychedelic drugs may help reduce by calming down the immune system.

In both human cells grown in laboratory dishes and animal studies, psychedelic drugs like DMT, LSD, and a compound called (R)-DOI can block the release of inflammatory molecules called cytokines. These protein molecules fuel conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, asthma and even depression, as well as increasing brain damage following traumatic brain injury.

Advantage over steroids

But these drugs have a considerable advantage over typical anti-inflammatory medications like steroid drugs because psychedelics appear to work without suppressing healthy immune function, which is a major problem with steroids.

Significantly, these laboratory findings are beginning to be confirmed in studies in humans. Evidence is growing that psychedelics could hold the key to managing inflammation, one of the body’s central drivers of many chronic diseases, including depression, arthritis and heart conditions.

Take psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms. In a study involving 60 healthy participants, just one dose was enough to significantly lower levels of two key inflammatory molecules – TNF-alpha and IL-6 – over the following week.

However, not all studies have shown the same clear results. Some only had a few participants and others were complicated by the fact that some participants had previous drug experience, which could affect the results.

One big challenge with studying psychedelics in medical research is that it’s very hard to hide who got the real drug and who got a placebo. When someone has a strong psychedelic experience, it’s obvious they didn’t just take a sugar pill.

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Utah Church That Uses Marijuana, Psychedelics And Vapes As Sacraments Sues Over Police Raids

Months after Utah’s ban on flavored vapes, Blackhouse, a former Sugar House vape shop, became a sanctuary and a safe haven for those searching to get flavored cartridges—for spiritual and religious practices.

The electronic cigarettes joined other sacraments that have been at the center of religious legal challenges in the state like psychedelic mushrooms and cannabis. But, after Utah law enforcement agencies raided the Sugar House location, as well as the Salt City Sanctuary in South Salt Lake in August, all of these sacraments have been put into legal question, with the Sugarleaf Church, the institution overseeing both sanctuaries, initiating a lawsuit to keep them.

“Officers arrived using riot gear, AR-15s, pry bars, and battering rams, forcibly entered both sanctuaries, and immediately began disabling the security systems and surveillance cameras with a crow bar,” the church said in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City in August.

During the raids officers confiscated cannabis and psilocybin products, which the church called “sacramental property,” as well as thousands of flavored vape cartridges, blank checkbooks, waivers, clergy rosters, cash donations, tablets and membership records.

The church is asking a judge to order law enforcement to stop interfering with members’ free exercise of religion and to award compensatory damages. The institution is also asking the South Salt Lake Police Department and the Utah State Bureau of Investigation to undergo mandatory religious sensitivity training and for the immediate return of property.

At Salt City Sanctuary the agents seized “4.24 kilograms of packaged marijuana flower; over a kilogram of ‘fresh flower’ marijuana; 956 1-gram pre-rolled marijuana joints, 8 display jars of marijuana flower, 152.5 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, mushroom gummies and sample packs, numerous edibles with THC, and rolling papers,” according to a motion to dismiss filed by the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office.

At Blackhouse, officers confiscated “significant quantities of raw marijuana; psilocybin mushrooms; THC vapes, cookies, gummies, candies, syrups, oils, and similar products; psilocybin cookies, gummies, and similar products; and over 3,000 flavored vape cartridges and order receipts,” the district attorney’s office said in its motion.

Joshua Robers, a church reverend, was also arrested and booked into Salt Lake County Jail during the Salt City Sanctuary raid. He faces multiple charges in 3rd District Court, including possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, a third-degree felony.

The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit this month and declined to comment because the litigation is ongoing.

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Massachusetts Lawmakers Approve Bill To Create Psychedelic Therapy Pilot Program

Massachusetts lawmakers have approved a bill to establish a pilot program for the regulated therapeutic use of psychedelics.

The pilot program proposal from Sen. Cindy Friedman (D) advanced through the legislature’s Joint Committee on Health Care Financing on Thursday. It’s now been referred to the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing for further consideration.

The measure is one of two pieces of legislation on the issue that are set to be taken up at a hearing before a different committee in November.

The bill, S.1400, is light on specifics, leaving many details of the pilot program up to regulators with the Department of Public Health (DPH). But in general, it calls for a “pilot program to allow for the monitored mental health care of clinically appropriate patients using psychedelic materials.”

It would involve the “on-site administration by a multi-disciplinary care team in a supervised licensed mental health clinic setting.”

DPH could only issue licenses for up to three health facilities to administer and study the psychedelics in the state. They would be tasked with “establishing the best and safest clinical practices for psychedelic mental health treatment programs in the commonwealth and for the purposes of collecting patient outcomes data regarding the benefits of psychedelic pharmacotherapy.”

“Eligible pilot program organizations must exclusively focus operations and treatment on mental health and cannot be subsidiaries, affiliates or members of cannabis industry organizations, psychedelic molecule development companies or pharmaceutical companies,” the bill text states.

