Step aside, psilocybin: A new shroom is in town.

According to a new study by researchers at the University of California (UC) San Diego’s Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, the use of Amanita muscaria mushrooms has surged in the U.S. based upon Google searches.

The research indicates Google searches increased by 114 percent from 2022 to 2023, according to a study published June 10 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The study was written by lead author Eric Leas, as well as Nora Satybaldiyeva, Wayne Kepner, Kevin H. Yang, Raquel M. Harati, Jamie Corroon, and Matthieu Rouffet, of UC San Diego.

Interest in the mushroom is growing each year. “Interest in psilocybin-containing mushrooms is increasing in the U.S., with 12.3% of U.S. adults reporting use of psilocybin-containing mushrooms in 2022, up significantly from 11.4% in 2021,” the study reads. “This makes psilocybin-containing mushrooms the most commonly used hallucinogenic substance. This growing interest in psilocybin-containing mushrooms has also sparked a new commercial market for other types of mushrooms.”

Like psilocybin mushrooms, which are not closely related, Amanita muscaria mushrooms, or Fly Agaric mushrooms, also have psychotropic effects: weightlessness, visual and auditory hypersensitivity, space distortion, unawareness of time, and hallucinations, however amanitas tend to be slightly more poisonous.

UC San Diego Today reports that the study shows people are taking more amanitas, perhaps without being equipped with the knowledge of doing so. Researchers noted, however, that mushrooms like psilocybin have a place in therapy, but that people should do so safely.

Since amanitas are legal in most states (not you, Louisiana), they’re becoming popular and researchers think it’s due to the rise in popularity of psilocybin.

“There is a lot of interest in the therapeutic potential for psilocybin and for good reason. But at the same time, a growing industry may be trying to capitalize on this interest by marketing other mushrooms. For example, some manufacturers are calling Amanita muscaria products ‘magic mushroom gummies’ and not disclosing what mushroom they contain, or not making it clear Amanita muscaria is a different mushroom than psilocybin and has essentially no clinical evidence supporting its use as a therapy,” said Eric Leas, Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor in the UC San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science and senior author on the paper.

The psychotropic effects are produced by compounds, mostly muscimol and ibotenic acid, its biosynthetic precursor.

Researchers stressed that amanitas behave totally differently than psilocybin. Amanitas are a depressant, for instance.

“There may be some pharmaceutical potential to Amanita muscaria, but muscimol does not have the same effects on the body as psilocybin, so it probably would not have the same treatment applications if it ever went through drug development. For this reason, it is misleading not to clearly distinguish between muscimol and psilocybin. If someone is consenting to a psychedelic experience, they have a right to know what substance they are taking and receive accurate information about its potential health benefits and health risks.”

For the most part, what researchers are seeing is that safety protocols are mostly being ignored and the only thing you may find is a supplement-like list of ingredients. Researchers were unable to find any evidence that safety measures were taken.

“We have found that many manufacturers use supplement labeling, including ‘Supplement Facts’ panels,” said Leas. “However, there is a process for bringing a supplement to market that involves presenting safety data and filing an application, and we cannot find any evidence that any of these manufacturers have gone through this process, and this makes the current products sold in this manner illegal.”

Active compounds in amanitas are no toy, researchers said, and could affect certain people adversely.

“In my view, if a manufacturer wanted to develop a dietary supplement from Amanita muscaria, the application probably would not be approved because of muscimol and ibotenic acids’ inherent risks,” he added. “But right now it is the ‘Wild West,’ and companies are profiting from delayed enforcement while putting consumers at risk.” 

High Times has reported on the effects and history of amanitas several times before.

Beginning in the December, 1976 issue of High Times, writer Tom Robbins explored amanitas and the books that inform readers about them. Then again in the December, 1979 issue of High Times, writers examined the connections between Santa Claus and a specific kind of psychedelic mushroom known as the fly agaric, aka the toadstool that conquered the universe. In fact, the mythology behind Santa could be related to a shaman in Lapland who ate Amanita muscaria. 

Until more is known about amanitas, researchers urge caution for those exploring its active compounds.

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Recently, researchers Christopher P. Holstege and Rita Farah unveiled the results of their study on the increase in poison center calls for mushroom consumption. In “Psilocybin Exposures Reported to U.S. Poison Centers: National Trends Over a Decade,” the researchers explored the rising trend of accidental exposure to psilocybin between January 1, 2024-December 31, 2022. Holstege is a Professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics and Farah is a Researcher of Epidemiology, both of which work at the University of Virginia.

Over a 10-year period, there were 4,055 exposure incidents recorded by the National Poison Data System, and 2,667 (65.8%) of those incidents involved adolescents or young adults between 13-25. From this number of people, 1,176 (75.3%) were adolescents, and 797 (72.1%) were young adults. One of researchers’ noteworthy observations was that cases didn’t rise between 2013-2018, but increased after 2019, and tripled in 2022.

Holstege and Farah co-wrote an analysis of their research, which was originally published in The Conversation.

