Posted by champignonsmagique (02/08/20 01:55 PM)

The implications of commercializing psychedelics


The linguistic origin of the word psychedelic is rooted in the latin words "psyche" meaning mind or spirit, and "Delos" meaning manifesting. The dictionary definition of the verb "manifest" is "to become clear or apparent" which is congruent with many anecdotal reports and the results of scientifically controlled studies that have shown psychedelics to reliably induce profound meaningful experiences and creative epiphanies. These studies also showed that psychedelic substances offer significant effectiveness in treating numerous psychological conditions, including but not limited to depression, anxiety, ptsd, OCD, addictions, and eating disorders. This laundry list of benefits has garnered the interest of many individuals and institutions across the world, and is now beginning to seep into the corporate world, a world that may have colluded with government (through heavy lobbying) to make psychedelics illegal in the first place, and a world in which systemic issues exist around the pursuit of profit vs. the best interests of consumers (or in this case patients).

 *Research into psychedelics is primarily focused on Psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, and MDMA


There are now 19 companies tagged as %u2018psychedelic%u2019 on Linkedin, and 4 corporations (Yield Growth Corp, Field Trip Ventures, Mind Med Inc, and Compass Pathways) in the space that are publicly traded (like Yield Growth) or are set to IPO in early 2020 (like Compass Pathways - under their parent company ATAI life sciences). The mission statements of these companies are varied, ranging from the research, development, and production of psychotropic alkaloids and synthetic analogs, to the operation wellness centres offering %u2018psychedelic assisted therapy%u2019. These are but a few of the wide range of auxiliary markets that are flourishing during the genesis of this entirely new industry, an industry that has the potential to significantly disrupt the estimated $4.2 trillion %u2018Global Wellness Market%u2019.


  • Yield Growth Corporation is a Canadian publicly traded cannabis company (BOSS/TSX) who recently acquired a majority stake in a company called flourish mushrooms. Flourish currently offers a variety of medicinal mushroom infused products, primarily teas and coffees infused with cordyceps, reishi, lions mane, and turkey tail mushrooms. They plan to expand into psilocybin products in the future and are in the process of building a laboratory to research and produce psilocybin (specifically psilocybe semilanceata) mushrooms in St Vincent and the Grenadines (a small group of islands in the carribean)


  • Field Trip Ventures is another Canadian company that also is in the process of building a production and research facility in the carribean, theirs in Jamaica where psilocybin is legal. Their mission statement states they endeavor to %u201Cheal the sick, and better the well, through therapeutic psychedelics%u201D. They also plan to strategically invest in research on numerous naturally occurring psychedelic substances and in the operation of world class clinics focused on psychedelic-assisted therapies.


  • Mind Med Inc is a psychedelic research company that%u2019s developing non-hallucinogenic medicine from psychedelic sources. They are researching the psychiatric potential of LSD and 18-MC, a synthesized version of ibogaine that is showing promising results in the treatment of opioid addiction. The company recently raised $6.2 million to conduct Phase 2 clinical trials of 18-MC, and has been invested in by Kevin O%u2019Leary and Bruce Linton (former Canopy Growth Corp co-founder and CEO). Linton is also a member of the companies board. The company aims to go public on Canada%u2019s NEO exchange in the first quarter of 2020.


  • Compass Pathways is a mental healthcare company dedicated to accelerating patient access to evidence based innovation in mental health (read - psychedelics). Their primary initiative is the development of a psilocybin therapy for the treatment of Treatment Resistant Depression, and have received approval by the FDA for the research of this therapy. The company is a subsidiary of the privately held ATAI corporation, ATAI is predicted by financial experts to go public sometime in 2020.


