Latest news with #psychedelics
CBS News
a day ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Gov. Jared Polis announces pardons for Coloradans convicted of psilocybin possession at psychedelics conference
This week Colorado's governor said he's pardoning some people who were convicted in the state for possessing certain psychedelics. Gov. Jared Polis made the announcement on Wednesday at the Psychedelic Science 2025 conference in Denver. The conference is going on all week at the Colorado Convention Center. Gov. Jared Polis speaks at the Psychedelic Science 2025 conference on Wednesday. CBS The pardons cover people convicted of possessing the drugs found in so-called "magic" mushrooms: psilocybin and psilocin. "This is a step forward for the individuals -- they'll now have this cleared from their records," he said. "But also truly acknowledge the error in public policy that led to their conviction creating a more just system to break down barriers." In his speech, Polis also showcased the progress Colorado has made in the eventual legal use of psychedelic mushrooms, and the future of the psychedelics industry. In 2022, Colorado residents voted to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms for people 21 and older in 2022. The measure also green lighted state-regulated "healing centers" where participants can experience the drug under supervision. The governor says he hopes Colorado can take on a leading role for the rest of the country when it comes to the legal framework, and research, around psychedelic mushrooms. "Colorado has been a national leader in breaking through outdated laws around cannabis, and now we are doing the same for natural medicine," Polis said in a prepared statement.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Call for more medical access to commonly used illicit drugs
Prescription psilocybin, the hallucinogenic compound found in magic mushrooms, will become available to treat prescription-resistant depression. Photo: Pixabay The Drug Foundation wants more medical access to some of the most commonly used illicit drugs. It comes after the government announced prescription psilocybin , the hallucinogenic compound found in magic mushrooms, will become available to treat prescription-resistant depression. The Drug Foundation's annual report found psychedelic drug use has more than doubled in New Zealand, with 3.1 percent of adults reported taking psychedelics like LSD, psilocybin and ketamine in 2023 and 2024, compared to 1.3 percent in 2017 and 2018. It said cannabis, MDMA, and psychedelics rank down the lower end of the potential harm spectrum, and have well-documented medical uses. The Drug Foundation's executive director Sarah Helm said some people are self-medicating with such drugs, and are being criminalised by not being allowed to access them legally. "Many of our most popular illicit substances have well-documented medicinal uses and are being actively studied for their potential to treat a range of health conditions, so it's likely at least some of the use in this report is self-medication," Helm said. "We think it's time to enable more medical access to the likes of psychedelics and MDMA and stop prosecuting people who use them." In Australia, MDMA, known as ecstasy in tablet form, is being used to help treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While earlier this year, a clinical study using mushrooms containing psilocybin to treat methamphetamine addiction completed its first phase of trials. "Criminalising anyone doesn't really help, whether the substance use is problematic or therapeutic," Helm told Morning Report. " Certainly, they [psychedelics] have been stigmatised and that's prevented access." NZ Drug Foundation executive director Sarah Helm. Photo: Supplied/ NZ Drug Foundation The release of these numbers coincides with Associate Health Minister David Seymour's announcement that psilocybin would be legally available in New Zealand outside of trials for the first time. It brings New Zealand in line with Australia, which has been using psilocybin to treat depression since 2023 . Seymour said it would initially only be available from one specific psychiatrist, but he hoped more would apply. The psychiatrist, Ōtautahi -based Dr Cameron Lacey, who was also behind the first clinical trials of psilocybin, said about two thirds of people who participated in clinical trials saw substantial improvements in their depression. "It's truly providing remarkable results and it's really exciting to see a treatment that is providing real benefit for people who typically, at that point in their treatment journey, had a really long road and low improvement from standard treatments," Dr Lacey told Morning Report. Dr Cameron Lacey. Photo: Supplied The therapy involves months of psychotherapy and one or two eight-hour psilocybin sessions or 'doses' accompanied by clinical professionals. Most of the studies have involved one or two doses integrated with a course of psychotherapy. For some, just one treatment can be sufficient . "The most important thing that we need to work on next is making sure this treatment is available to all who need it," Dr Lacy said. Helm said the announcement that the magic mushroom drug psilocybin will be available for some patients is good news, but better access is needed. "We do need to see a broader range of clinicians making it available, otherwise people do turn to self-administration. It's happens in the cannabis field, as well. It is about balancing," Helm said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Times
3 days ago
- Health
- Times
Magic mushrooms enter mainstream as treatment for depression
