Labor Day Psychedelic News Recap

Labor Day weekend – the end of summer and beginning of fall. Which means activities are ramping up across the board. Schools are back in session; football season is here just as the Olympics end and baseball heads to the playoffs; I’m sure something happened in the realm of TV and movies that someone can fill me in on. (Is Labor Day a big movie weekend? Is there such thing as a “big movie weekend” anymore, or am I getting worse and worse at showing my age?)

Point being – this time of year, it’s easy to miss news that you care about. Which is why I’m rounding up three recent stories on psychedelics and providing quick recaps you can read on your next short break before moving on to whatever your next fall activity holds.

Story 1:

“Colorado solidifies regulations for psychedelic mushroom growers, manufacturers and therapy centers”

The Colorado Department of Revenue finalized regulations for psychedelic-assisted therapy (“healing centers”), growing mushrooms and manufacturing psilocybin, and drug testing labs.

Here are some quick-hitting notes you should know:

• Colorado will allow multiple ways for you to consume psilocybin. Legal options will include dried mushrooms, capsules, tablets, tinctures, teas, chocolates, gummies, and other edibles. These products will NOT be available for retail sale, and will only be available to adults (ages 21 years and up during an administration session at a healing center. Synthetic tryptamines are banned.

• A single serving size is defined by regulators as 10 milligrams of total psilocybin (equivalent to about one gram of dried mushrooms). Edibles may contain up to 50 milligrams (mg) of psilocin or five grams of dried mushrooms.

• Healing centers may be located at a facility offering other healthcare services.

• Healing centers must track, record, and report side effects and serious events.

Psychedelic-assisted therapy is expected to roll out in Colorado beginning in 2025.

Story 2

I recently wrote an article about a trial which compared psychedelic therapy (using psilocybin) to escitalopram (an antidepressant) for treating moderate to severe depression. A meta analysis recently published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) compared the safety and effectiveness of the antidepressant escitalopram against numerous psychedelics: MDMA, LSD, psilocybin, or ayahuasca.

Researchers evaluated 19 eligible studies, across which 811 participants ingested psychedelics and 1,968 participants were treated with escitalopram. To compare efficacy, the researchers evaluated how well each treatment worked for depression using a validated rating scale, such as the 17-item Hamilton depression rating scale (HAMD-17) or Montgomery-Åsberg depression rating scale.

Below are some interesting findings from the meta analysis:

• With exceptions for very low dose (≤40 mg) and low dose MDMA, all treatments showed better improvement on the HAMD-17 than placebo.

• Among psychedelics, only high dose (≥ 20 mg) psilocybin performed better than either 10 mg or 20 mg escitalopram. It’s important to note that psilocybin was typically used in combination with psychotherapy or other forms of psychological support, while escitalopram is not always used with therapy. My key takeaway point: the effectiveness of psilocybin cannot be directly attributed to its pharmacological effects, nor to the effects of psychotherapy. It’s the two used in tandem that likely has the strongest antidepressant effect.

• Placebo response in psychedelic trials was lower compared to placebo response in antidepressant studies. This may be due to how easy it is to unblind psychedelic treatments, due to the profound and noticeable effects caused by psychedelics ingestion. Amongst psychedelics, only high-dose psilocybin outperformed effectiveness of placebo response from antidepressant trials.

Story 3

“Magic mushroom chocolates are having a moment. But do they even contain mushrooms?”

This story from LA times staff writers Keri Blakinger and Connor Sheets is the result of an investigation into mushroom products purchased from smoke shops across Los Angeles and San Diego. Across 33 samples, 40% of products contain zero psilocybin. One product “contained only bath salts”. Others contained a different psychoactive fungus, or no hallucinogen at all.

While some products claim to have psilocybin (a bold claim, given that the compound is still federally Schedule I), others use vague claims like “magic mushrooms” and “mushroom blends”.

The San Diego testing lab Infinite CAL claims to have tested hundreds of mushroom products the past few years, finding psilocybin, THC, LSD, and MDMA across different products. And of course, other products contain no active hallucinogen at all.

History is littered with instances of bad actors and conmen swindling consumers. It’s why the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act was passed. Are government rules and regulations fun? No, not to most of us. Do they make products more expensive for everyone, from consumers to manufacturers to distributors? Yep! But they’re often in place for a reason. Unfortunately, taking an attitude of “trust me bro” doesn’t work out – one bad actor can ruin trust in an entire industry.

There will be downsides to federal oversight of psychedelic therapy. But I’m of the view that dealing with pain-in-the-ass red tape is an unfortunate necessity when the alternative is zero consumer protections and bath salts in mushroom chocolates. In the meantime, please be cautious about the products you purchase and put in your body.