SPRINGFIELD, Ore., Nov. 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Oregon’s Silo Wellness (“Silo”), an early mover in the psychedelic mushroom space is pleased to announce that it is organizing a ketamine-assisted wellness retreat in Oregon under the care of Dr. Matthew Hicks, ND, MS. This will add to the existing psilocybin operations in Jamaica, where Silo currently has mushroom and truffle cultivation, as well as multiple psychedelic retreat offerings. In 2019, the company announced its patent-pending psilocybin nasal spray it developed in Jamaica.
Following the landmark passing of Oregon’s Measure 109 authorizing the Oregon Health Authority to permit licensed service providers to administer psilocybin in therapeutic settings (after a two-year rulemaking development period), Silo has positioned itself with a unique alternative to the brick-and-mortar ketamine clinic, similar to the psychedelic retreats it offers in Jamaica.
“We can take our Jamaica psilocybin retreat protocols and use them in Oregon ketamine retreats and then later in Oregon psilocybin retreats once that program is implemented,” explained Silo Director of Science pharmacologist Parag Bhatt, PhD. “This US-based psychedelic retreat model would allow the addition of psilocybin and other natural psychedelics if and when other states come online, similar to the medical marijuana legalization trajectory that began back in 1995 in California.”
The Oregon ketamine-assisted wellness retreat establishes a United States base to meet the needs of those suffering from emotional, spiritual or psychological pain but unable to make a trip to Jamaica to experience legal psilocybin. A short flight from Seattle and San Francisco, and less than a 2.5-hour drive from Portland, Silo’s first Oregon retreat will allow qualifying participants to experience Ketamine-assisted wellness benefits alongside nature. “While ketamine clinics are a convenient and necessary choice for many, psychedelic-enhanced therapy depends a lot on mindset and setting,” said Silo medical advisor and AIMS Clinic of Seattle co-founder Sunil Aggarwal, MD, PhD, FAAPMR. “Traditionally, however, the natural setting has been preferred for those experiencing non-ordinary states of consciousness.”
Silo has engaged experienced ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) clinic operators Drs. Aggarwal and Leanna Standish, ND, PhD, LAc, FABNO to help develop the screening, retreat agenda, and protocols, as well as research outcomes.
“We welcome the opportunity to activate on this aspect of our business,” stated Douglas Gordon, Silo’s Chief Executive Officer. “Silo moved early precisely to be in pole position to deliver on these types of experiences and with the passing of the bill last week, we are both excited and motivated by the opportunity to help patients and validate our business model.”
Oregon Attorney Mike Arnold, founder of Silo Wellness, stated, “We are very excited about the opportunity that Oregon, being the first state to legalize psychedelic mushrooms, presents Silo. Given our experience cultivating and harvested psychedelic mushrooms in Jamaica and our unique metered-dosing delivery mechanism via our patent-pending psilocybin nasal spray, we feel Silo is poised to be an industry leader, not only in Oregon and Jamaica, but in other jurisdictions that will inevitably follow our state’s lead.”
The agenda will be centered on integration in nature after the ketamine sessions using the natural surroundings with a series of memorable elements, including dropping participants off at their cabins via raft after their whitewater mindfulness excursion. Additionally, the waterfall meditation hikes and the total immersion into all the Pacific Northwest has to offer, makes this a unique opportunity for anyone looking to balance mind, body, and spirit while communing with nature.
The pharmacology and physician team have begun offering initial intake consultations for a January 2021 retreat. The Silo Wellness team is also offering this unique opportunity to Oregon physicians working in the ketamine space. “We are looking forward to collaborating with local practitioners to help share with the world the KAP clinical and retreat models,” stated Dr. Aggarwal. “It’s important that we get the word out that these unique treatment alternatives are now available and legal in the United States, and there’s no better way to train than alongside others immersed in the process.”
Silo is collaborating with Portland, Oregon, ketamine clinic operator Dr. Matthew Hicks, ND, MS. Dr. Hicks brings experience in both ketamine therapy and integrative approaches to mental health care.