*The 4 corporations engaged in psychedelic research or production



The potential disruption of the Global Wellness Market has also piqued the interest of many popular figures in the investment community, notably Canadian entrepreneur-extraordinaire Kevin O'leary (host of ABC%u2019s Shark Tank). O%u2019leary has stated that he thinks psychedelics will be the next sector to generate exponential returns, and recently released a video entitled %u201CWhy you should invest in psychedelics%u201D in which he offered his thoughts to viewers, namely that micro-dosing psychedelics is increasing in popularity among many proffessionals, that psychedelics are an effective treatment for many psychological conditions, and that they offer an excellent profit margin, especially in micro-dose form. O%u2019leary is not the only popular investor who is championing these substances as the next major development in the $15.6 (as of 2018) billion dollar depression/anxiety drug market, and the global wellness market as a whole. Others include Peter Thiel, Tim Ferris, and Bruce Linton, all seasoned investors who realize the argument for psychedelic investment is easy to substantiate, over 300 million people worldwide suffer from depression, up to 3.5 percent of the American population suffers from some form of PTSD, and as many as 1 in 5 Americans struggle with some form of mental illness that is potentially treatable with psychedelic therapy.


Any substance that has sustained positive effect on the symptoms of this many psychological conditions accesses a vast and constantly growing market and easily outpaces competition from traditional pharmaceuticals. Psilocybin (or more accurately psilocin - the compound that psilocybin in broken down into by the body) engages more directly with the serotonergic system in the brain than SSRI drugs do, by imitating the serotonin molecule to cause an excess in the synaptic cleft, instead of re-inhibiting its uptake like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI%u2019s) do. A further benefit to psilocybin is that it does not activate the dopaminergic system. SSRI%u2019s do activate this system and it is theorized to be why they carry a higher risk of dependency and need consistent dosage. Psilocybin on the other hand has been shown to produce sustained improvement in many areas of psychological health with as little as one dose, and has very low addictive potential.


This corporate involvement in psychedelics has come, as it has in many other industries (like cannabis) %u201Cfollowing in the footsteps%u201D of many small businesses currently operating in a legal %u201Cgrey area%u201D to offer psychedelic products, psilocybin mushrooms in particular. Publications in Canadian media sources around Dana Larsen%u2019s online mushroom dispensary (which offers micro-doses of psilocybin mushrooms to canadians with proof of a psilocybin-treatable condition) have catalyzed the creation of numerous other websites (like Champignons Magique) offering psilocybin in a variety of forms, from dried mushrooms to chocolates, gummies, teas, and liquid extracts. These grey market sites are surprisingly often sold out, not able to meet Canadian demand for this %u201Cwonder-drug%u201D that offers substantial benefits to psychological health at a low frequency of dosage. These sites have also been swamped by requests for international shipping, showing the worldwide demand that has caught the attention of corporations and investors.


*some of the small businesses offering psilocybin products



Similar to psilocybin itself there is also an insatiable demand for psychedelic assisted therapy services. This sector of the psychedelic industry is only beginning to be explored by both small business and corporations, and will stimulate the development of many adjacent services, like guide training/certification services and wellness centres offering assisted therapy in luxury. Assisted therapy is hypothesized to be crucial to generating the positive results psilocybin has been studied for, as much of the promising research published around addiction and depression treatment takes place in a therapeutic and guided setting where the subject has the express intention of resolving psychological trauma.


A guided experience typically begins with a consultation session of 45-60 minutes in which the subject is queried regarding their desires, expectations and resistances. The effects of the substance and what the subject wants to get out of the experience are also discussed. The actual therapy session typically lasts between 7-9 hours and can take place either in the subject%u2019s home, in nature, or in a clinic operated by a psychedelic therapy service. A major benefit of a guided experience is the guide taking notes for both parties to review after the experience, and periodically reminding the subject of their intention, another perk to a guided experience is if on the off chance that you have anything resembling a %u201Cbad%u201D trip, you are in the care of an experienced therapist. All reputable psychedelic therapy services also have comprehensive follow up procedures to help quantify what effect the experience has had on your life, and refresh any insights or epiphany you may have gained.