Researchers noted that in May 2019, Denver, Colorado became the first city to decriminalize psilocybin, which was followed shortly after by Oakland, California, in June 2019. This trend continued with various other cities across the U.S., with Santa Cruz, California, in January 2020, Washington D.C. in November 2020, Sommerville, Massachusetts in January 2021, Seattle, Washington in October 2021, and Detroit, Michigan in November 2021. Additionally, Oregon was the first state to decriminalize psilocybin and introduce a legal therapy treatment program in November 2020. This was followed by the state of Colorado in November 2022.

Farah is an epidemiologist, and both of them worked together to identify potential harms. “Part of our job is to track public health risks related to poisons and to create efforts to prevent them,” the researchers wrote. “We are both concerned about the increase in calls to poison control centers related to psilocybin.”

However, the information collected by the National Poison Data System covers calls from across the country, making it impossible to know where exactly the poison calls came from.

The data shows that a majority of the reported calls between both adolescents and young adults resulted in the need for medical attention at a hospital or treatment facility. A majority of these cases included people who were experiencing “hallucinations, delusions, agitation, rapid heart rate, and confusion.”

Holstege and Farah expressed their overall concern for youth based on their observations. “Our findings correspond with a review of more than 30 studies that demonstrates a similar rise in acute cannabis poisoning among children and adolescents beginning after marijuana was legalized in 1996,” the researchers concluded. “We find this particularly alarming, since the states that legalized and cities that decriminalized psilocybin don’t allow anyone under 21 to use it or buy it. This suggests young people are getting it illegally.”

A study recently published in the Drug and Alcohol Dependence journal shows that there has also been an increase in law enforcement seizures of psilocybin over the past few years as well. “We found that the number of shroom seizures and the total weight of shrooms seized annually increased through 2022, and the greatest weight of shrooms seized was in the West,” said study co-author Joseph J. Palamar told High Times. Out of 4,526 seizure reports between 2017-2022, the numbers increased from 402 in 2017, to 1,396 in 2022.

While it’s clear that illegal mushroom cultivation and sales needs to be reduced in order to reduce access for adolescents and young adults, the legal psilocybin industry is struggling. Oregon’s psilocybin therapy treatment service program just passed its one-year mark, but has encountered challenges such as limited customers, partially due to high prices and advertising restrictions. Less than a year into its business, one psilocybin treatment center called The Journey has already closed up shop.

Across the U.S., researchers continue to study psilocybin to determine its effectiveness as a treatment for many medical conditions. One study that was published in Clinical Case Reports earlier in June showed that both psilocybin and MDMA can be beneficial in treating symptoms of long-COVID, also called longhauler’s. Sufferers of this condition usually experience anxiety, depression, headaches, and struggles with cognition.

Also in June, University of California, Berkeley announced that it will be embarking on a study to observe how psilocybin affects human perception. It’s the first psilocybin study that UC Berkeley is conducting using human subjects. “We have this incredible opportunity to characterize the psychedelic experience in real time—while it’s happening—using modern neuroimaging methods,” said UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics director, Michael Silver. “Understanding the actions of psychedelics at a neuroscientific level will generate insights into how they’re working as medicines and will hopefully help us develop more effective treatments for mental health disorders. It will also shed light on some of the fundamental mysteries of the human brain, mind and consciousness and how they relate to each other.”

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Not all edibles hit the same. Diamond Shruumz chocolate bars are infused with hemp-derived CBD and delta-8, but whatever they’re putting in them is making people sick, according to an alert from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The FDA issued an alert on June 7, warning people not to eat the chocolate bars. The FDA claims that eight people reported getting ill and six were hospitalized after eating the bars. The reported illnesses took place in Arizona, Indiana, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Since the bars’ main ingredients were hemp-derived, they can be bought in nearly any state. The reported illnesses were not life-threatening.

“People who became ill after eating Diamond Shruumz-brand Microdosing Chocolate Bars reported a variety of severe symptoms including seizures, central nervous system depression (loss of consciousness, confusion, sleepiness), agitation, abnormal heart rates, hyper/hypotension, nausea, and vomiting.” It’s possible that the reported symptoms were simply delta-8 THC, but those types of products generally don’t lead to hospital visits.

The alert sent shockwaves throughout the media, with reports focusing on the danger of such products on platforms such as Daily Caller. Fox News reports that the chocolate bars contain a blend of nootropic ingredients including hemp-derived compounds.

“Diamond Shruumz- brand Microdosing Chocolate Bars can be purchased online and in person at a variety of retail locations nationwide including smoke/vape shops, and at retailers that sell hemp-derived products such as cannabidiol (CBD) or delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-8 THC),” the alert reads. “The full list of retailers is currently unknown, and FDA recommends that people do not purchase or consume any flavor of Diamond Shruumz-brand Microdosing Chocolate Bars from any retail or online locations at this time.”

One microdose chocolate bar, Birthday Cake flavor, is marketed to be “energetic, chillaxed, and euphoric.” However the bars don’t contain any psilocybin or amanita mushroom ingredients.

“There is no presence of psilocybin, amanita or any scheduled drugs, ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience,” the chocolate bar product description reads. “Rest assured, our treats are not only free from psychedelic substances but our carefully crafted ingredients still offer an experience. This allows you to indulge in a uniquely crafted blend designed for your pleasure and peace of mind.”