Silo Wellness is also pleased to announce the engagement of Dave Kopilak, attorney at law, of Emerge Law Group in Portland, who was the primary drafter of Oregon’s newly passed psilocybin law. “Being a resident of Oregon and practicing law here beginning in 2001, I knew the importance of partnering with the top legal professionals in the psychedelic arena,” Arnold stated. “I am pleased to have been working directly with Dave Kopilak and his team on our Oregon ketamine retreat project and look forward to working with them in preparation for Oregon psilocybin therapy. It is certainly a wonderous time to be collaborating with other Oregonians to shape an industry.”
Silo Wellness is Poised to Enter the Oregon Psilocybin Market
With the passing of the Oregon Measure 109, the company intends to offer psilocybin retreats in Oregon as well as pursue a clinical psilocybin-assisted counseling element with patients using the psilocybin nasal spray prior to sessions through either licensees or through the company’s own branded psilocybin service centers. “When I entered the psilocybin space in 2018, I intended to build a company with strong assets ready for what I saw back then as Oregon’s inevitable legalization,” stated Silo Wellness founder Mike Arnold. “With our extensive local Oregon connections, our experience successfully cultivating psychedelic mushrooms in Jamaica since January 2020, our IP portfolio, and now our presence in the psychedelic retreat space in Oregon, we are well positioned to apply for Oregon psilocybin licenses as a company with authentic Oregon roots.”
“While we can’t export our psychedelic mushrooms and truffles from Jamaica, we can export the systems, people, policies, and procedures in order to be turnkey ready in Oregon, the state I have called home for 22 years,” Arnold continued. “We are locked and loaded to meet Silo’s mission to put psychedelics in the hands of people in need as inexpensively and expeditiously as possible. We are blessed to be able refine our psychedelic retreat and cultivation systems in a country a few hundred miles off the coast of the United States and are looking forward to bringing that system to Oregon.”
About Silo Wellness
Silo Wellness is an early mover in the psychedelics and functional mushrooms space. With current operations ongoing in Jamaica for psilocybin cultivation and retreats, the company intends to expand operations and sales to the states and provinces when and if they legalize mushrooms. On August 25, 2020, FlyOverture Equity Inc., operating as Silo Wellness executed an amalgamation agreement with Yukoterre Resources, Inc. (CSE:YT), a company listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange for a go-public transaction via a reverse take-over.
About AIMS Institute
The Advanced Integrative Medical Science Institute, PLLC, of Washington (“AIMS”) (www.aimsinstitute.net) is a leader and early mover in the ketamine-assisted psychotherapy clinic space. Co-founder Dr. Leanna Standish, ND, PhD, LAc, FABNO, is a neuroscientist and naturopathic physician who holds faculty appointments at the University of Washington School of Medicine in the Radiology Department as well as at Bastyr University. She specializes in integrative oncology and neurology. She leads cancer research teams and holds an FDA IND for a phase I clinical trial of ayahuasca, a psychoactive Amazonian tea. Co-founder Dr. Sunil Aggarwal, MD, PhD, FAAPMR is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, an Affiliate Assistant Professor of Geography at UW, and a Faculty Member of the National Family Medicine Residency. Dr. Aggarwal is also an Associate Member of the New York Academy of Medicine and the Humboldt Institute for Interdisciplinary Marijuana Research. He is also currently an Associate Medical Director of MultiCare Hospice. He serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of the National Cancer Institute’s PDQ Cancer CAM information summary on cannabis and cannabinoids. He has published dozens of peer-reviewed articles and chapters and has been qualified as an expert in cannabis and psilocybin medical and religious use in county, state, and federal courts.
About Dr. Matthew Hicks
Matthew Hicks, ND, MS is a naturopathic physician and holds a degree in integrative medical research. He has published papers on empathy and mindfulness and is completing a certificate in psychedelic therapy and research from the California Institute of Integral Studies. He is the host of the Integrative Psychiatry Review Podcast and founder of Synaptic Integrative Care and Training Institute (https://synaptic.care/) of Portland Oregon, which offers integrative mental health services including ketamine-assisted treatments as well as training on psychedelic therapy. Matthew also happens to be a veteran with a passion for helping other veterans resolve their traumas. He is originally from the Kansas City, Missouri area and attended undergrad at UMKC.
Further Information
For further information, please contact:
Silo Wellness
Mike Arnold, Founder/President
5729 Main St., Suite 148
Springfield, OR 97478
Tel: 541-525-9190
Web: www.SiloWellness.com
Email: press [at symbol] silo wellness [dot com]
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