Banning Black women’s psychedelic Instagram accounts, the DEA’s 2023 psychedelic quotas, and why did fungi evolve psychedelic properties?

Plus: The myth of “ancestral toad medicine,” and psilocybin for IBS?

Happy Friday, and welcome back to The Microdose. 

How did fungi evolve psychedelic properties?

We know psilocybin mushrooms induce psychedelic effects — but why? Scientists are still not sure but one popular theory is that fungi evolve psychedelic properties as a defense mechanism against fungus-eating creatures. In a press release, researchers at the University of Plymouth announced they will begin a series of studies exploring how psychedelic compounds in fungi evolved. They’ll investigate how psilocybin mushrooms affect soil bacteria growth and how the mushrooms change if attacked by insects, and they’ll use DNA sequencing to study what animals eat psilocybin mushrooms. 

Black women’s psychedelic accounts banned on Instagram

Women of color are more likely to be harassed on social media, and according to a new piece in Filter, Black women discussing psychedelics on Instagram have been targeted — resulting in some being kicked off the platform altogether. Soma Phoenix and Robin Divine both used Instagram accounts to discuss the intersection of psychedelics and race, and both have amassed thousands of followers. But they’ve also faced pushback from users, who posted hostile comments and mass-reported their accounts, which resulted in Instagram banning them from the platform. As of this writing, their accounts are still banned. 

Instagram’s policies take a hard stance on drugs; according to its community guidelines, the platform prohibits buying, selling, or coordinating trade of non-medical or pharmaceutical drugs. The platform also says it will remove “content that either admits to personal use (unless in the recovery context) or coordinates or promotes the use of non-medical drugs.” In her Filter article, writer Ifetayo Harvey — who is also the founder of the People of Color Psychedelic Collective — points out that there are still many accounts on Instagram openly trying to sell psychedelic drugs. “By failing to justify their policies and enforcing them inconsistently, social media platforms like Instagram reinforce racism and misogyny, perpetuating drug-war propaganda that harms marginalized people,” writes Harvey.

There has never been a more exciting – or bewildering – time in the world of psychedelics. Don’t miss a beat.

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DEA’s 2023 psychedelic quotas

Psychedelics like psilocybin and MDMA are classified as Schedule I drugs in the U.S., which means it’s illegal to possess or manufacture them without special permissions. Still, each year, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) allows amounts of scheduled drugs to be manufactured for research purposes. Yesterday, the DEA released its proposed quotas for 2023.

In an official notice published on the federal register, the DEA suggests manufacturing 3,000 grams of DMT, 8,000 grams of psilocybin, and 8,200 grams of MDMA — the same amounts of each drug it manufactured this year. However, some drug quotas have been increased for 2023; compared with 2022, the DEA would more than double the amount of psilocin, 5-MeO-DMT, and LSD manufactured. The quotas for ibogaine remain steady but small — the DEA called for 30 grams this year, and that will stay the same in 2023.  

The myth of “ancestral toad medicine.”

The popularity of the psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT, found in secretions from the Sonoran Desert toad, has led herpetologists to raise concerns about conservation of the toad and its habitat. While there’s growing interest among researchers and practitioners in synthetic versions of the psychedelic, some guides who host 5-MeO-DMT retreats and ceremonies insist on “milking” the substance directly from toads following “sacred ancient” Indigenous traditions.

In a piece in Points History, a blog published by the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy and the Alcohol & Drugs History Society, human ecologist Anny Ortiz writes that narratives about the ancestral use of Sonoran Desert toad secretions are false. Ortiz, who grew up in Sonora, traces the origins of the myth to a single white researcher who took credit for bringing “toad medicine” back to Sonora’s Seri tribe. (There is little evidence Sonoran Desert toad secretions were used by Indigenous people.) That researcher’s claims have been repeated in documentaries and other media sources, Ortiz writes, and that has created confusion in Mexico about rights to collect toads. “During field work we were also told that some toad secretion collectors are using a forged letter to show to police, allegedly signed by the Seri tribe, in order to justify their collections,” she writes. Based on preliminary toad population data, she says things are “not looking too hopeful” for the species. 

Psilocybin for IBS?

This week, Toronto-based psychedelics company Silo Wellness announced its acquisition of Dyscovry Science, another Toronto-based psychedelics company. Silo will acquire Dyscovry’s science, including research on the “anti-inflammatory effect of psychedelics,” which could be used to treat conditions like irritable bowel syndrome, according to a press release. 

• “Psychedelics can certainly increase openness – but this can be openness to Nazism, eco-fascism or UFO cults as well as to peace and love,” sociologist Ross Ellenhorn and psychedelic practitioner Dimitri Mugianis write in the The Guardian. Citing work from researchers Brian Pace and Neşe Devenot, the authors explain how right-wing figures have come to embrace psychedelics. 

• Leafly reviews the legality of psychedelics in Canada.

• Johns Hopkins announced recruitment for a new study on using psilocybin to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder.

You’re all caught up! Have a great weekend. We’ll be back in your inbox on Monday with a new issue of 5 Questions. 

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