But the product description also seems to suggest psychedelic, or at least psychoactive effects.

“Individuals can typically anticipate the onset of effects within an average timeframe of 30 minutes to 1 hour after consumption,” the product description reads. “However, it’s crucial to note that this duration can vary based on unique factors, including the person’s body size and metabolism.”

Products that appeal to children are the ones targeted the fastest by the FDA. It’s not clear whether the reported adverse effects from the Diamond Shruumz bars are linked to simply delta-8 THC or another ingredient. 

“This product may appeal to children and teenagers as it is marketed as a candy. Parents and caregivers should consider discussing the information in this advisory with their children and take extra care to avoid this product being consumed by younger people,” the report reads.

“Retailers should not sell or distribute Diamond Shruumz-brand Microdosing Chocolate Bars and should hold the product in a secure location until additional instructions can be provided on how to return or safely dispose of the product.”

FDA Flags Other Infused Edibles

The FDA has gone after edible makers simply for allegedly marketing products to children.

On May 13, 2022, the FDA issued a warning, sounding the alarm about lookalike products that mimic candy and more recently—children’s cereal.

Copycat products that were highlighted in the warning mimic Cap’n Crunch, Cocoa Pebbles, Cocoa Puffs, Froot Loops, Fruity Pebbles, Nerds Ropes, Starbursts, Sour Patch Kids, and Trix, among others.

There are two reasons not to support gray area cannabis products like these: the potential appeal to children being one, and the other being the ethical violation of blatantly ripping off the intellectual property of mainstream food companies. But the FDA was mainly concerned about the physical symptoms that could occur in children.

“The FDA is aware of multiple media reports describing children and adults who accidentally consumed copycat edible products containing THC and experienced adverse events,” the organization wrote. “Additionally, from January 2021 through April 24, 2022, the FDA received over 100 adverse event reports related to children and adults who consumed edible products containing THC.”

Symptoms to look out for include “hallucinations” and “vomiting.”

“Some individuals who ate these edible products reportedly experienced adverse events such as hallucinations, increased heart rate and vomiting, and many required medical intervention or hospital admission,” the warning continues. “Seven of the reports specifically mention the edible product to be a copycat of popular foods, such as Cocoa Pebbles, Nerds Rope, Skittles, Sour Patch Kids, and Starburst.”

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A 41-year-old woman in a case study reported remarkable improvements of longhauler’s symptoms after taking psilocybin and MDMA-assisted therapy sessions.

A case report, “Long-COVID symptoms improved after MDMA and psilocybin therapy: A case report,” was published May 24 in the journal Clinical Case Reports. The woman in the case study was healthy before contracting COVID-19 in February 2022, and she was vaccinated three times. She reported symptoms of long COVID or longhauler’s: severe anxiety, depression, debilitating headaches, and cognitive difficulties.

The woman tried many methods to get relief from the disease: fasting, massage therapy, acupuncture, and meditation. The woman resorted to psilocybin and bought golden teacher shroom spores online and consumed significant improvement of the symptoms in subsequent tripping sessions.

“The patient’s first dosing session was on May 5, 2022, where she consumed 1 g of dried whole golden teacher psilocybin cubensis mushrooms from an online store,” the report reads. “The patient subjectively reported a 20% improvement in her depression, fatigue, joint pains, and headache for seven days. However, she also reported chills and shivering with a sensation of being cold while ‘coming up.’”

About a month later, she ingested 125 mg of MDMA, followed by two separate doses of psilocybin. After this session, she said her symptoms improved significantly—80% percent overall—and that she was able to resume her PhD studies.

“The patient’s second dosing session was 24 days later on May 29th where she consumed a single dose of MDMA 125 mg, 1 h later 2 g of whole dried golden teacher psilocybin cubensis mushrooms prepared in a tea, and 1 hour later a second dose of 2 grams of whole dried golden teacher psilocybin cubensis mushrooms prepared in a tea.”

Another month later she ate more shrooms and she saw huge improvements again.

“Six weeks later (on July 16th), her head pressure returned at approximately 30% of its previous severity,” the report reads. “After another 2 g dose of psilocybin cubensis mushrooms, her symptoms abated to 90% relief of symptoms. She was able to work part-time thereafter and return full-time in September.”

“After several months of improvement, the patient reported experiencing an early November relapse of her post-COVID-19 symptoms in the setting of a non-COVID-19 flu-like illness. Her headache returned, although it was less severe and not as frequent as before. The patient decided to try another dosing session with psychedelics on November 24th. This time, 2 g of dried golden teacher psilocybin cubensis mushrooms led to a remission of her symptoms. The patient subjectively reported complete resolution of her symptoms. The patient was again able to return to work 3 days later and continue with her PhD studies.”

Research on larger groups of people is needed in order to determine why psychedelics seem to improve long-COVID symptoms.

Science Reports noted that researchers at Columbia University have launched a small pilot trial to explore whether single-dose hallucinogenic treatments can really relieve long COVID symptoms.

Other Studies Show Potential for Cannabis in COVID Treatment

Beyond psychedelics, cannabis—itself a minor psychedelic—has also been linked to COVID improvements. Cannabis consumers with COVID-19 experienced “better outcomes and mortality” compared to similar patients who did not use cannabis, in a recent study.

