Get your psychedelics south of the border

This is Tricycle Day. We’re your eyes and ears on planet Earth, so you can trip into alternate dimensions without missing a beat. We gotchu. 🤝

Here’s the news from this weekend.

• Lobe Sciences bets psilocin can kill ‘suicide headaches'

• Mexican senator wants to legalize psychedelics nationwide

• Virginia on track to reclassify psilocybin to a lower schedule

Make it stahhhhhhhhhp

Ever had a headache so excruciating you couldn’t do or think about anything else?

Ok yeah, we’ve all had that kind. But we’re talking about something a lot worse.

Cluster headaches, not-so-affectionately known as ‘suicide headaches,' are a rare but severe headache disorder with no current treatment options.

Attacks usually include one-sided pain around the eye, tearing, congestion, and droopy eyelids. They can last up to 3 hours and occur as often as 8 times a day for chronic sufferers. Yikes.

Well, good news for people who don’t like living in constant, all-consuming pain.

Lobe Sciences just inked a deal with headache medicine specialist Dr. Lauren R. Natbony to study the company’s novel psilocin compound L-130 in patients suffering from cluster headaches.

Dr. Natbony seems pretty stoked to offer some relief to these patients without the baggage of natural mushrooms. She says L-130 “appears to be an efficient way of delivering non-psychedelic doses of psilocin with potentially better bioavailability and consistency.”

Consistency is good thing. Except with cluster headaches. We’ll take zero of those, please. 👍️

First Canada, now Mexico?

Look, we’re used to seeing Canada take W’s on progressive psychedelic policy reform.

But Mexico outpacing the United States wasn’t on Tricycle Day’s 2023 bingo card…

Last week, Mexican Senator Alejandra Lagunes announced her plans to introduce a bill to legalize and regulate psychedelics nationwide.

Speaking on the need for an alternative treatment option for mental health conditions, she said psychedelics like psilocybin and ayahuasca have “high therapeutic potential, low toxicity, and don’t create physical dependence or abuse.”

While Mexico is charting a path to national legalization, don’t mind us. We’ll just be celebrating our state-level wins over here.

United States Rep. Earl Blumenauer from Oregon made a point of cheering on the Mexican senator from the sidelines. He said he looks “forward to being [her] American partner” in the push for reform.

Yeah, us too. We’re happy for you, Mexico. Really.

Not so fast, Virginia

It’s been a busy year for Virginia lawmakers already.

Earlier this month, Delegate Dawn Adams submitted a bill that would have allowed people with serious mental health conditions to take psilocybin mushrooms with a doctor’s recommendation.

But the House of Delegates rejected the measure.

Yep, they shot it down harder than your boss the last time you tried to call in sick from work.

But like Yogi Berra said, “it ain’t over til it’s over.”

This week, Virginia senators approved a bill in committee to set up a statewide psilocybin advisory board and reclassify the psychedelic from Schedule I to Schedule III under state law.

• Schedule I — possession is a class 5 felony, carries up to 10 years in prison

• Schedule III — possession is a class 1 misdemeanor, carries max 1 year in prison

It’s not legalization, but it’s something. Baby steps.

And under the bill, the Virginia Psilocybin Advisory Board would be tasked with reviewing “scientific studies and research on the safety and efficacy of psilocybin in treating mental health conditions and on the requirements, specifications, and guidelines for providing psilocybin services in Virginia.”

Seems like Senator Ghazala Hashmi, who wrote the bill, is playing the long game.

She’s hoping if she leads a horse to water, it just might take a drink.

Microdoses

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That's all for today! If you're picking up what we're putting down, share this newsletter with all your friends. New subscribers make us trip! 😵‍💫

DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. The use, possession, and distribution of psychedelic drugs are illegal in most countries and may result in criminal prosecution.