Policy
First-ever psychedelics advert launches in UK
The campaign follows Australia’s decision to reschedule psilocybin and MDMA.

Published
10 months agoon

For the next two weeks, a digital poster campaign will be featured in London asking the UK public “Could magic mushrooms be medicine?”.
The campaign invites the public to consider the emerging clinical data suggesting that psilocybin-assisted therapy could be used to treat conditions such as depression, anxiety, substance use disorders and cluster headaches.
Launched by the Psilocybin Access Rights (PAR) campaign, the digital poster follows developments in Australia, which has seen Australia, a Commonwealth country, became the first country to reschedule these traditionally stigmatised substances for use in psychotherapy.
The country’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has rescheduled psilocybin and MDMA to allow prescription by licensed psychiatrists. The conditions eligible include depression for psilocybin prescriptions and PTSD for MDMA prescriptions.
???? COULD MAGIC MUSHROOMS BE MEDICINE? ???? Today @PAR_global_ launched the UK’s first psychedelic ad campaign asking the public to support #PAR for researchers! Check it out at 6 sites across London! Congratulations to @austint @Rosie_Psi and the gang! #psilocybin #psychedelic pic.twitter.com/1UAhmnIkx3
— Timmy Davis (@TimmyJSDavis) February 13, 2023
In the UK, however, scientific research into psychedelics for treating mental and other health conditions is hindered by expensive licensing due to the scheduling of the substances.
Currently, psilocybin is a class A drug and a schedule 1 substance, making it incredibly difficult for researchers and medical professionals to access and a more highly controlled substance than heroin or cocaine – despite the recognised promise of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy.
PAR campaigners highlight that there is a desperate need for innovation in UK mental health care, which antidepressant use having doubled in England in the last decade.
PAR Campaign Director, Tara Austin, said: “The rescheduling of psilocybin will bring hope to millions. Antidepressant use in England has doubled over the last decade and one in every 10 pounds spent by the NHS is for mental health treatments, yet there have been no significant developments since SSRI antidepressants were developed more than 50 years ago.
“Just one single dose of psilocybin has been shown in studies to reduce the distress of those with terminal illness and treatment-resistant depression. No other intervention has been shown to have such significant long-term benefits after just a single exposure.
“People deserve to know the truth and to read the research for themselves. Our campaign invites them to look at the data and show our government that we expect them to do the same and put the science first over outdated stigma.
“We need more signatures on our petition this to signal to the government that the time has come to make this medicine more available as a medicine.”
In addition to the developments in Australia, Prince Harry recently admitted he had undertaken psychedelic therapy, saying of the substances involved “if you are suffering from a huge amount of loss, grief or trauma, these things have a way of working as a medicine”.
The PAR campaign is now urging the UK public to sign its petition calling for the rescheduling of psilocybin. So far, the petition has reached more than 10,000 signatures – triggering a response from the Government – but organisers need further signatures before its deadline of 17 February 2023 in order to trigger the issue to be debated in Parliament.
To find out more please visit www.cdprg.co.uk/psilocybin-access-rights-par.
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Policy
Now is the time for psychedelic access, says campaigner

Published
2 weeks agoon
21st November 2023By
News Editor
Activists in Oakland recently filed a ballot put forward by Dave Hodges seeking to legalise safe and legal access to psychedelics for therapeutic uses.
In the face of critics, Hodges has said now is the time for safe access to psychedelics.
The Psychedelic Wellness & Healing Initiative would enable the sale, possession and use of psychedelics for therapeutic purposes if passed. Psychedelics that would be allowed under the ballot include Psilocybin, MDMA, DMT, and Mescaline.
If passed, the initiative would give doctors and mental health specialists the right to recommend psychedelics to ease the debilitating symptoms of a range of problems, including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, addiction, suicidality and traumatic brain injury (TBI), among others.
Hodges has said: “Now is the time for safe, controlled medical access for patients in need. The way to solve the problem is not by continuing to ignore it.”
Hodges’ solution is to create a structure for use that includes proper dosages and access to experts who can help users benefit from appropriate treatment.
The updated initiative language emphasises safety, and gives doctors and mental health specialists the right to recommend psychedelics to ease the debilitating symptoms of a range of conditions.
Research by the University of Michigan and Columbia University shows non-LSD hallucinogenic use on the rise and Hodges has stated that increase means that the initiative providing guidelines for use is needed more than ever.
Hodges said he hopes Californians will read the initiative, share their thoughts about it over the holiday week and offer feedback via the initiative website, PW4CA.com, by 27 November, 2023, the deadline for modifications.
“Now is the time to provide medical and therapeutic access to psychedelics,” Hodges said. “The way to do this is through the initiative.”
Policy
Transform Drugs releases groundbreaking book: How to regulate psychedelics