The study, entitled “Exploring the Relationship Between Marijuana Smoking and Covid-19,” was announced at a meeting for the American College of Chest Physicians, which was held in Honolulu, Hawaii on Oct. 11. It was also published in the October issue of CHEST Journal.

Researchers noted that they analyzed data from the National Inpatient Sample, which is the largest publicly available collection of inpatient healthcare data—recording about seven million hospital visits per year. Researchers studied 322,214 patients over 18 years of age, with only 2,603 stating that they were cannabis consumers.

Each cannabis-consuming patient was matched 1:1 with a non-consumer, as well as their “age, race, gender, and 17 other comorbidities including chronic lung disease.” The other comorbidities included obstructive sleep apnea, obesity, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus, which were more commonly found in non-users.

In these comparisons, cannabis users experienced a lowered rate of specific conditions. “On univariate analysis, marijuana users had significantly lower rates of intubation (6.8% vs 12%), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (2.1% vs 6%), acute respiratory failure (25% vs 52.9%) and severe sepsis with multiorgan failure (5.8% vs 12%),” researchers explained. “They also had lower in-hospital cardiac arrest (1.2% vs 2.7%) and mortality (2.9% vs 13.5%).”

“Marijuana smokers had better outcomes and mortality compared to non-users,” researchers concluded. “The beneficial effect of marijuana use may be attributed to its potential to inhibit viral entry into cells and prevent the release of proinflammatory cytokines, thus mitigating cytokine release syndrome.”

The growing amount of evidence shows that psychedelics and cannabis may be the key to solving the riddle of COVID and long-COVID symptoms.

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A new study based on data collected by law enforcement agencies suggests the availability of illicit psilocybin mushrooms in the U.S. has risen significantly compared to prior years. This uptick in psilocybin seizures suggests that the mushrooms are now easier to find on the street.

Researchers at New York University (NYU) uncovered a rapidly growing trend suggesting more Americans have access to psilocybin mushrooms, as the list of potential medical benefits grows. Published online in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, the study analyzed 4,526 psilocybin seizure reports from 2017 to 2022, and categorized the annual number of confiscations and weight of seized shrooms per state. The study shows that law enforcement seizures of psilocybin mushrooms in the U.S. skyrocketed from 402 seizures in 2017 to 1,396 in 2022. The total weight of psilocybin mushrooms seized also increased by 2,749%, from 226 kilograms (498 pounds) in 2017 to 844 kilograms (1,860 pounds) in 2022.

Drug seizures by law enforcement are also what the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration uses to determine drug availability. The researchers noted that this data does not paint a clear picture of the exact amount of psilocybin in America, given all of the people who elude the police or go undetected.

Confiscations of psilocybin are up in nearly every region of the country that was analyzed. Researchers found “significant increases” of psilocybin seizures in all four regions—the Northeast, West, South, and Midwest regions of the U.S., and shrooms are particularly growing in popularity on the West Coast.

“We found that the number of shroom seizures and the total weight of shrooms seized annually increased through 2022, and the greatest weight of shrooms seized was in the West,” Joseph J. Palamar told High Times in an email.

Palamar, a co-author of the study, is an associate professor at the Department of Population Health at NYU’s Langone Health in Manhattan. He explained that law enforcement data helps to explain how prevalent psilocybin is, but does not show the entire picture. It was impossible for the researchers, for instance, to determine if the shrooms were wet or dry, as police typically don’t make the distinction.

“We don’t treat drug seizures as an indicator of use but rather more of an indicator of availability,” Palamar said. “This might seem a bit counterintuitive at first because seizures literally remove drugs from the market, but we believe seizures only represent a small sample of drugs available. We believe the increase in shroom seizures indicates an increase in availability.  Seizures are far from being a perfect indicator of availability but it’s still an important focus.”

Self-reported data on psychedelic use is very limited, but earlier research indicates that psilocybin is the most consumed plant-based psychedelic in the U.S. (This of course excludes cannabis, which some consider to be a mild psychedelic.)

The prevalence of psilocybin use probably comes in waves, he said, with waves taking place in the 1960s and so on. This time around, psilocybin research is focusing on its potential medical benefits more than its harms, representing a sea change in the way psychedelic mushrooms are perceived.

Starting with Denver, Colorado in 2019, numerous cities and the District of Columbia decriminalized psilocybin. At the state level, Oregon voters decriminalized psilocybin in 2020, followed by the entire state of Colorado two years later.

Ketamine is another psychedelic that has recently risen in popularity in therapeutic settings, Palomar said. While it was restricted to Schedule III in 1999, a nasal spray was approved by the FDA in 2019, and now clinics in many states provide it.

“All drug trends seem to come in waves, and it’s unknown whether this recent increase is being driven by positive media coverage of psilocybin research, but I strongly believe it’s a factor,” he said. “I anticipate a similar situation with respect to ketamine.”

“Recent increases in use of hallucinogens, more broadly, may be associated with increased coverage of their perceived therapeutic benefits, based on a recent increase in clinical trials testing psilocybin, specifically, in treating psychiatric conditions,” researchers wrote. “Major trials suggest psilocybin’s efficacy in treating conditions such as major depressive disorder in particular, but also in treating conditions such as anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorder.”

