This Week In Psychedelics: The patent race, therapy abuse, psilocybin in the UK, ketamine music, and more

Welcome! Thanks for joining us here at The Microdose. This is the first of our weekly Friday roundups designed to help you stay up to date on what’s happened in the world of psychedelics this week. Let’s get into it:

The patent race continues. According to Psilocybin Alpha’s patent tracker, there have been several dozen psychedelic patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and another three dozen filed — that we know of. (Patent applications don’t become public for 18 months, though some companies announce them publicly before then.) Compass Pathways, a Nasdaq-listed mental healthcare company conducting clinical trials using psilocybin to treat depression, was recently awarded their fourth patent for “Form A hydrate,” a synthetic psilocybin. In an interview with STAT, Harvard Law School’s Mason Marks breaks down what he sees as the company’s strategy: “Like a landlord would want to expand and buy more properties, they’re trying to lock up as much IP as they can to solidify their position in the market.” Compass’s president responded that he’s “confident in our IP strategy” and that the company’s filings are “novel and inventive.” 

An open letter addressing therapy abuse. Over the last few weeks, multiple people have come forward with allegations of abuse they experienced in the course of psychedelic therapy. The alleged abuse occurred during sessions with practitioners offering “underground” treatment — that is, treatment administered outside of established research institutions’ clinical trials, where enrollment is limited. While abuse can occur during any type of therapy, patients undergoing psychedelic treatment may be particularly vulnerable as they navigate sessions in an altered state — and unlike victims of non-psychedelic therapy abuse, people who have experienced psychedelic therapy abuse are not always able to report these underground practitioners to state licensing boards. Practitioners, researchers, and other members of the psychedelics community are grappling with this issue and trying to establish ethical standards for the field.

This week, an open letter published on Medium and signed by dozens of people in the psychedelic community, reasserted the importance of addressing the issue of therapy abuse. (The letter was originally published by the Chacruna Institute.) The letter stresses the importance of acknowledging the allegations and taking them seriously, and suggests four steps that might serve as “guideposts for preventing and navigating events of harm and abuse within our communities.”

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Will the UK reclassify psilocybin? In the UK, psilocybin is classified as a “Class A” or Schedule I drug, one that has no medical use. According to a new study published in the journal Drug Science, Policy and Law, psilocybin and other psychedelic drugs’ classification is a roadblock for research. Through interviews with researchers conducting studies with other controlled drugs like opioids, the authors find that despite recent evidence that psychedelics can help treat mental health disorders, “practical, financial, and bureaucratic barriers” have prevented large-scale clinical trials. They say their results suggest that the UK government should commission an “urgent review” of the challenges scientists face, and consider relaxing regulations to remove barriers to research.

Meanwhile, the BBC reported that according to Crispin Blunt, a member of parliament, prime minister Boris Johnson “had privately given [Blunt] an assurance in May this year that he was committed to rescheduling psilocybin for clinical research.” The timeline for this change is not yet clear — but if it does take effect, it could signal a new chapter for UK biosciences and psychedelic research. 

Tunes for your trip. In traditional ceremonies, music has often been a part of the psychedelic experience. Now that those experiences are taking place in labs and clinics, researchers are giving careful thought to what participants are listening to during their sessions. As one DJ put it, the right music creates a “safe container” for therapy. A recent piece in The Guardian highlights the companies and musicians working to create soothing sounds for the psychedelic experience. One such musician is Jon Hopkins, whose forthcoming new album is timed to coincide with the length of a typical ketamine trip. Listen here to “Sit Around the Fire,” a song written and performed by Hopkins, psychedelic artist East Forest, and the late spiritual leader and ‘60s psychedelic icon Ram Dass.

 Plus:

• Next week, voters in Detroit will weigh in on a proposal to decriminalize psychedelic plants for personal possession and therapeutic use. 

• Drugs and Me just launched their new website with resources for harm reduction and healthy drug use.

• To get you into the spirit of Halloween: some historical evidence suggests that witches “flying” on broomsticks were actually tripping on hallucinogens from ointments they made with hemlock, nightshade, henbane, and mandrake.

You’re all caught up! Have a great weekend, and stay tuned on Monday for our first edition of 5 Questions, our weekly Q&A with a leader in the psychedelics space.

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