NewsRoom Articles - Page 18 of 153 - PsychedelicNewsWire (PNW)

FridayNov 10, 2023 3:24 pm

Minnesota Task Force on Psychedelics Starts Meeting in Preparation for Policy Reforms

A psychedelic task force commissioned to research the therapeutic benefits of LSD, MDMA and psilocybin in Minnesota and prepare the state for possible psychedelic legalization recently held its first meeting. Task force members chose a chairperson during the meeting and outlined a plan for the next few months. The psychedelic task force was formed in late May when the Minnesota legislature passed a large-scale health policy bill with psychedelic-centered language and sent it to Governor Tim Walz’s desk. The legislation established a Psychedelic Medicine Task Force and charged it with advising legislators on the medical, policy and legal issues associated…

ThursdayNov 09, 2023 2:18 pm

Neuroscience Study Shows Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Causes Rapid Changes in Brain

Psychedelic-assisted therapy has the potential to revolutionize mental-health treatments over the next couple of decades. This is an entirely new mode of treatment that involves putting patients under the influence of various hallucinogens to trigger psychedelic experiences, followed by talk therapy. A recent study has found that the combination of psychedelics and psychotherapy can induce rapid changes in the brain, potentially resulting in the treatment’s high efficacy. As psychedelic research is still a relatively new field, scientists are constantly studying hallucinogens such as psilocybin (magic mushrooms), LSD and ayahuasca to try and understand how they deliver their benefits at a…

WednesdayNov 08, 2023 11:59 am

Treat California Pulls Plug on 2024 Psychedelic Legalization Drive

A campaign that was working to legalize psychedelics in California has suspended its efforts to get a psychedelic legalization initiative on the 2024 ballot. Treat California is a citizen-driven ballot measure that would have funded the research and development of psychedelic medicines in California. The campaign recently announced that it is pulling out of the signature-gathering process and will be focusing its attention on a recently founded nonprofit organization committed to improving mental health and well-being. Although Californian voters have expressed major support for legalizing psychedelic research and expanding the public’s access to psychedelic-assisted treatments, recent surveys show that a…

TuesdayNov 07, 2023 3:53 pm

Regular Attendance of Ayahuasca Ceremonies Improves Well-Being, Study Concludes

Individuals who take part in ayahuasca ceremonies regularly reported fewer chronic and lifestyle-related diseases, increased physical activity, better diets and improved well-being compared to the general population. A recent study from the Netherlands has found that regular ayahuasca ceremony participants had better stats in various aspects of their physical and emotional lives compared to nonayahuasca users, indicating that the psychedelic may have some benefits to regular users. Ayahuasca is a traditional psychedelic brew that has been historically used by Indigenous Amazonian communities for religious, healing and spiritual purposes. Ayahuasca is created by combining a vine called Banisteriopsis caapi with leaves…

MondayNov 06, 2023 2:34 pm

Researchers Find That Psychedelics Users Embrace Alternative Viewpoints

Researchers have found that there may be a “clear association” between psychedelic use and embracing alternative viewpoints. Intent on determining whether exposure to psychedelics made people more likely to affirm alternative views, the research team provided a Conspiracy Mentality Questionnaire to nearly 400 participants who had taken part in a prior poll on the potential associations between schizotypy and psychedelic use. Schizotypy refers to personality traits with mild characteristics that are similar to schizophrenia symptoms, such as unusual behaviors and beliefs. According to the survey, 233 of the 392 study participants had recently used classic psychedelics such as LSD, psilocybin…

FridayNov 03, 2023 1:37 pm

DEA Announces Major Increase to 2023 Production Quotas for Psilocybin, THC and Ibogaine

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is proposing a “dramatic increase” in this year’s production quotas for psychedelics ibogaine and psilocybin as well as marijuana compound delta-9 THC to “support research and clinical trials.” According to the proposal, the DEA would like to almost double its THC, psilocybin and psilocin production compared to its origin projections for 2023 and increase ibogaine production by four times. The federal agency said in a recently published notice that it wants to increase “other tetrahydrocannabinol” production from 15,000 grams to 350,000 grams, raising the quota by a whopping 23 times. It also wants to…

ThursdayNov 02, 2023 2:49 pm

Psychedelic Advocates Say They Have Enough Signatures for Legislative Action

Supporters of a campaign to legalize psychedelics in Massachusetts believe they have gathered enough signatures to compel legislators to consider their initiative. If this is not successful, the group plans to put the psychedelics legalization measure on next year’s ballot. This move comes less than two months after the group, called Massachusetts for Mental Health Options, started its petition. The campaign, which is backed by New Approach, has revealed that it has verified more than 75,000 signatures from registered voters in the state. This milestone comes weeks after activists decided to pursue one of the pair of psychedelic initiatives the…

WednesdayNov 01, 2023 11:17 am

VR Widens Possibilities for Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy

Recent advancements in virtual technology may have applications in psychedelic-assisted therapy. Both are relatively new fields that have attracted lots of attention in recent years thanks to their potentially game-changing applications. Psychedelic-assisted therapy has shown it has the potential to offer long-term relief against a variety of mental-health disorders with few if any side effects. Researchers have found that virtual technology may enhance psychedelic-assisted therapy by simulating the visual phenomenology of psychedelic states. With both fields in their infancy, scientists are focusing their efforts on using virtual reality (VR) as a companion to psychedelic-assisted therapy or a potential nondrug alternative.…

TuesdayOct 31, 2023 2:44 pm

Seattle Doctor Scores Court Win Against DEA Over Refusal to Reschedule Psilocybin

Last week, a federal appeals court ruled against the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in a lawsuit filed by a doctor in Washington state who sought to get psilocybin rescheduled. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit stated that the agency hadn’t explained its reasoning when it denied Dr. Sunil Aggarwal’s petition, and the court ordered the DEA to provide a more complete justification. In its letter of denial, the DEA stated that a precondition to transferring a substance from Schedule I to II under the Controlled Substance Act was for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)…

MondayOct 30, 2023 11:55 am

Study Suggests Methamphetamine More Helpful for Social Bonding Compared to MDMA

A recent study on methamphetamines and MDMA has produced interesting findings on the two drugs and their potential association with human connection. Researchers found that both MDMA and methamphetamines can enhance feelings of closeness and connectedness, but methamphetamines seemed to deliver stronger long-term benefits on social bonding compared to the psychedelic. While both methamphetamines and MDMA are psychoactive in nature, they affect people in wildly different ways. MDMA (also known as molly or ecstasy) is a hallucinogenic with prosocial and empathogenic properties. MDMA users often report increased feelings of emotional closeness and trust, which has led to increased MDMA use…

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