The researchers in this study said that recreational users frequently take too much, causing dysphoria. Generally speaking, 3.5 grams of psilocybin is considered a large dose, and 5 or more grams is considered a heroic dose. Powerful, profound, and confusing effects can arise even when people consume even just a few grams. However researchers like Matthew W. Johnson, a professor of Psychedelics and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins, suggested that heroic doses are needed for certain conditions.

This article was originally published in the May 2024 issue of High Times Magazine.

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The active ingredient in psilocybin mushrooms is being explored for its power to break out of the grip of rigid mental patterns—patterns which often lead to treatment-resistant disorders. Researchers believe it could help to transform therapy by providing an alternative way to tackle mental disorders.

A recent pilot study published in the Journal of Psychedelic Studies has found preliminary evidence that psilocybin, when administered in a group retreat setting, can enhance psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility means being present in the moment and having the ability to respond to stimuli in ways that serve your values. 

The study, “A pilot study of the effect of group-administered psilocybin on psychological flexibility and outcomes,” was conducted by Brian Pilecki, Jason Luoma, and Kati M. Lear.

“I think group-based psilocybin administration is under-studied and has significant value in producing therapeutic change. I also am interested in using psychological flexibility as a way to understand how psychedelics exert their effects and lead to improvements in health and well-being,” study author Brian Pilecki of Portland Psychotherapy told PsyPost.

Nine participants—six female and three male—attended the retreat, ages ranging from 41 to 68. Nine participants were employed: four full-time and five part-time. Four participants endorsed having a regular meditation practice while five did not.

Researchers collected data using a series of assessments at three intervals: one week before the retreat, two weeks after the retreat, and six months later. These assessments utilized standardized questionnaires to measure psychological flexibility, cognitive fusion, values-driven behavior, self-compassion, emotional expressivity, and general well-being.

When asked what their highest dose psilocybin session taken during the retreat was, participants reported between five and 12 grams of dried, homogenized mushrooms, meaning that all participants had at least one “heroic” psilocybin session with a dose that was at least 5 grams.

The study narrowed down quantifiable changes in psychological flexibility rather than just recording any changes in psychological flexibility.

“This study is significant in that it is the first to quantitatively document changes in psychological flexibility facets after psychedelic experiences rather than only more general changes in psychological flexibility,” the study states. “Understanding processes of change involved in psychedelic-assisted therapy is important in informing how psychotherapy can support psychedelic experiences. For example, it might be possible to take steps during preparation to make it even more likely that people will experience cognitive defusion or values clarification during dosing sessions. Alternately, techniques based on psychological flexibility theory might be used to support changes in values that begin during dosing and translate these into long-term behavior change. We are just beginning to understand the link between psychedelics and psychological flexibility and hope this pilot study will spur future research on the topic.”

Psilocybin’s Efficacy to Decrease Cognitive Fusion of Rigid Thought Patterns

The data shows a substantial decrease in cognitive fusion—referring to the grip of rigid thoughts that alter behavior. This drop was significant at the two-week follow-up and persisted through the six-month evaluation, suggesting that participants were able to detach from their thoughts more effectively, allowing them to act more in line with their values rather than being prisoners shaped by habitual thought patterns.

Participants reported improvements in how freely they were able to live according to their values. This was evident from drops in “values obstruction” at both the two-week and six-month follow-up periods. Additionally, there was an increase in values progression by the six-month mark, indicating sustained improvements in the participants’ ability to engage in behaviors that align with their personal values over time.

Researchers also observed increases in self-compassion at both follow-up points, as well as changes in emotional expressivity.

“Our study supported that psilocybin taken in a retreat context can be helpful in enhancing key aspects of psychological flexibility including cognitive defusion, valued living, and self-compassion,” Pilecki told PsyPost. “These improvements suggest that client’s were able to take greater perspective on their thoughts and align their behaviors more closely with their values.”

The long-term benefits of psilocybin are being explored.

“Some of the differences between short- and long-term outcomes were surprising, though it is hard to infer much due to the small sample size,” Pilecki said. “For example, of all the processes that were measured, we found increases in self-compassion at the six-month follow-up suggesting that psilocybin may lead to enduring changes in one’s relationship to themself.”

As with many psilocybin-related studies, the control group size was very limited, suggesting that more research is needed to determine the fungi’s efficacy in treating mental disorders.

“This was a small pilot study without a control group, so results must interpreted with caution,” Pilecki noted. “However, positive results suggest further research in this area is warranted.”

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Kaya Holdings Inc., which became one of the first publicly traded companies to hold a cannabis license when it began operation in Portland, Oregon in 2014, recently announced that it has been approved to hold a license for therapeutic psilocybin.

The announcement came on May 7, stating that Kaya Holdings officially owns a Psilocybin Service Center license from the Oregon Health Authority. The business will be called The Sacred Mushroom, which is set to be a “full-service psychedelic treatment center that will allow clients to receive Psilocybin Treatments in a setting offering significant experience differentiators and concept innovations.” It also boasted that the business will be up and running “within the next 30 days,” which would be sometime around the first week of June.

