🫠 This Week in Psychedelics

Welcome to Tricycle Day. We’re the anti-addiction newsletter. The only thing that should give you withdrawal symptoms is a day without our emails. Well, we got your fix today, Cyclists. 🫵

Here’s what we’re covering this week:

• How psychedelics end addictions 🫳

• Opioid money goes to good use 💰

• Policing ethics in psychedelics 👮

• Amazon under attack 🌎

FROM OUR SPONSORS

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RESEARCH

New study explains how psilocybin beats alcohol addiction

Psychedelics can be powerful tools for overcoming addiction. That part’s old news.

But this week in a first-of-its-kind study, we heard straight from the source why psilocybin-assisted therapy is so effective for treating alcohol use disorders.

Researchers checked in with 13 volunteers who’d undergone psilocybin treatment and asked them in-depth questions about their lived experience. From their responses, some clear patterns emerged.

• 👁️ Self-awareness: Psilocybin therapy made them more reflective. They realized alcohol had been a destructive coping strategy for the stressors in their lives.

• 🫳 Release: They recognized that their old thought patterns had been overly self-critical and often rooted in shame. Psilocybin finally let them process the emotional pain wrapped up in their alcohol use.

• 🫂 Interconnectedness: While alcohol had inhibited their sense of connection to others and themselves, psilocybin did the opposite. They felt supported.

• 🥰 Self-compassion: These insights taught them self-compassion, which made it easier to distance themselves from thoughts and feelings that might have previously driven them to drink.

All in all, the study shows that psychedelics are NOT a silver bullet. Based on these real patients’ own words, psilocybin treatment works best with psychotherapy and a heavy dose of these other pills.

MICRODOSES

🍄 All natural: Filament Health reported interim safety results from the Phase I clinical trial of their 3 botanical psilocybin and psilocin drug candidates. The study is the first ever FDA-approved clinical trial of a naturally-derived psychedelic.

💪 Mentally strong: A new study shows that psychedelic use is associated with greater psychological strengths, compared to cannabis and alcohol. Self-transcendent experiences appear to play a role in the positive outcomes.

🥡 You can take it with you: MindBio Therapeutics has received ethics approval for the world’s first Phase 2a take-home LSD microdosing clinical trial for Major Depressive Disorder.

🌿 Hybrid theory: Washington-based cannabis laboratory, CaaMTech, is combining cannabinoids with psilocybin into a single, purified formula in the hopes of treating various physical and mental health conditions.

POLICY

Kentucky commits $42 million to ibogaine research

Kentucky, the state best known for horse races and fried chicken, has a new claim to fame.

This week, state officials earmarked a whopping $42 million for psychedelic research, with a focus on ibogaine as a potential breakthrough treatment for opioid addiction.

$42 mil sounds like a lot. And it is. But it begins to make more sense when you realize that Kentucky got almost a billion dollars last year from pharma companies, as a payout for their role in fueling the opioid epidemic. We call that poetic justice, Cyclists.

The freshly minted Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission will spread the 8-figure sum out over the next 6 years, with an eye toward any partnership or initiative that can drive ibogaine through the FDA approval process.

And for the pharma companies? Kentucky’s just the tip of the iceberg. J&J, who made and marketed the addictive drugs, and their top 3 distributors are on the hook for $26 billion (with a ‘B’) in what amounts to the second-largest multi-state agreement in U.S. history.

So don’t be surprised if you see other states following Kentucky’s lead. 👀

MICRODOSES

🫡 Be all you can be: A newly introduced federal bill would create a $75 million grant program to support clinical trials into several psychedelics for active-duty military service members suffering from PTSD, traumatic brain injury, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

✨ Working like a charm: A Nevada bill that would create a Psychedelic Medicines Working Group has been approved through the Senate and now an Assembly committee. Next, it heads to the Assembly floor.

🤝 Psychedelic-industrial complex: Prominent DC lobbying firms are beginning to advocate for loosening restrictions on psychedelics. Most recently, The Daschle Group registered to lobby for the Breakthrough Therapies Act.

BUSINESS

Beckley Waves establishes a psychedelic ethics council

When things are moving a mile a minute, sometimes you gotta pump the breaks for everyone’s safety.

That must have been the thinking behind a new Ethics Council, formed this week to help guide industry standards across the psychedelics sector.

The group is particularly concerned with how psychedelic companies can balance the pressure to grow with the need for sustainability, equitable access, indigenous reciprocity, and ethical IP strategies.

So far, the roll call is a real who’s who of the psychedelics industry.

• Amanda Fielding, the Economist-dubbed “Queen of Psychedelics” and matriarch of the Beckley ecosystem

• Rick Doblin, founder and chairman of MAPS

• Paul Stamets, legendary mycologist, author, and entrepreneur

• Pamela Krsykow, physician and co-founder of MycoMedica Life Sciences

• Sean Ono Lennon, musical son of John and Yoko

Naturally, all the Beckleys are represented, too. We got figureheads from Beckley Foundation (the OG non-profit research org), Beckley Waves (their investment arm), Beckley Retreats (the retreats branch), and Beckley Psytech (the pharma company) all in the mix. And many of them share a last name.

While their intentions are (hopefully) in good faith, the Fielding-Mellen family’s dominance on the new council does raise questions about who should have a seat at the table.

FWIW, they’ve promised to add new members as the council’s agenda and scope develop. Let us know when you need a meme czar, Amanda. 😏

MICRODOSES

💧Liquidation sale: Cybin has entered an agreement with Lincoln Park Capital, which gives Cybin the right to sell them up to $30 million worth of common shares over the next 3 years.

🤫 A private matter: MPM BioImpact will acquire Reunion Neuroscience, a publicly traded clinical-state psychedelics company, for $13.1 million. The take-private deal, if approved by shareholders, will pay out $1.12 in cash per share.

🐴 Beating a dead horse: FCM Holdings can’t stop, won’t stop with critiques of MindMed’s management. Their latest open letter to shareholders invokes the likely approval of MDMA by 2024 to stress the urgency for a healthier balance sheet.

Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World — Fancy yourself a fungi forager, do ya? Then you need the quintessential mushroom ID manual from every psychonaut’s favorite mycologist, Paul Stamets. The field guide includes detailed descriptions and color photos of more than 100 species of psilocybin mushrooms.

First Annual BIPOC Psychedelic Conference — Broaden your perspective by hearing from underrepresented voices in psychedelics. The full-day, online event on Saturday, June 17 features keynotes and panels from BIPOC speakers on topics ranging from visibility to biochemistry to living a life of ceremony. Tickets are available on a sliding-scale beginning at $10.

Petition to Protect the Amazon Rainforest — Brazil just passed a bill that would open the door to widespread deforestation in the Amazon, threatening an ecosystem that sustains our planet. The Supreme Court rules on the bill’s legality today, June 7. Sign and share this petition to uphold protections on the rainforest, the indigenous people who inhabit it, and the ancient wisdom (including plant medicine traditions) they keep.

That’s all for today. Before you head off, don’t forget to share, rate, and review Tricycle Day below. Catch ya next time, Cyclists! ✌️

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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.