Before her death this year, a British aristocrat once known unkindly as the 'crackpot countess' suggested science was about to answer a question she had spent her career asking: can psychedelic drugs, and magic mushrooms in particular, prove an effective treatment for long-term depression? The only way to win credibility for the benefits of psilocybin, the hallucinogenic compound found in magic mushrooms, was to use 'science as a tool to prove what one was saying was true, not part of a kind of druggy fantasy', said Amanda Feilding, who died in May, aged 88. Today, it seems as though science is finally about to come good. A growing number of countries are approving its medicinal use, including New Zealand, which on Wednesday allowed a single expert to begin to prescribe the drug. David Seymour, the deputy prime minister, said: 'Psilocybin remains an unapproved medicine, but a highly experienced psychiatrist has been granted authority to prescribe it to patients with treatment-resistant depression.' 'This is huge for people with depression who've tried everything else and are still suffering,' he added. 'If a doctor believes psilocybin can help, they should have the tools to try.' While New Zealand has only just caught up with Australia, which legalised the treatment two years ago, the evidence of its effectiveness is mixed. Clinicians in Australia have suggested that some patients improve, some do not and up to one-in-five experience a 'bad trip'. Europe, meanwhile, has been lagging. For two decades Jana Bednarova tried the 'talking cure' and antidepressants, but remained lost in depression and anxiety. Then, four years ago, she was in Amsterdam contemplating ending her life when she decided to try magic mushrooms. 'It gave me a few hours of calm and clarity,' the 49-year-old told The Times, smiling broadly at a lakeside café in the Czech capital, Prague. 'It gave me hope. Maybe I didn't have to die.' For people like Bednarova, the Czechs could be on the brink of a breakthrough. Twelve years after the country legalised cannabis for medical purposes, it is on the verge of becoming the first in Europe to do the same for psilocybin, after the lower house of its parliament approved a proposed bill to allow the drug's use in clinical settings. Legal problems relating to its recreational use have slowed research across the globe, in particular in Europe. But with increasing numbers of patients and shortages of antidepressant drugs, the Czechs are pushing ahead. Advocates say that in the long term psilocybin would reduce the burden on health services and lower the cost of treating depression during what has been described as Britain's 'mental health epidemic'. A study published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal in 2016 found that 67 per cent of participants with clinical depression were in remission within a week of taking psilocybin and 42 per cent were still free of depression three months later. Imperial College London researchers have found it is as effective as the conventional antidepressants that cost the NHS £55 million a year, while also boosting participants' wellbeing and sex drive. This evidence prompted David Nutt, a former government 'drugs tsar' and neuropsychopharmacologist at Imperial, to say in 2022 that psilocybin could be a 'real alternative' in the treatment of depression. A new treatment option is urgently needed. One in six people in England take antidepressants and the number of adults seeking treatment for depression has been rising steadily over the past decade. NHS data showed 8.7 million people were on antidepressants last year, up from 6.8 million in 2016. About one in three people diagnosed with depression experience 'treatment-resistant depression', which does not respond to drugs or therapy. It is this cohort of patients — about three million people — who experts believe could benefit most from psilocybin. The Czech Republic's legislation will regulate the drug in a similar way to medicinal cannabis, with a limited number of doctors able to prescribe it. During trials patients will be housed in specialised environments and receive extensive psychotherapy. Doctors admit this makes the treatment programme expensive, but many insist the results are worth it. Jana Pazderova, who recently began psilocybin therapy, said its effect had been transformative. 'It transported me somewhere outside, to a mountain viewpoint,' she said. 'I started crying because I realised how beautiful the world is.' The therapy has also been tested on people with the neurodegenerative disorder Parkinson's disease. Trials in the United States have reported that psilocybin in a controlled setting improved a patient's mood, cognition and motor function for months. No serious side-effects were recorded and a larger trial, involving 100 more patients, has been given approval. In his introduction to the Czech bill, Marek Benda, an MP from the ruling centre-right Civic Democratic Party (ODS) who proposed the legislation, noted that drugs such as cocaine and opium were already routinely used by doctors. Adding psilocybin to the list appears to carry little political risk, it seems. • I went on a posh magic mushroom retreat. Here's what I learnt A recent survey suggested 68 per cent of Czechs would support its use in medical treatment. The bill is now due to head to the Senate, the upper house, which is expected to give it the nod. A signature from President Pavel would be the final step. Dr Pavel Mohr, a professor at the Czech National Institute of Mental Health, agreed that psilocybin had promise but said it needed to be combined with psychotherapy and significant work by the patient. A lot of regulation was also required for the drug to be managed safely, he added. 'We must clarify who can prescribe this treatment, under what conditions, and for whom,' Mohr said. 'You can't just start giving psychedelic drugs to anyone.' • Magic mushroom drug offers hope for Parkinson's patients Professor James Rucker, who leads the psychoactive trials group at King's College London, also cautioned against seeing psychedelic treatments, which have 'potentially powerful side-effects' as a panacea. 'What New Zealand have done is loosened the leash very slightly, and that is probably quite a sensible move,' he said. 'There are lots of reasons to believe psilocybin may have a powerful antidepressant effect, but it is not so easy to demonstrate this in controlled clinical trials because participants know whether they get the drug because of the effects.' Evidence collected 'in different ways, in different places, over an extended period of time' was the only way to appropriately test the drug, Rucker said. But for the millions across Europe resistant to conventional treatment, the Czech legislation 'represents hope', according to Bednarova. 'Depression is a dark cloud, a heavy weight on your chest. But now I have peace inside for the first time in so long.'