The Sacred Mushroom is located atop a building in downtown Portland and contains 11,000 square feet. The idea behind the layout is a spacious “room to roam” design, with “unsurpassed comfort, optional private rooms, activity zones with yoga, listening stations, journaling chairs and art expression, a special “sensation room,” a relaxing indoor garden and customized experience through our proprietary Synergy By Design ‘your setting, your way’ program.”

The press release cited data from Precedence Research, which stated that the U.S. behavioral health market was valued at $83 million in 2022, and projected a value increase to $136 billion by 2032.

Kaya Holdings Inc.’s OTCBQ market symbol is KAYS, and the company currently holds three cannabis licenses in total: one in Portland, Oregon, and two in Greece.

According to KAYS CEO Craig Frank, psilocybin is the next frontier in psychedelic medicines. “The introduction of legal psilocybin treatments in Oregon marks the beginning of perhaps the most disruptive force in the mental health sector, transforming treatment protocol and redirecting resources,” Frank said in a press release. “Our distinctive guest experience model, the environment offered by the size and design of the facility and the dedication of our staff are designed to make The Sacred Mushroom the premier choice for anyone turning to psychedelics for relief or transformation. For these reasons I believe KAYS is well positioned to become a leader in the ‘delivery of care’ of psychedelics.”

The state’s first psilocybin service center, EPIC Healing Eugene, opened in June 2024. “Our services focus on deep healing work, mindfulness, empowerment, spirituality, and transformation through psilocybin facilitation and integration,” EPIC Healing Eugene stated on its website. “We teach self-help strategies that support self-directed personal development and brain change. We help you prepare for a healing shift that will help you get the most out of your experiential journeys. Our skilled and supportive staff offer preparation sessions, followed by integration sessions to help you better recognize and incorporate the gems of insight from your psychedelic experiences into your daily life.”

Three months later, more than 3,000 people were on the waitlist despite high prices of entry, while many others praised their experiences.

The Sheri Eckert Foundation is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 2021 by Sheri Eckert. She was the co-creator of Measure 109, which was passed by Oregon voters to establish legal psilocybin service centers, however she passed away in December 2020 before she could see the results of the law she helped to build. Through the Sheri Eckert Foundation, Eckert’s goal to “receive and allocate funds to individuals and organizations operating in Oregon’s legal and regulated psilocybin facilitation program” lives on.

In 2023, the Sheri Eckert Foundation gave out $300,000 to 76 scholarships for psilocybin facilitation students. Most recently as of early May, the foundation is aiming to raise $1 million to give out to those who need funds to legally use psilocybin in the state. So far, $176,218 has been collected from Proteus Fund, Full Potential Fund, and Dr. Bronners.

There are 20 psilocybin service centers currently operating in Oregon, according to Willamette Week. However, one called the Journey Service Center recently closed down due to lack of participants. Founders Jenna Kluwe and Clint Martin opened the center in September 2023 and service an estimated 100 customers. According to Willamette Week, the center was able to serve about 10 people per day, with each participant paying $2,000 per day.

“My eyes were bigger than my stomach,” said Martin, who invested around $1.2 million into the business.

Kluwe also told the news outlet about her feelings on the closure. “I’ve absolutely loved doing this,” said Kluwe. “The numbers just weren’t where they needed to be.”

Susanne Ulvi, a licensed psilocybin facilitator who previously worked at The Journey Service Center, said that other centers faced slowed business this past winter. “Nobody seems to be filling their rooms,” Ulvi explained.

While Oregon’s psilocybin service centers’ future success is uncertain, studies on the efficacy of psilocybin as a medical treatment continue to grow. Researchers have found that psilocybin use enhances meditation, isn’t associated with paranoia risk, weakens a person’s response to angry faces, and so much more. One study found that nine out of every 10 Americans believe that therapeutic psilocybin use for therapy and/or well being is “morally positive.”

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The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has urged a federal appeals court to deny a doctor’s attempt to administer psilocybin to dying patients under so-called Right to Try legislation, arguing that such laws do not provide for exemptions to the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA). 

Dr. Sunil Aggarwal, co-founder of the Advanced Integrative Medical Science Institute, a psychedelics research and treatment clinic based in Seattle, has sued the DEA several times for authorization to use psilocybin as a treatment for depression and anxiety by terminally ill patients. Aggarwal’s legal actions are based on federal and state Right to Try laws, which permit patients with terminal illnesses to use investigational drugs for therapeutic purposes before they are approved for general use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

Psilocybin, the compound primarily responsible for the psychedelic effects of magic mushrooms, has been shown through clinical research to have great potential as a treatment for serious mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and substance misuse disorders. The compound has been designated as a “breakthrough therapy” by the FDA but remains a Schedule I drug under the CSA, a classification reserved for drugs with no medical value.

The state of Washington approved a Right to Try bill in 2017, the same year former President Donald Trump signed the federal Right to Try Act into law. Aggarwal argues in his legal action that the legislation gives him the right to administer psilocybin to his patients with terminal illnesses.

