Results are in: Can DMT eliminate depression?

You’re reading Tricycle Day. We’re the MDMA of newsletters — you consume us, and we flood your brain with happy hormones. 🫠

Here’s what we’ve got today.

• Just one dose of intravenous DMT significantly improves depression

• Massachusetts one-two punch would decriminalize plant medicine

When antidepressants don’t work, mainlining DMT might

Results are in from a study on DMT for major depressive disorder. And they might just turn that frown upside down. 🙁👉️🙃

Small Pharma, a biotech company developing short-duration psychedelics for mental health, just posted the findings from their Phase 2a clinical trial of SPL026, an intravenous formulation of DMT.

Yep, we’re talking about tapping a vein and pumping deemsters straight into the bloodstream. 😳

That might sound crazy, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide. An estimated 280 million people globally suffer from Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), and for many of them, current treatments have failed.

Soon they could have an alternative.

Small Pharma’s study showed that an IV infusion of DMT, followed by a 20-30 minute trip and integration therapy, led to rapid and long-lasting relief.

For credibility, the study was blinded and placebo controlled. Now, we know what you’re thinking…

Wouldn’t you be able to tell if you blasted off on DMT?

And therein lies the challenge with clinical trial design for psychedelics.

They handled it by splitting the study into two stages.

1. A blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled stage 🙈 — Researchers compared the effectiveness of a single dose of SPL026 and supportive therapy versus placebo with therapy, two weeks after the dose. Only half the participants got DMT, but the doctors evaluating them didn’t know who.

2. An open-label stage 👀 — All 34 received a single dose of SPL026 with supportive therapy and were monitored for another 12 weeks. For the group who got DMT the first time, this was their second dose.

And the results?

Not only did the SPL026 group see a statistically significant and clinically relevant reduction in depressive symptoms in just two weeks…

At the end of 12 weeks, the antidepressant effects hadn’t worn off. They call that “durability” in the biz.

There was no effective difference between the single and double-dose regimen, either, which means you’ll only have to visit Machine Elf M.D.’s Cosmic Psychiatry Office once.

“An Act relative to plant medicine”

No, that’s not the next musical taking Broadway by storm.

It’s the shared name of two bills currently in motion in Massachusetts — one in the House and one in the Senate — to decriminalize psychedelic plants throughout the state.

It’s a pretty sweeping piece of legislation, too.

If they pass, the bills will end all arrests for “the possession, ingestion, obtaining, growing, giving away without final gain to natural persons 18 years of age or older, and transportation of no more than two grams of psilocybin, psilocin, dimethyltryptamine, ibogaine, and mescaline.”

Basically, as long as you’re not selling, you’ve got more options than an Indian lunch buffet.

Supporters argue that the proposed policy reform would destigmatize conversations and help advance the research into the potential of these medicines.

Perfect timing, if you ask us.

Because Tryp Therapeutics just signed a letter of intent with the Massachusetts General Hospital to run a clinical trial on psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Pairs well with that Indian buffet. 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Microdoses

Who coined the term 'psychedelic’?

Proposed Breakthrough Therapies Act could make psychedelics more accessible, but experts advise caution.

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.