If you’re heading into Valentine’s Day in a rocky relationship, you’ll want to keep reading to learn how MDMA could bring back your spark. If you’re spending this one alone, we’ll keep you company. Join our new Reddit community to discuss all things psychedelic and connect with the Daily Mushroom Community 🧡
Here’s what’s in store for you in today’s issue:
🍄 How MDMA saved a marriage
🍄 Detoxing with Indigenous wisdom
🍄 Why ketamine eases depression
🍄 And more.
In this episode of the Daily Mushroom Podcast, we have the wonderful Holly Bennett, Communications Director at TheraPsil. Holly dives into how she got started in a rewarding career with psychedelics. She gives us an inside look into how the Section 56 exemption works and some other possible ways Canadians can access psilocybin psychotherapy without it. Holly is very knowledgeable about her field and sheds light on some questions we are sure many people have about Canada’s Special Access Program.
Our brains are constantly making predictions about the world around us based on learned associations – if we hear sirens, we expect to see an ambulance.
A recent study by University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers found that ketamine blocks the chemical signals that allow us to make predictions.
Why is this beneficial?
Many disorders are rooted in poor predictions. For instance, patients with depression often predict that the worst case scenario is bound to happen.
“Blocking the negative predictions that are prominent in depressed patients could be how ketamine helps,” explains the school’s psychology and neuroscience professor.
A wild DMT trip that blasts you off to a different dimension has potential to be therapeutic, but also very anxiety-inducing.
That’s why Cybin (CYBN) developed a version of the molecule that breaks down slowly in the body. So instead of a 10-minute rocket ride to outer space, patients have a smoother, more pleasant experience with a larger therapeutic window.
The company received a patent for the formulation this week and will study it as a treatment for anxiety disorders in Q3 of this year.
A couple was on the verge of getting divorced until they took MDMA together for the first time.
The wife, Ree, said her husband couldn’t open up to her or deal with conflict, but MDMA helped them see eye-to-eye.
“My husband started sharing with me for the first time all these thoughts and emotions,” Ree said. “It was him without the walls.”
They decided to take MDMA together twice a year and go over a list of issues they want to address. Three years later, their marriage is solid and they can communicate openly without the need for drugs.
Diagnosing and measuring depression is usually very subjective, relying on data from patient questionnaires. This leaves room for bias and makes it difficult to know if a treatment is actually working.
MYND Diagnostics of MYND Life Sciences (MYND) developed a biomarker test that provides objective data to solve this problem. It measures inflammation in the brain, which may be what causes depression.
Seeing evidence of improvement gives patients hope in the treatment process, like showing them the “light at the end of the tunnel” as MYND’s CEO explained on a recent Daily Mushroom Podcast.
The company announced that Monash University will use the biomarker test in a psilocybin study on treatment-resistant depression, which has received $3M in funding from the Australian government.
Universal Ibogaine (IBO) and Osoyoos Indian Band signed an agreement to develop a detox center that combines western science and Indigenous wisdom.
The center will use ibogaine treatments to ease opioid cravings and withdrawal symptoms, followed by Indigenous healing practices as aftercare to “rebuild people in a holistic manner.”
Their flagship detox center will be in Manitoba, Canada with the goal of working with other First Nations to expand across the country, and then globally.
Optimi Health (OPTI) received a Dealer’s License from Health Canada and announced that it will begin cultivating, extracting, and processing “the highest-grade all-natural psilocybin in North America” at its facility in Princeton, British Columbia. The facility can secure up to 1,250kg of psilocybin, a value of roughly $53MM CDN.
Ketamine Media launched Psychedelic Therapy Network, a digital platform that connects psychedelic medicine providers with patients seeking treatment across North America.
Cybin (CYBN) announced Q3 financial results and business highlights including C$63.6 million and a C$17.2 million net loss.
Enveric Biosciences’ (ENBI) stock is 45% off! The share price plummeted this morning after announcing a $10M public offering at 50 cents per share, about 24% below yesterday’s closing price of 66 cents 😬
Ehave, Inc. (EHVVF) acquired Rejuv IV, a company offering at-home ketamine therapy and IV infusions for anything from a hangover to migraines.
The Oregon Health Authority released the first draft of rules for the state’s legal psilocybin program. Only one of 200 species of psilocybin mushrooms will be allowed (psilocybe cubensis, the most popular species) and synthetic psilocybin will be banned. Plus, facilitators will need 120 hours of instruction on psilocybin history, safety, racial justice, and cultural equity. Read more…