Medscape
4 days ago
- Health
- Medscape
New Guidelines to Make Psychedelic Trials Safer, FDA-Ready
An international expert panel has developed the first consensus-based framework for reporting 'set and setting' variables in psychedelic clinical trials. The guidelines create a standardized protocol for psychedelic clinical trials that accounts for the mental state of the user and the environment in which the psychedelic experience takes place. The Reporting of Setting in Psychedelic Clinical Trials (ReSPCT) guidelines were developed using the Delphi method and involved 89 experts in the field from 17 different countries. The expert panel included not only clinicians and researchers but also past clinical trial participants who provided the all-important lived experience. They were published online on June 3 in Nature Medicine . Context Matters It's common knowledge that 'set and setting' — the mindset of a person taking a psychedelic and the environment in which they take it — have a 'huge impact on the psychedelic experience itself,' co-lead author Chloé Pronovost-Morgan, MD, psychiatry resident, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, told Medscape Medical News . 'The same drug at the same dose can produce diametrically opposing reactions depending on context — ranging from terrible anxiety to mystical-like experiences,' she added. Yet, a recent systematic review showed that most psychedelic trials provide minimal detail about context, making it difficult to understand what actually took place and what participants experienced. 'Were they given psilocybin in a cozy room in the countryside overlooking a field or in a sterile hospital while in a giant brain scanner? If we know that context matters, then we need to know what the context actually was. Otherwise, study findings are difficult to interpret, replicate, and apply,' said Pronovost-Morgan. The ReSPCT framework consists of 30 variables divided into four sections the panel deemed essential to report. The first focuses on the physical and sensory environment. This includes details about the study setting (eg, indoors or outdoors, private clinic, hospital, or retreat center), room design (whether a specific ambiance was intentionally created — such as nature-inspired, psychedelic-themed, ceremonial/shamanic, or home-like), sensory modulation tools (such as the use of eye shades or noise-cancelling headphones), and the presence of objects or decorations (including artwork, candles, statues, or religious and spiritual items). 'Context is often not appropriately reported, including studies I've participated where I wasn't the principal investigator' Matthew W. Johnson, PhD, with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, told Medscape Medical News . Johnson, who wasn't part of the panel, said he's had to 'battle to get in important methods into papers such as the presence of religious iconography.' Religious or spiritual items in the room may lead participants to interpret their experiences in a more spiritual way. Johnson noted that some researchers hesitate to report these details out of concern that a spiritually charged setting could cast doubt on the results — implying the experience was influenced rather than spontaneous. Need for Realistic Information The second section of the guidelines outlines key aspects of the dosing session procedure that should be reported. This includes who was present during the session; whether music or a soundscape was used; the verbal and physical interactions that took place and how consent was obtained; the level of participant autonomy and control over activities and the environment; details of the dosing regimen — including dosage, frequency, route of administration, and duration of the session; and any disturbances or interruptions that may have affected the quality of the experience. The third section focuses on the therapeutic framework and protocol. This includes reporting specific topics covered and activities conducted during preparation sessions — such as reviewing the patient's medical and psychological history, setting intentions and expectations, addressing questions or concerns, and providing psychoeducation. It also calls for documentation of the credentials and training of the staff involved, including aspects of cultural competence and safety. Johnson noted the amount of preparation time is often not explicitly reported in trial publications. 'We need realistic information — was it 8 or 12 hours of preparation — not the shorter figures often listed. There is often more time spent with participants than is reported, in my experience,' he said. The fourth and last section of the guidelines addresses participants' subjective experience, capturing their perceptions of the environment — including therapeutic rapport, sense of comfort, and feelings of safety. Pronovost-Morgan said a broader goal of the guidelines is not only to document the objective aspects of the environment but also to capture participants' subjective experiences, such as whether they felt physically safe during the session. She explained that the guidelines are primarily intended to improve the consistency and clarity of reporting in psychedelic trials while also encouraging research teams to take a more deliberate and thoughtful approach to designing studies. Paving the Way for Evidence-Based Care The panel encourages researchers to incorporate the 30 ReSPCT items in either the main text or supplementary materials of their publications. Over time, this practice could allow for comparison of outcomes across trials based on these contextual variables, helping to identify which factors have the greatest influence on clinical results. 