The DEA, however, has rejected Aggarwal’s attempts to gain the authority to administer psilocybin to his patients. In its rationale for rejecting a 2022 petition seeking such authority, the DEA argued that treating terminally ill patients with psychedelics would be inconsistent with maintaining public health and safety. Aggarwal also claims the DEA wants him to register as a researcher to administer psilocybin, which is not a requirement of the federal Right to Try Act.

Aggarwal appealed the DEA decision to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal, arguing that it was arbitrary and inconsistent with public health interests and established legal precedent. In February, he argued that the DEA must explain how its decision is consistent with the CSA and its own policies, noting that the agency has issued waivers for the therapeutic use of other Schedule I drugs, including the use of medical cannabis by children.

In a filing to the court last week, the DEA said that the Right to Try Act amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act but does not affect the CSA. The agency also said doctors who wish to administer controlled substances must abide by both statutes.

“The CSA and the FDCA (which the Right to Try Act amends) are separate regulatory schemes with separate requirements and restrictions,” the DEA wrote, as quoted by Green Market Report. “Nothing in the Right to Try Act changes that.”

The DEA also argued that the court should reject Aggarwal’s claims because he has not provided sufficient evidence to support them. The law enforcement agency also said it could not adequately evaluate his plan to administer psilocybin because he did not give enough information to justify the waiver he was requesting.

Shawn Hauser, a partner at the cannabis and psychedelics law firm Vicente LLP, slammed the DEA’s position, saying the agency “continues to overtly misinterpret the law using unlawful delay tactics to deny terminally ill patients access to life-saving medicines that federal law affords them access to.”

“Federal Right to Try laws were designed to allow eligible, terminally ill patients who qualify to use investigational new drugs that have undergone clinical trials (such as psilocybin), even if they are Schedule I substances,” Hauser wrote in an email to High Times. 

“The law includes a clear exception to the FDCA’s safety/efficacy requirements that allow the use of unapproved, investigational drugs, such as psilocybin, that have completed successful FDA trials, by terminally ill patients,” she added. “This seems to be another excuse and obstruction by the DEA to deny patients access to a life-saving treatment that studies clearly demonstrate can be used safely as medicine.”

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Among the many states currently looking to enact measures to investigate psychedelic regulation and increase psychedelic research, Maine is one of the latest to throw its hat in the ring. 

Lawmakers supporting the initial reform bill were hoping to usher in a new era of psychedelic drug regulation for therapeutic use, though the amended bill would pump the breaks and instead set the groundwork to potentially legalize and regulate at a later time.

The legislation would establish a commission to study and make recommendations on psychedelic regulation and related services, specifically examining what a legal framework “for the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs, including but not limited to psilocybin,” may involve, Marijuana Moment first reported. The bill now heads to the desk of Gov. Janet Mills (D).

A Legislative Compromise: The Original Bill

The legislation, LD 1914, was approved by the House via voice vote on Tuesday just days after the Senate approved it. While the current language focuses on studying the proper pathways to potentially legalize and regulate psychedelics in therapeutic settings, the original legislation would have legalized psilocybin in therapeutic contexts.

It’s a disappointing turn of events for those pushing for urgent access to psychedelic medicines and treatments, though Maine lawmakers in favor of psychedelic reform, like Rep. David Boyer (R), still recognized that the bill “represents progress,” albeit not as much as many lawmakers and advocates had hoped for. 

In an email exchange with Marijuana Moment, Boyer cited evidence brought to the committee regarding how psilocybin can help a variety of different people with a wide range of conditions and needs. Still, he said it “seemed like” his Republican colleagues, and even many Democrats, were not ready to vote for the previous measure.

“Hopefully, they do good work and we have a little bit more of a starting place” for the next session, Boyer said. Lawmakers considered other options to amend the bill, like removing provisions that would have allowed for personal possession outside of the regulated program, though Boyer said that route “seemed to cause more problems than solutions.” 

So, if Mills gives the final OK, what exactly would the updated legislation entail?

Maine Psychedelic Commission Could Pave the Way for Future Reform

If passed, the bill would create a 13-member panel comprised of legislative appointees, health experts, a military veteran, academics and folks experienced in psychedelics policy. 

Similar to other states that have created investigative groups to research psychedelic medicine and regulation, the Maine commission would review “medical, psychological and scientific studies, research and other information on the safety and efficacy of psilocybin in treating behavioral health conditions.”

It would also look to other states and their approaches to psychedelic regulation. Additionally, the commission would be responsible for laying out a plan detailing how Maine could establish its own regulatory framework for psychedelic substances, psilocybin and otherwise in the future.

Specifically, the commission would be tasked with developing a “long-term strategic plan for ensuring that psilocybin services will become and remain a safe, accessible, and affordable therapeutic option for all persons who are 21 years of age or older and for whom psilocybin services may be appropriate.” It would also be responsible for advising and making recommendations to the legislature surrounding a legal framework for the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs.

Luckily for psychedelic reform advocates, the turnaround time to report findings is relatively quick, with the commission required to meet six times and deliver its report to the legislature by Nov. 6, 2024. Still, it’s uncertain if and how quickly findings would lead to the regulation of psychedelic assisted therapies in the state.

