Psychedelics

The Tacoma, Washington City Council has unanimously passed a resolution to make prosecutions for entheogenic psychedelics the lowest priority for law enforcement.

Lawmakers in a Virginia Senate committee have advanced a bill funding clinical trials to investigate federally recognized “breakthrough therapies” for veterans’ mental health issues, including psychedelic substances like MDMA and psilocybin.

Massachusetts voters rejected the state’s medical psychedelics legalization ballot initiative with 57% opposed and 43% in favor. The proposal sought to legalize the medical use of psilocybin, psilocin, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ibogaine, and mescaline for patients aged 21+.

Activists in Portland, Oregon are planning to pursue a ballot initiative in 2026 to decriminalize natural psychedelics including psilocybin mushrooms and ayahuasca after lawmakers this year voted to undo the state’s voter-approved drug decriminalization policy.

The DEA is proposing revised 2024 and new 2025 production quotas for research-grade psychedelics including psilocybin, psilocin, and ibogaine. The agency says the new production rates are needed to drive new research.

Colorado officials recently released the state’s final regulations for its medicinal psilocybin program. Under the rules, psychedelic therapy centers will be cleared to open for business starting next year.

The head of UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior is aiming to convert the institute’s top floor into a rooftop garden, or “living laboratory,” designed to study and facilitate psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Massachusetts officials have confirmed that voters will decide this November whether to legalize psychedelics including DMT, mescaline, ibogaine, psilocybin, and psilocin for adults aged 21+.

Researchers analyzing data from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study recently found that older adults who have used psychedelics tend to exhibit better cognitive function and fewer depressive symptoms.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) could finally let veterans participate in state-legal medical cannabis programs under a House-approved amendment to the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (MilConVA) Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Bill.

In a review of the hallucinogen MDMA posted last week, the FDA highlighted concerns about the initial investigations into the drug as a potential new therapy for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Following the recent failure of a state bid to legalize psychedelic treatment centers in California, advocates now say they are considering a 2026 state ballot measure to address psychedelics reform.

The proposal to legalize psychedelic treatment centers in California has failed for the year. The proposal was crafted in response to concerns raised by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) last year after he vetoed a different proposal to decriminalize certain naturally occurring psychedelics.

The publicly traded and internationally licensed cannabis company Kaya Holdings Inc. announced this week that it has received a license to administer therapeutic psilocybin products in Oregon.

According to a new study compiled by UK researchers, psilocybin — the naturally occurring psychedelic in so-called “magic mushrooms” — shows promise as an effective treatment for depression.

California lawmakers in the Senate Public Safety Committee voted to advance a proposal that would establish treatment centers where adults aged 21+ could access psilocybin, MDMA, DMT, and other psychedelics.

A bipartisan Wisconsin proposal is seeking to make it easier for researchers to treat patients with post-traumatic stress disorder with psilocybin.

A recent study published in the journal Psychedelic Medicine found that a majority of American Psychiatric Association members either moderately or strongly believed that hallucinogens show promise in treating psychiatric conditions.

Researchers at Duke University are exploring how psychedelics function in the brain by dosing larval zebrafish with a compound similar to LSD, and investigating how the substance affects movement and perception.

A recent study published in the journal Scientific Reports found that individuals who used psychedelics were more likely to experience better mental health outcomes during the pandemic.

City officials in Detroit, Michigan have closed the building that formerly housed the psychedelic religious institution Soul Tribes International Ministries, which offered psilocybin mushrooms as a sacrament.

Harvard University is creating a Study of Psychedelics in Society and Culture that aims to “transform the psychedelics research landscape.”