'That kind of clarity could help us move beyond tradition or intuition and toward evidence-based contextual care. The field already has a sense that certain variables — like music or the therapeutic team — matter enormously. But I suspect some of the less obvious items on the list will turn out to be surprisingly influential, which is exciting to think about,' said Pronovost-Morgan. Until now, a key limitation of psychedelic clinical trials has been the insufficient consideration of how a participant's mindset and environment can influence the effects of substances like 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and psilocybin. This lack of standards has already had consequences beyond the research lab. As previously reported by Medscape Medical News , the FDA recently rejected MDMA-assisted therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), citing inconsistent reporting across trials as a key reason for its decision. Paul E. Holtzheimer, MD, director of the VA's National Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Brain Bank and member of the FDA panel that rejected MDMA for PTSD, said the therapy element is 'a bit of a black box,' adding that 'it's a relatively vague, ill-defined treatment.' 'We think the ReSPCT guidelines will help researchers, clinicians, and regulatory bodies gain a better understanding of what lies in that 'box,' so that we can understand what these therapies entail as a whole — including the nondrug variables that are crucial to safety and efficacy,' said Pronovost-Morgan. 'Our guidelines will also help in replicating results and understanding the true therapeutic potential of psychedelics,' co-senior author Leor Roseman, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, England, added in a statement. That should increase the chances of regulatory approval for psychedelics, the panel predicted. Co-senior author Kyle Greenway, MD, MSc, from McGill University's Department of Psychiatry, emphasized that the importance of carefully considering context extends beyond just psychedelic drugs. 'Converging lines of preclinical and clinical evidence support that contextual influences can be significant for consciousness-altering effects for a wide variety of drugs, from antidepressants and benzodiazepines to alcohol and opiates. Psychedelic drugs may provide the most striking examples of drug-context interaction effects, but contextual influences warrant greater scientific and clinical attention for psychoactive substances much more generally,' said Greenway.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Dr. Angela Fisher of Bionic Bloom Takes Center Stage at Cannadelic Miami 2025
MIAMI, FLORIDA / / June 16, 2025 / Dr. Angela Fisher, founder of Bionic Bloom and the Sacred Bloom College of Healing Arts, took the stage at six featured panels during Cannadelic Miami 2025, the nation's leading psychedelic and cannabis conference. As a recognized pioneer in ethical psychedelic therapy and integrative mental health, Dr. Fisher delivered powerful insights on medical fitness, ethical boundaries, and responsible facilitation in the evolving field of psychedelic care. From discussing "The Psychedelic Gold Rush: Sorting the Healers from the Hustlers" to leading a fireside conversation on relational ethics, Dr. Fisher's voice resonated with both medical professionals and community leaders committed to expanding access without compromising safety. She emphasized the urgent need for comprehensive facilitator training, informed consent, and the protection of vulnerable populations, particularly neurodivergent and trauma-affected clients. "Psychedelics open people's souls-ethics must be non-negotiable," said Dr. Fisher during her keynote appearance. "We must hold power with humility, or we risk re-creating the very harm we aim to heal." In addition to panels on neurodiversity, trauma, intimacy, and somatic healing, Dr. Fisher also previewed key concepts from her upcoming book, The Psychedelic Ethics Manual: Gold Standard Guidelines for Safe and Sacred Facilitation, co-authored with leaders in the field and scheduled for release through Sacred Bloom Press later this year. Bionic Bloom, the nation's first legal psilocybin therapy center and a winner of Best Mental Health Clinic - People's Choice, Best of the Bay, continues to lead the movement toward ethical, inclusive psychedelic medicine. Under Dr. Fisher's leadership, Bionic Bloom combines clinical rigor with community healing, offering psychedelic-assisted therapy, IOP programs, integrative psychiatry, and education for practitioners nationwide. About Bionic Bloom Bionic Bloom is an award-winning integrative mental health clinic with locations across Florida, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Ohio. Through a blend of psychedelic-assisted therapy, somatic care, and neurodivergent empowerment, Bionic Bloom is redefining what it means to heal-ethically, holistically, and with heart. For inquiries:ethan@ SOURCE: Bionic Bloom View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire Sign in to access your portfolio