Psychedelic Reform: An Ongoing Local Push, Growing National Trend

Maine has made related efforts in recent months, including a similar bill that would have originally decriminalized drug possession and invested in treatment resources. It was since amended to create a task force to study the proposed reform measures instead.

However, Portland, Maine — the state’s largest city — made waves last year when city council voted to pass a resolution to deprioritize prosecution for possession of psilocybin and other psychedelic drugs. It is not a decriminalization measure but rather “sets official city policy to put those crimes at the lowest priority for prosecution.”

While the latest bill may not immediately result in therapeutic access for psychedelic medicines in Maine, it represents one of many active bills around the country regarding psychedelic research and reform — a topic that was hardly even mentioned only a few years ago — and serves as another reminder that this momentum surrounding psychedelic access across the U.S. is unlikely to slow any time soon.

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A new technique has arrived that measures the potency of psilocybin and psilocin, great news for those medicated by mushrooms. 

Credit goes to teams at the University of Texas at Arlington, Scottsdale Research Institute in Phoenix, Shimadzu Scientific Instruments in Maryland, and Millipore-Sigma in Round Rock, Texas. They comprise the brilliant minds behind the method for quantifying the potency of psilocybin and psilocin in magic mushrooms, known in the medical and scientific community as Psilocybe Cubensis. “These legislative changes are expected to facilitate further research and potential clinical applications,” stated Kevin Schug, the Shimadzu Distinguished Professor of Analytical Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Psilocybin is not a psychoactive compound. Psilocin, however, has a strong relationship to our 5-HT receptors, which are responsible for the infamous psychoactive effects. 

Schug and the team’s discovery was originally published in a recent issue of Analytica Chimica Acta, breaking down the experimentation and final results. It took ten authors to explain the results, including Sabrina Islam, Sue Sisly, and Arun Babu Kumar, among other significant team members behind the breakthrough in testing.

Here’s how they did it: utilizing liquid chromatography (LC) with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), they extracted and measured the potency of the mushrooms. For those without a scientific background in the audience, liquid chromatography separates molecules. As for tandem mass spectrometry, it dissects ions into fragments and reveals the chemical structure.

By combining these two techniques, the researchers studied five strains of dried, intact mushrooms: Blue Meanie, Creeper, B-Plus, Texas Yellow, and Thai Cubensis. (Familiar names to mushroom aficionados, no doubt.) The study found that the average total concentrations of psilocybin and psilocin for the Creeper, Blue Meanie, B+, Texas Yellow, and Thai Cubensis strains were 1.36, 1.221, 1.134, 1.103, and 0.879%. The entire process is surprisingly described as “relatively low-cost,” which inspires hope for present and future clinics and patients.

The revelatory results were cross-referenced in two separate labs, including a non-affiliated lab, to confirm accuracy. “As medical professionals identify more safe and effective treatments using mushrooms, it will be important to ensure product safety, identify regulatory benchmarks, and determine appropriate dosing,” Schug added about the discovery. “Established and reliable analytical methods like the one we describe will be essential to these efforts to use mushrooms in clinical settings.”

Now, time for a bit (or A LOT) of history.

Mushrooms grow in mundane substrates such as dung, mosses, soil, and wood. They can flourish in various conditions. Consider it a part of their magic. Among the hundreds of species in the Psilocybe genus, the popular kid is P. Cubensis. Growing kits for P. Cubensis are commercially available, even if they are sadly illegal in many states.

At their best, Psilocybe Cubensis and other magical mushrooms can induce perceptual distortions, mood alterations, mystical experiences, and euphoria. Under the right circumstances and perhaps with the right group of people, they not only provide a good time but an enlightening one that makes you and the world around you glow (aka a “serotonergic psychedelic”). For thousands of years, they’ve been ingested and appreciated, all the way back to indigenous tribes and civilizations. Of course, to this day, magical mushrooms are ingested in ceremonies for religious and spiritual purposes. Or, in most cases, just to have a damn good, mind-expanding time. 

In 1970, Uncle Sam attempted to kill the party and curb the mushroom fun, as well as the mushroom healing. The anti-hippie President Richard Nixon and his famously corrupt administration passed the Controlled Substances Act. Nixon, a devilish general of sorts in the war on drugs, made the possession of psilocybin and psilocin illegal. Mushrooms were classified as Schedule 1 substances. In the Act’s own, outdated words, a Schedule 1 drug is essentially one with “no currently accepted medical use in the United States, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse.”

Due to government restrictions, research on shrooms slowed down significantly. Not much support was ever there for it; researching Schedule 1 drugs in the United States necessitates registration and licensure by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Not an easy task, basically. It was a topic of importance that went undiscussed in the ‘70s, but eventually, the truth came into the light: mushrooms are viable medical treatments. 

The beautiful drug’s legal status continues to evolve, albeit at a slower than desired pace. Oregon – which was the first state to decriminalize cannabis in 1973 – became the first U.S. state to legalize the federally illegal psilocybin-assisted therapy. Since then, Colorado has also decriminalized the possession of magic mushrooms. As a result, more research and potential clinical applications have been pursued and produced groundbreaking developments, such as the new technique to measure potency, that will continue to improve and even save lives, thanks to all the advocates and researchers involved. 

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