In August 2020, the federal government began allowing patients with a terminal illness access to… [psilocybe mushrooms] through exemptions to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act [through Section 56, which was the first step in starting Canada’s medical marijuana program]… “These are patients that are dying,” said Minister of Health Patty Hajdu. Dr. Ryan Patchett-Marble,…
The catalyst… was the section 56 class exemption which opened avenues furthering the universality of Canadian access to marijuana. But what does this have to do with the legalization of psychedelic drugs? In making this decision, the Canadian government had set a… precedent: If illicit drugs can be shown to have significant medical benefits they…
The politics around psychedelics are changing as well: With great effort from advocates, various measures to decriminalize possession [and cultivation] of certain entheogens have passed in Oakland, [Ann Arbor, Michigan], Santa Cruz, Calif., as well as Denver [Colorado], and similar campaigns are underway in… other cities, [such as Portland, Oregon]. Sara Reed, study coordinator of…
…suffering from chronic Lyme disease, I tried all kinds of treatments… psychedelics can… increase awareness of what’s happening inside someone’s body. After my first iboga ceremony with a shaman in Mexico, I was shocked that not only did my Lyme symptoms completely lift, but the pain that I’d been feeling in my knees after falling…
Researchers of the University of Zurich have now shown that mindfulness meditation can enhance the positive long-term effects of a single dose of psilocybin, which is found in certain mushrooms. “Our findings shed light on the interplay between pharmacological and extra-pharmacological factors in psychedelic states of mind,” says Vollenweider. “They indicate that mindfulness training enhances…
That is why he’s one of a handful of terminally ill… who are appealing to the… health minister for a special exemption on compassionate grounds that would allow them to use… “magic mushrooms.” “Most people come out of this experience with a more spiritual connection to whatever it is they believe in. For me, that…
A new Danish research study, recently published in the Psychological Medicine journal, found that cannabis can reduce the risk of digestive disorders and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) among individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia. The researchers found that patients with schizophrenia were more likely to develop digestive organ disorders, including IBD and gut-brain interaction disorders like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)…
As a correctional officer at a notoriously violent prison in northern Alabama, he spends 40 hours a week — on shifts as long as 16 hours — locked inside with 1,500 inmates. The facility he works at is among the most overcrowded and understaffed in the country. He describes a lawless parallel universe where murders…
Although taking psilocybin in a clinical trial context is a bit different than taking mushrooms at home or out in nature, the insight psychedelic experiences provide, including the lasting motivation to prevent relapse, is a major reason folks in recovery are turning to psychedelics. The recovery community is huge and diverse, but the thing most…
…two major contributors to the mental health epidemic are staring us in the face: wealth and health inequality… [which] perpetuate traumas that frequently manifest in treatment-resistant mental illnesses. In this context, the story that psychedelic medicalization will revolutionize mental health in the absence of socioeconomic change is nothing more than a persistent hallucination… if we…
