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Ketamine for corporate wellness

Numinus Pilots Mental Health Program for Corporate Clients in Utah

With companies investing more and more money in their employees’ mental health, psychedelic therapy could soon be included in your benefits package.

In 2019, the CBD company HempLucid partnered with Numinus Wellness (NUMI) to offer ketamine-assisted therapy to its staff members. The results were so positive that Numinus is planning to expand the corporate ketamine services to all of its 13 clinics in North America.

“It’s been revolutionary to how we operate as a business,” says HempLucid’s Founder and CEO Chase Hudson. “Offering ketamine treatments to our employees has shown incredible benefits for healing, positivity, and productivity in the work environment.

If anyone manages to negotiate ketamine therapy into their benefits package, please let us know

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What machine learning tells us about microdosing

Natural language signatures of psilocybin microdosing

The benefits of microdosing can be so subtle that they’re hard to measure in clinical settings, which is why this study turned to machine learning and natural language processing.

Essentially, patients were asked a series of subjective questions following psilocybin microdoses or placebo doses, and the interviews were analyzed with AI.

The key takeaways?

  1. A “sentiment analysis” measured the connotation of each word as positive, negative, or neutral. Sentiment scores increased while microdosing, suggesting that psilocybin has a positive effect on mood and subjective well-being.
  2. Verbosity (length of responses in number of words) increased for all questions when microdosing, which may reflect increased enthusiasm, motivation, and energy.
  3. Semantic variability (how much the meaning of consecutive words changed) was not affected by microdosing. This implies that microdosing does not lead to incoherent speech and might not enhance creativity like many believe. 

It’s important to note that the microdose were fairly large – 500 mg of dried mushrooms. It would be interesting to see how a 100 or 200 mg dose compares.

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MAPS under fire for alleged investigator misconduct

MDMA trials under review in Canada over alleged abuse of study participants

Health Canada is reviewing all previously approved MDMA trial applications after a former trial participant came forward with sexual assault allegations.

Footage from MAPS’ PTSD trial in 2015 shows patient Meaghan Buisson being physically restrained and spooned by two therapists (one of them unlicensed) during an MDMA therapy session.

The session was recorded to ensure that therapists were following treatment protocols, but the footage wasn’t actually reviewed for 6 years. MAPS is finally looking into recordings from all past patients.

“I just want people to realize, this is not against MDMA. This is not against psychedelics,” Meaghan ensures.

“I’m just saying that if this drug is going to be legalized and medicalized in this way, then there is a certain degree of safety and fiduciary responsibility and credibility that goes into being part of the medical system — and especially with vulnerable subjects.”

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How to Change Your Mind comes to Netflix!

How to Change Your Mind | Official Trailer | Netflix

The most famous book on psychedelics becoming a Netflix series this July 12th.

If you haven’t read Michael Pollan’s best-selling book How to Change Your Mind, you’re missing out. The book provides one of the most comprehensive summaries on the history and future of psychedelic research, covering so many fascinating details that we could never fit in this 5-minute newsletter.

Now, the book is being transformed into a 4 part docu-series on the healing potential of LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, and mescaline. The 

The psychedelics sector gained a ton of traction after the documentary Fantastic Fungi was released — we can only imagine the positive impact this series will have!

Watch the official trailer

Buy the book

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Are functional mushrooms superior to psychedelic mushrooms?

Jake Plummer Is Sold on Functional Mushrooms

“We believe that functional mushrooms have as much, if not more, potential to help humanity than psilocybin, and that’s coming from me, who is dedicating my life to advancing psilocybin mushrooms and psychedelics as a whole,” says Del Jolly, co-founder of the psychedelic research non-profit Unlimited Sciences.

That’s why he recently co-founded a functional mushroom company called Umbo alongside pro athletes Jake Plummer and Rashad Evans.

Plummer, former Denver Broncos quarterback, says he’s found a lot of healing through mushrooms, using them to counteract the harm that football injuries can have on the brain. He’s also noticed that his allergies symptoms and quality of sleep have improved since introducing functional mushrooms to his diet.

You can explore Umbo’s functional mushroom snack bars and capsules here or become an early investor in the company here.

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Wtf is wood lovers paralysis?

What is wood lovers paralysis?

While psychedelic research is rapidly advancing, there’s still a lot we don’t know.

For instance, there’s little research on a rare but scary side effect of magic mushrooms called wood lovers paralysis – a condition causing muscle weakness or paralysis for several hours.

The phenomenon only seems to occur after ingesting mushroom species that grow on wood like Psilocybe azurescens, Psilocybe cyanescens, and Psilocybe subaeruginosa.

Luckily, companies like Lexston Life Sciences (LEXT) and CaaMTech are beginning to study the genetic makeup of various mushroom species to better understand what causes the condition.

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Children took ayahuasca in ancient Incan ritual

Ritual drug use during Inca human sacrifices on Ampato mountain (Peru): Results of a toxicological analysis

A new study suggests that children in the Incan empire took psychedelics to ease stress before being sacrificed.

Archaeologists discovered the 500 year old remains of two Incan children who were sacrificed as part of a ritual called capacocha.

Capacocha was a common ceremony performed to appease the gods for a variety of purposes, such as to prevent natural disasters.

Toxicology samples revealed that the children, who were around the age of 6, consumed coca leaf and ayahuasca in the final weeks of their lives.

According to the study authors, “the Incas may have consciously used the antidepressant properties of (ayahuasca) to reduce the anxiety and depressive states of the victims.”

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1 psilocybin therapy session = 12 months of therapy alone

Tryp Therapeutics Announces Results of First Patient Dosed in Its Phase II Clinical Trial for the Treatment of Binge Eating Disorder

Tryp Therapeutics (TRYP) and University of Florida initiated the first-ever psilocybin therapy study on binge eating disorder, and the results are already showing promise.

Just 4 weeks after receiving Tryp’s psilocybin formulation, TRP-8802, the first patient experienced:

  • Reduced overall anxiety
  • Reduced anxiety around food
  • Reduced compulsion to overeat
  • Improved self-image and confidence 
  • Significant weight loss

“We believe that the improvements witnessed in this patient following a single intervention with TRP-8802 in combination with tailored psychotherapy are on par with what might be possible in 12 months of extensive psychotherapy alone,” says Tryp’s Interim CEO and Chief Scientific Officer Jim Gilligan.

Researchers will follow up with the patient again in 8 weeks to see if the benefits are sustained. Up to 9 more patients will participate in the study as well.

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