Policy
UK sees crossparty call to review scheduling of psilocybin

Published
7 months agoon

A UK Parliamentary debate on 18 May saw crossparty calls to conduct an urgent review of the evidence for psilocybin’s current status as a Schedule 1 drug under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001, “with a view to rescheduling”.
Initially, the rescheduling of psilocybin would be for research purposes only.
This would help facilitate the development of new mental health treatments, as increasing clinical evidence from around the world is showing the compound as a promising treatment in this area.
However, research in the UK is currently challenging due to psilocybin’s status as a Schedule 1 drug, leading to high licensing and laboratory costs.
The calls were supported by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Heroic Hearts and other leading mental health charities, which penned letters to the Veterans Minister and the Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire, urging them to support access to psilocybin for mental health in the UK.
Opening with a passionate speech regarding her own experience with PTSD, MP Charlotte Nichols who led the call said she has spoken to countless researchers that have run into issues that make psychedelic research either needlessly more expensive or “so prohibitively difficult to do that it’s had to be abandoned”.
“There is a huge credibility gap between psychiatry and politics for this reason,” said Nichols.
“They can’t understand why, at a time when we claim that we’re listening to experts in the field of health, and when this country is facing a mental health crisis, that we’re satisfied with doing nothing in Westminster on this issue.
“Why do we set up expert bodies and not listen to them? It’s dangerous, immoral and unethical, and it’s frankly offensive to both psychiatrists and their patients that we seem to think, as politicians, that we know better because of some moral panic 50 years ago.”
Nichols continued: “It feels like institutional cruelty, to condemn us to our misery when there are proven safe and effective treatment options if the government would only let us access them.”
The Conservative Drug Policy Reform Group (CDPRGUK), that has campaigned for three years on the rescheduling of psilocybin, commented: “We commend the cross-party group of 26 MPs for securing this milestone debate – this is a chance to scrutinise the government’s lack of action on opening up research into a medicine that has the potential to transform the treatment options available to more than a million people living with severe depression.”
In the discussion, MP Crispin Blunt, Founder and Unremunerated Chair of CDPRGUK, highlighted that since 2017, 40,000 people with depression and trauma have taken their own lives.
Underlining that the current cost of depression to the UK economy is estimated to be around £110 billion a year, equivalent to 5% of GDP, Blunt said that even if psilocybin delivers a fraction of what is hoped “the benefits to the economy will be immense…”.
He continued: “The Home Office has the power to commission a review of the evidence and there is precedent to commission such review, as was the case with cannabis-based products for medicinal use.”
The UK’s Drugs Minster did now show up for the discussion and instead, the Government was represented by the Immigration Minister.
but why no representative of the dept of health there? outrageous to ignore such a vital topic. they should be ashamed https://t.co/9ijgkihoBm
— David Nutt (@ProfDavidNutt) May 18, 2023
CDPRGUK continued: “Next week it will be necessary to establish why the Minister tasked with speaking on behalf of the Government was not the Minister with policy responsibility; unsurprisingly, the Immigration Minister had only a general grasp of the issues being discussed, and was in no position to make commitments on behalf of the government.
“No explanation was offered for why the Drugs Minster, despite having been given notice of the debate a fortnight in advance, chose to be elsewhere.
“Instead, the Minster gave a set of stock responses that have already been provided in answer to MPs’ written questions, in previous debates and in Oral Questions.
“The Minister’s comment that the government ‘has ambition’ in this area is quite at odds with the seriousness with which they treated their response to this debate.”
Alongside the pressing need to develop innovative mental health treatments, Blunt highlighted the brain drain taking place in the UK due to its restrictions on psychedelic research, with researchers relocating to other countries to carry out their work.
“Put simply, the Home Office is the enemy of the Prime Minister’s aim to make Britain a centre of global biosciences,” warned Blunt.
Keith Abraham, CEO of Heroic Hearts UK, who wrote to the Minister of State Johnny Mercer urging him to support the campaign, commented: “I take heart from the fact we even managed to get this debate to happen and that it has received positive coverage from MSM, thanks in part to two very moving speeches delivered by Charlotte and Crispin. The CDPRG and Psilocybin Access Rights (PAR) teams have worked very hard to get us this far and it feels absolutely like progress.
“However, it was disappointing to see the appropriate Minister not in attendance. That speaks volumes about how seriously the government takes this issue.
“I still believe we are making progress but there is clearly a long road ahead of us still.”
“We hope that the relevant officials will hear what has been said today, acknowledge the huge unmet need that must urgently be addressed, and persuade the Drugs Minister to commission the ACMD to review the evidence of harms of psilocybin with a view to rescheduling immediately,” concluded CDPRGUK.
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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
3 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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