Here’s what’s in store for you in today’s issue:
🍄 Microdosing at work
🍄 Free LSD!
🍄 Why ketamine reduces depression so quickly
🍄 Women-focused psilocybin study for depression
🍄 And more.
Shane Health, CEO of the functional mushroom company MUD\WTR, made an open statement allowing employees to microdose at work.
He estimates that about 20% of employees microdose on the job, including himself and senior designer Ryan Rosenthal.
“It’s really good as a designer because we’re really trying to think about the psychology of who’s visiting our platform, and so you can really tap into that and become more empathetic,” Rosenthal explains.
Pro tip: if you accidentally take a bit too much, “it’s nothing that a quick walk and a coconut water can’t fix.”
MUD\WTR had no current job openings in case you were about to check 😉
For qualified researchers only… sorry to get your hopes up.
Ceruvia Lifesciences, a private Connecticut-based company, produced the world’s first LSD that meets the FDA’s strict manufacturing standards.
Now, the company is offering the drug to researchers at no cost to increase our knowledge of its potential medical benefits.
Ceruvia has also developed a non-hallucinogenic analog of LSD to target cluster headaches, migraines, and addiction.
Several studies have found that ketamine produces a rapid antidepressant effect, reducing suicidal ideation in just hours.
A new study from Northwestern University sheds light on why the benefits are so instantaneous.
Traditional antidepressants work by increasing the number of neurons in the brain, which can take several weeks.
Ketamine, on the other hand, was found to increase activity in newborn neurons, which then activates other cells in the hippocampus.
“This small population of cells acts like a match, starting a fire that ignites a bunch of activity in a lot of other cells that produce the behavioral effects,” says lead study author Dr. John Kessler.
“That’s important because when you give ketamine to patients now, it affects multiple regions of the brain and causes a lot of adverse side effects. But since we now know exactly which cells we want to target, we can design drugs to focus only on those cells.”
Women are nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression than men, but they’re often underrepresented in clinical trials.
Additionally, individuals with chronic illnesses like HIV often suffer from depression as well, which can make them less likely to adhere to their medications.
That’s why Cannsun Medicinal Global is investigating psilocybin as a treatment for depression in women who are HIV-positive.
The phase 2 trial received approval and will begin next month in South Africa.
“It is vitally important to have a deeper understanding of how women respond to medical treatment for major depression versus men in order to develop psychedelic therapies and treatment protocols for women that have clinically significant outcomes that are safe and effective,” says Donaghue Woodman, the company’s Head of R&D and Chief Medical Information Officer.
Cybin (CYBN) is acquiring Entheon Biomedical’s (ENBI) phase 1 trial on the safety of DMT in healthy volunteers who smoke tobacco. The acquisiton will speed up the development of Cybin’s DMT-based treatment for anxiety by 9 months.
Havn Life Sciences (HAVN) is supplying Green Stripe Naturals with psilocybin mushrooms to distribute at its cannabis dispensaries across Jamaica with potential of expanding into other Caribbean islands.
Nirvana Life Sciences (NIRV) found that psilocybin reduced reinstatement of heroin-seeking behaviour in a preclinical study in rats.
Optimi Health (OPTI) secured yet another psilocybin supply agreement, this time with ATMA Journey Centers, a psychedelic therapist training center in Calgary.
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