🫠 This Week in Psychedelics

Welcome to Tricycle Day. Yes, we cover psychedelic politics in our newsletter, but you can relax. Our only “special interest” is sending emails you love to read and share. 🤝 

Here’s what we got this week.

• Psychedelics for special ops vets 🎖️

• Cali governor just says no ❌

• A bet on group psychedelic therapy 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 

• These shrooms turn you on 🍆

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RESEARCH

Psychedelics heal special ops vets’ brains

Navy SEALs. Army Green Berets. These “special ops” troops are seen as unstoppable forces of nature.

That is, until the intense trauma of military service runs them ragged, and they become shells of their former selves. Enough blows to the skull will do that to ya.

But this week, a new study showed that the damage may be reversible with a potent psychedelic combo. Ohio State researchers found that special ops vets who took ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT saw marked improvements in PTSD symptoms.

That much was expected. But what surprised even the scientists? The psychedelic therapy also improved their cognition, which had been impaired from repeated traumatic brain injury (TBI).

The 86 veterans who participated in the open-label study saw improvements in 3 main areas.

• ❤️‍🩹 Mental health: They reported reduced depression, anxiety, insomnia, and anger. They also noted a greater satisfaction with life.

• 🧠 Cognitive functioning: They saw improvements in post-concussive symptoms and disability.

• 💪 Psychological flexibility: They developed the capacity to act in alignment with their values, regardless of internal or external experiences.

Since these outcomes were self-reported, it’s worth mentioning they weren’t tripping when they filled out the survey. The benefits were sustained for up to 6 months after the fact.

That doesn’t mean there weren’t downsides, though. 17% of the vets called the back-to-back psychedelic journeys the most difficult experience of their life.

And that’s saying something for a group that considers “drownproofing” on 4 hours of sleep a sane and normal part of training.

MICRODOSES

👁️ Opening the mind’s eye: Case reports suggest psychedelics might reverse aphantasia, or the inability to visualize images in your head.

👃 A new standard of care: In a head-to-head study, esketamine (Spravato) beat out quetiapine (Seroquel) in relieving treatment-resistant depression.

👽 That wasn’t a Listerine strip: atai Life Sciences has wrapped its Phase 1 study of VLS-01, an oral transmucosal film formulation of DMT.

👯 It takes two to tango: Sunstone Therapies is studying the effectiveness of MDMA-assisted therapy in “dyads” (or pairs) of cancer patients and their significant others.

🤨 Put on your tinfoil hats: Research confirms a link between psychedelic use and non-conformist thinking, including a tendency to believe conspiracy theories.

📣 Your voice matters: UMich is collecting anonymous survey responses to help shape the future of psychedelic research and policy.

POLICY

California comes *this* close to decriminalization

Woot, woot! The governor of California signed the psychedelics bill! 🙌 Oh wait… No, no, no. That’s the wrong one. 😭

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that’ll allow docs to immediately start prescribing psilocybin and MDMA as soon as those substances are federally rescheduled.

It’s a nice gesture and all, but Assembly Bill 1021 is kind of a nothingburger. Once the FDA approves a Schedule 1 drug, the DEA is required to reclassify it. Then, states generally sync up with the DEA anyway.

So when Newsom signed AB-1021, policy nerds saw the writing on the wall. And alas, they were right. On Saturday, he vetoed the big-deal bill, which would have decriminalized the possession and use of several psychedelic plants and fungi.

Newsom made it clear why he shut down Senate Bill 58.

• ✅ He believes in psychedelics. He’s acknowledged on record that they have “profound” healing potential.

• ❌ But he wants them regulated as medicine. He says California should set up therapeutic guidelines before opening the floodgates.

We can’t always bring you good news, folks. Don’t shoot the messenger.

But as a wise baseball player once said, it ain’t over till it’s over. Senator Scott Wiener, who sponsored SB-58, promised to take another crack at legislation next year. Third time’s a charm? 🤞

MICRODOSES

🚪 Enter through the side door: Meanwhile, TREAT California, an ambitious ballot initiative taking a different approach to psychedelic policy reform, has started collecting signatures.

🌳 Nature is healing: Advocates from Humboldt County, California have convinced the Eureka City Council to consider decriminalizing entheogens at their next session.

🤝 Handshake deal: The Kentucky attorney general pushing for state-funded ibogaine research may have ties to corporate profiteers.

🏛️ Law and order: A judge has dismissed a case against the Canadian health minister, filed by 73 parties who’d been denied access to psilocybin for training purposes. Now the plaintiffs are trying to overturn the decision.

BUSINESS

Numinus takes a swing at group psychedelic therapy

Ketamine clinics are a dime a dozen these days. At this rate, the psychedelic therapist’s office might supplant Starbucks as millennials’ go-to “third place.”

So when a psychedelic therapy business is innovating outside the cookie-cutter process, we pay close attention.

This week, Numinus introduced a new program for people dealing with the mental distress associated with serious and chronic illness.

It’s made up of four components, two of which are already complete.

• ☑️ A group psilocybin pilot study: In a small trial, depressed cancer patients received psilocybin-assisted therapy in groups of 4 at a time. It worked, and it was safe, even with significant reductions in cost.

• ☑️ A group ketamine pilot project: Numinus also ran an internal group ketamine-assisted therapy pilot for people with chronic and serious illnesses. Again, the treatments were successful in a group setting.

• 🔲 Another (larger) group psilocybin study: Now, they’re ready to take bigger swings. Their next study will reduce the therapist-to-patient ratio to test the limits of efficacy and cost-savings.

• 🔲 An end-of-life ketamine study: Numinus is serving as 1 of 5 research sites in an upcoming study on ketamine for people facing end-of-life distress.

One of the major (and in our humble opinion, valid) critiques of psychedelic-assisted therapy is its inaccessibility. So any effort to make these life-saving medicines available to more people at a lower cost is one we can get behind.

MICRODOSES

🇨🇦 Beyond the SAP: The nonprofit trade association PsyCan has released a whitepaper on current and future options for psychedelic access in Canada.

📚 Quiet in the stacks: Enveric Biosciences’ IP portfolio, dubbed the Psybrary™️ , now boasts over 1,000 novel psychedelic-inspired molecules.

🤑 Give me, give me more: Billionaire Steve Cohen has doubled down on his bet on psychedelic medicine with a purchase of 119 million shares of Bionomics.

🎽 Switching teams: Mydecine has delisted from the NEO and is now trading on the Canadian Securities Exchanges.

Daily Sex Gummies — There isn’t much that will make us blush, but SuperMush knows just how to push our buttons. Their newest product blends functional mushrooms with plant-based ingredients (hello, horny goat weed 👋) to deliver a natural boost of vitality, aka life force, aka libido in a delectable bite of strawberry-champagne sexiness. With 0 calories or sugar, it’s getting “hard” to say no, huh? Take 10% off with code TRICYCLE10.

Ritual & Rave — If Los Angeles is out of reach, we apologize in advance for the inevitable FOMO. Our friend (and very early Psychonaut POV contributor) Michelle Lhooq is teaming up with DoubleBlind to produce the can’t-miss psychedelic party of the fall. R&R will take guests through an ambient ceremony of psychoactives, spa treatments, and live music… because who said revelry can’t be rejuvenating? Tickets are on sale now.

Meco App — Tricycle Day getting lost in the chaos of your inbox? May we suggest an alternative? Meco is the sleek, distraction-free newsletter app that liberates your inbox and lets you filter, discover, and bookmark your favorite content in one place. It’s free, easy to set up, and totally reversible if you ever change your mind. Try it out, and let us know what you think.

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.