The department would be required to develop rules for the program, including setting standards for people to apply to participate, patient assessments and ongoing monitoring, clinical staffing and the administration of psychedelic medicines.

“All pilot program participant organizations must track patient care outcomes data related to the identification, diagnosis and psychedelic treatment of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder,” it says. “These data sets must be shared with the department to assist in the refinement of best clinical protocols and final regulatory frameworks for the safe use of psychedelic material in Massachusetts.”

The bill, as well as a separate measure to provide a more limited pilot program for psilocybin therapy alone, will also be the focus of a hearing on November 10 before the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery.

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Military To Start Testing Service Members For The Psychedelic Psilocin, Memo Shows

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is expanding the list of drugs that military service members will be tested for to include the psychedelic compound psilocin, one of the two main components of psilocybin mushrooms.

In a memo obtained by Marijuana Moment, a DOD employee performing the duties of the deputy under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness advised military leadership that psilocin will be added to the department’s Drug Demand Reduction Program drug testing panel effective October 1.

The memo, dated August 18, states that the policy change being made due to “the risk of impairment and subsequent deterioration of security, military fitness, readiness, good order and discipline.”

“Drug abuse by Service members is a safety and readiness issue, and the Department must adapt our detection and deterrence program to address new and emerging drug threats,” Dr. Merlynn Carson wrote.

The DOD official said that attachments to the memo lay out “cutoff concentrations” for a positive psilocin test and other drugs in the testing panel.

Marijuana Moment reached out to DOD for copies of those attachments, but representatives were not able to immediately provide the documents.

“The Department of Defense maintains a zero-tolerance policy prohibiting drug use, and we remain committed to continually expanding drug testing capabilities and enhancing our education and prevention efforts by providing effective information on drug misuse, including the use of Psilocin,” an official told Marijuana Moment in an email.

The memo says that the “first priority” for psilocin testing under the revised drug panel “will be given to specimens collected under the auspices of probable cause, consent, or command.”

“In proportion to laboratory capabilities and capacity, second priority will be given to special testing requests for other collection modes, such as routine inspection-based collections, and specimens may also be randomly tested for psilocin,” it says.

At the same time that DOD has moved to test for psilocin, it’s also carrying out a congressional mandated psychedelic therapy pilot program for active duty service members and veterans. A more recent spending bill covering DOD would require a “progress report” on that initiative.

This latest memo also comes about two months after a DOD contractor sued the federal government, alleging that questions about his past marijuana use during a security clearance process violated his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

While the latest DOD policy update concerned a psychedelic compound, questions about federal workers testing positive for marijuana have also ballooned in recent years, as more individual states have legalized the drug.

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The Push Toward Legal DMT: Is The World Ready?

The Rise of legal DMT in the Psychedelic Conversation: As discussions around psychedelic legalization continue to evolve, one substance has gained notable traction: DMT (N,N-Dimethyltryptamine). Known for its intense, short-acting hallucinogenic experience, DMT has historically remained in the shadows compared to psilocybin or LSD. But now, thanks to changing perceptions and renewed research, the movement toward legalizing DMT is growing louder.

Legal DMT? A Patchwork of Global Policies

While DMT remains a Schedule I substance in the U.S. under the Controlled Substances Act, exceptions exist. Religious groups, such as the União do Vegetal (UDV), have received legal protection for ceremonial use of ayahuasca, a DMT-containing brew. Meanwhile, countries like Brazil and Peru tolerate traditional and spiritual use. In Canada, Section 56 exemptions are being considered for DMT therapy, and several psychedelic startups are lobbying for rescheduling.

Why DMT Is Different

Unlike other psychedelics, DMT offers a rapid and immersive experience — often lasting just 10–20 minutes when inhaled or vaped. This brevity makes it attractive for potential clinical applications, such as fast-acting trauma interventions or consciousness research. Companies like Small Pharma in the UK are developing DMT-based treatments for depression, and early-stage results are promising.

The Ethical and Medical Questions

However, the intensity and unpredictability of the DMT experience raises ethical concerns. Critics argue that even in supervised settings, the sheer strangeness of the DMT “breakthrough” could be destabilizing for vulnerable patients. Others emphasize that more controlled studies are needed to determine optimal dosing and preparation methods.

Cultural Roots vs. Commercial Interests

There’s also a growing dialogue about cultural appropriation, particularly regarding 5-MeO-DMT from toads and DMT-containing plants used in Amazonian traditions. Legalization efforts must balance respect for indigenous knowledge with the interests of Western medical and commercial frameworks.

Market Implications and Public Reception

If legalized, DMT could create a new niche within the psychedelic therapeutics market, projected to reach $10 billion by 2027. Yet public perception still lags behind psilocybin. Many associate DMT with “trip reports” and underground chemists rather than structured medical environments — a barrier advocates must overcome.

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