Minnesota introduces psilocybin decriminalization bill, and wide-ranging Florida bill would ban psilocybin mushroom spores and mycelia; One dose of psilocybin equivalent to placebo in decreasing alcoh
Plus: Veterans’ attitudes about psychedelics, and the future of psychedelic therapy access in Europe
Happy Friday and welcome back to The Microdose, an independent journalism newsletter brought to you by the U.C. Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics.
Minnesota introduces psilocybin decriminalization bill, and wide-ranging Florida bill would ban psilocybin mushroom spores and mycelia
On Monday, Minnesota legislators introduced HF 2699, which would allow people over the age of 21 to lawfully cultivate, possess, transport, gift, or use psilocybin mushrooms. It also prevents employers and landlords from penalizing people who use the substance, and establishes a Psychedelic Medicine Board that would determine possession limits for psilocybin and “recommend laws and policies to ensure the safe and appropriate use of psilocybin in the state.”
Also on Monday, Florida’s House Criminal Justice Subcommittee passed House Bill 651. The bill proposes a set of sweeping amendments to Florida state law, touching on everything from banning fluoride in local water supplies to creating misdemeanors related to drone use on agricultural land and for mail theft. It also makes the sale, transport, furnishing, or giving away of “spores or mycelium capable of producing mushrooms or other material which will contain a controlled substance” a first degree misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1000 fine.
One dose of psilocybin equivalent to placebo in decreasing alcohol use
A recent Swiss study suggests that a 25mg dose of psilocybin paired with therapy may not be an effective treatment for alcohol use disorder. The research, published in eClinicalMedicine, found that participants who received psilocybin in addition to 5.5 hours of therapy did not show better outcomes than those who were given a placebo and therapy. During follow-up sessions 4 weeks and 6 months after their psilocybin dosing session, the two groups reported similar rates of abstinence, average alcohol use, and number of days they drank heavily. However, while both groups reported a decrease in alcohol craving after treatment, those in the psilocybin group reported a larger decrease.
The researchers suggest that perhaps more intensive psychedelic-assisted therapy would be needed to decrease participants’ alcohol use. “This could involve repeated dosing sessions, longer-term follow-up psychotherapeutic sessions, or pairing psychedelic-assisted therapy with additional training such as neurofeedback or virtual reality,” they write.
New leadership and drastic cuts at the FDA and NIH
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Martin Makary as commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and Jay Bhattacharya as the director of the National Institutes of Health. Both will report to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of U.S. Health and Human Services, and could play roles in any future federal psychedelics developments. Makary has been a vocal critic of the FDA, the agency he now leads, and President Trump promised he will “course-correct and refocus”; Bhattacharya has indicated some interest in psychedelics. RFK Jr. has spoken positively about psychedelic use; this week, he also announced the elimination of 10,000 full-time positions, which includes 3,500 FDA employees and 1,200 at the NIH.
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Veterans’ attitudes about psychedelics
Veterans’ groups have led the push in making psychedelics a bipartisan issue, and with U.S. Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense investing in psychedelics studies for military veterans, veterans could soon have more opportunities to access psychedelic-assisted therapy. But what do veterans think of psychedelics? A new study published in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs probes veterans’ attitudes about psychedelics.
Researchers affiliated with the National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans, Yale University, and Trinity University in San Antonio analyzed data from over 1000 veterans who filled out the 2023 National Veteran Homeless and Other Poverty Experiences survey, which included questions about their demographic information, health issues, and attitudes towards psychedelics.
Overall, just 59 of the total 1031 participants, or about 6%, reported having used psychedelics for therapeutic reasons, and 233 (23%) said they believed psychedelics should be legalized for therapeutic reasons. Veterans who had a history of mental health or addiction issues or a history of homelessness or incarceration were more likely to endorse the use of psychedelics for therapeutic reasons. Just under 500 of the total 1000 participants replied to an open-ended question asking about their psychedelics use and attitudes; the majority (73%) of those respondents said they had no experience or attitudes towards the substances, but 5.6% reported positive attitudes while 11.5% had negative attitudes. “Negative attitudes seemed to largely reflect skepticism and fears about the unknown effects of psychedelics, while positive attitudes seemed to reflect hopefulness in the potential benefits of psychedelics to improve mental health beyond current available treatments,” the authors write, concluding that more research is needed to further probe veterans’ attitudes towards psychedelics.
The future of psychedelic therapy access in Europe
Currently, ketamine treatment in Europe can cost between €3,000 and €12,000 ($3,200 and $13,000 USD), and future psychedelic therapies will likely be even more expensive, according to a new report on reimbursement pathways for psychedelic therapies in Europe. The report was published by healthcare consultant Martin Gisby and Floris Wolswijk, founder of the psychedelics analysis site Blossom, and was funded by Norrsken Mind, a psychedelics advocacy non-profit.
Just as the U.S. FDA approves new drugs, the EU’s European Medicines Agency (EMA) is responsible for reviewing applications for drugs, including psychedelics, but the EU’s 27 countries each have their own policies for reimbursing medical care. The report reviews reimbursement processes in Germany, the Netherlands, the UK (no longer a part of the EU, but nonetheless a major European player), and the Czech Republic. All four countries use varying criteria to demonstrate evidence to show clinical effectiveness of the drugs, and have different mechanisms for pricing the drugs, as well as ensuring that national healthcare systems or private insurers cover therapies. The report also delves into challenges and barriers to having EU healthcare systems reimburse psychedelic therapies, including shortcomings of clinical trial designs, regulatory and policy barriers, and variability from country to country in how health economists evaluate the potential benefits of psychedelic therapies.
A recent New York Times piece profiling longevity figure and founder of the religion “Don’t Die” Bryan Johnson discusses his interest in psychedelics. Johnson is also the founder of brain imaging company Kernel, which initially had a deal with the psychedelics company Cybin to collaborate on a study to measure brain activity during psychedelics experiences. (Johnson stepped down from the company in 2023.)
The Southern District of California’s U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that three adults were indicted for recruiting a 9 and an 11 year old to harvest psilocybin mushrooms. One of the minors then allegedly sold “a psilocybin capsule” to a friend at his middle school.
NPR’s It’s Been A Minute probes why CEOs and people from the tech industry have been increasingly drawn to psychedelics.
The Atlantic reviews Playboi Carti’s new album, Music, calling Carti “a rapper for the ketamine era.” Music references MDMA as well as ketamine. “Drug-inspired music can be tedious music, like listening to someone describe their own dream, but Carti’s substance obsession is central to his project,” Spencer Kornhaber writes. “This is music about, and that conveys, being high all the time.”
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