Published
2 weeks agoon
15th November 2023
UK charity Transform Drug Policy Foundation has published a new book ‘How to Regulate Psychedelics: A Practical Guide’ that sets out how psychedelics can be legalised and regulated for non-medical adult use.
While an increasing amount of research is pointing to the potentially beneficial effects of psychedelic treatment on mental health conditions, many people across the globe are using psychedelics outside of the clinical setting.
The book includes a set of proposals for post-prohibition policies, covering psychedelics including psilocybin, LSD, DMT and Mescaline.
Previously, Transform’s guides on regulating stimulants and cannabis have been used to advise governments around the world on drug policy. This book seeks to inform the debates on psychedelic drug reforms taking place across the world.
Co-author and Public Affairs and Policy Manager at Transform Drug Policy Foundation, Ester Kincová, stated: “Despite psychedelic drugs being illegal, their non-medical use within society has been steadily increasing.
“Punitive enforcement has not decreased use or eliminated supply, but it has made use more unsafe.
“Legalising and regulating psychedelics is a pragmatic move to reduce harm. This is no longer a theoretical debate, states in the US are already recognising the need and making moves to regulate for non-medical adult use.”
Scientific Chair of Drug Science, Professor David Nutt, added: “Once again Transform have come up with a well thought out and practical plan for the regulation of another group of currently illegal drugs – in this case psychedelics.
“Their ideas would be both easy to implement and to engage with and will, if adopted, radically enhance the safe use of these remarkable agents.”
Proposals for regulation
The book includes a four-tiered regulation model “that attempts to manage the variety of psychedelic preparations and the different ways in which they are used”.
These include:
- Private use, home cultivation, foraging and not-for-profit sharing.
- Membership-based non-for-profit associations for plant-based products.
- Licensed production and retail adaptable to different products and environments
- Regulated commercial guided or supervised use
Additionally, a decriminalisation model is proposed which suggests that possession for personal use should no longer be an offence of any kind or be subject to any sanctions; Drugs for personal use should not be confiscated; cultivation of small amounts of plant-based drugs for personal use should be decriminalised, among other suggestions.
The book also includes topics such as embedding social justice, equity and human rights into policy design, how to think about psychedelics regulation, why regulate psychedelics and why now, and psychedelics and the UN drug treaties.
To read the book, please visit transformdrugs.org/.
Policy
Oakland ballot seeks to legalise medical psychedelics

Published
1 month agoon
30th October 2023By
News Editor
Activists in Oakland have filed a ballot that seeks to legalise safe and legal access to psychedelics for therapeutic uses.
The Psychedelic Wellness & Healing Initiative would enable the sale, possession and use of psychedelics for therapeutic purposes if passed. Psychedelics that would be allowed under the ballot include Psilocybin, MDMA, DMT, and Mescaline.
If passed, the initiative would give doctors and mental health specialists the right to recommend psychedelics to ease the debilitating symptoms of a range of problems, including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, addiction, suicidality and traumatic brain injury (TBI), among others.
Additionally, it would create a statewide framework for regulating the possession, use, cultivation and production of substances for medical and therapeutic use.
The initiative has been introduced by proponent and founder of the Oakland-based Church of Ambrosia, Dave Hodges, to the California Attorney General’s office for the 2024 ballot, and will need 546,651 valid signatures to qualify.
The filing follows California Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent veto of Senate Bill 58, the bill that sought to decriminalise the use of certain psychedelic drugs.
Hodges emphasised that SB58 would have been a step forward, but that it had major flaws concerning its lack of provisions to ensure access, public safety and quality control. That veto, Hodges said, compelled him to move quickly on the initiative filing.
When the California Attorney General certifies the initiative for circulation, backers will have about four and a half months to gather the required signatures for ballot placement.
Signature collecting will begin in early December.
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