It is well established that psychedelics carry the potential for significant psychological growth as well as the treatment of many conditions, however in most regions of the world individuals are prohibited from utilizing these substances to alter - and some would argue - expand their consciousness. Psychedelics were made illegal by the sweeping 1970 Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, and were subsequently subjected to a half-century long crusade of mis and disinformation regarding not only psychedelics but cannabis and many other drugs as well. This anti-drug campaign was not only unjustified but arguably immoral, monumental hypocrisy exists in our legal system in that some drugs which are detrimental to both society and personal health (like alcohol, tobacco and pharmaceutical opioids) are legal and even promoted while psychedelics which have the potential to treat many psychological conditions, unite humanity, and guide our evolution towards a more open-minded and empathetic society are prohibited. 


Coincidentally (or perhaps not) one of the primary beneficiaries of this hypocritical policy is the pharmaceutical industry, who spend nearly $300 million per year lobbying the government for policy creation and reform in their favour. While this blatant solicitation should be a crime in itself the pharmaceutical industry has also bordered on criminal activity in other areas as well, like the excessive promotion of opioid painkillers, which is surely a factor in the current opioid crisis. On the other hand, organizations in the current psychedelic space like The Heffter Institute and MAPS have mere millions at their disposal to fund research, and little leftover to lobby for policy reform around drugs that perform better, and carry fewer health risks than many pharmaceuticals. Currently most of the vendors in the burgeoning psychedelic industry are very grassroots, small businesses that offer quality products and are very customer focused. Unfortunately this has the potential to change drastically depending on the regulatory path that psychedelics follow, either decriminalization or legalization


Decriminalization would likely mean little or no penalty for the possession or use of small quantities psychedelic drugs, however their production and distribution would still be either illegal or heavily regulated. There would also be some form of regulatory framework and licencing for admission in a safe setting. It is the opinion of the vast majority of individuals currently engaged the psychedelic space that this route of policy would be the most beneficial for patients who need access to these substances, the research institutions currently engaged in study, and small businesses across North America


Legalization would likely have similar results for the recreational user, no penalties for possession or small-scale home cultivation however would potentially be to the detriment of patients who need access to these substances, as has been the case with cannabis legalization in Canada. Under full legalization the production and distribution of psychedelic substances would become wholly profit based, instead of customer or experience based, and the exploration of synthetic analogs to ensure profitability would likely follow, regardless of whether those analogs are as psychologically beneficial. Legalization would also open the door to patents on naturally occurring psychoactive substances, which could result in a scenario similar to the Martin Shrekli AIDS medication scandal.


To conclude, these substances offer excellent psychological "ROI" (in terms of frequency of dosage to positive effects generated) also stand to offer immense financial return through the disruption of the global health market, and will inevitably be commercialized to some degree. We stand at the genesis of this entirely new industry as citizens with the power to influence policy at the highest level, and there are many questions to be pondered - 


  • Do we want psychedelic medicine to evolve into an industry similar to pharmaceuticals? 

  • Would this be best for the individuals who need access to these substances? 

  • Would a legal system be based on psychedelic assisted therapy, prescription based, or a recreational "free for all"? 

  • Would corporations augment or change the molecular structure of these molecules to increase profitability? 

  • Should corporations be allowed to patent these substances or their analogs?


These are but a few of the questions that will need to be addressed before psychedelics can become destigmatized and commonplace. During this shifting of public sentiment individuals in the psychedelic community must take care to ensure that the values of psychedelic culture (like the dedication to customer/patient service, and the respect for these substances in their unadulterated form) are not corrupted by the influence of %u201Cthe mainstream%u201D or the influence of corporate capitalistic ideology that prioritizes profit over the best interests of their customers.. We as activists and citizens should utilize the power of democracy to ensure everyone has access to the benefits of psychedelics and continued support/integration after their experience, rather than relegate the production and distribution of these substances to the elite in corporate and investment communities. 


Mush Love,


Jeff


Champignons Magique