atai Life Sciences announced the publication of the Phase 1 results of BPL-003, Beckley Psytech’s novel, synthetic, intranasal benzoate salt formulation of 5-MeO-DMT, in The Journal of Psychopharmacology.

The paper indicated that BPL-003 was safe and well-tolerated with no serious or severe adverse events reported. It was rapidly absorbed and eliminated, and there was a reliable onset of subjective psychedelic effects within minutes, which resolved in less than two hours. If confirmed in larger studies, these findings could support a scalable single dose treatment model fitting within the existing interventional treatment paradigm. Here’s more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/atai-life-sciences-announces-publication-110000660.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr

A California Senate committee approved a bill to legalize psychedelics service centers where adults 21 and older could access psilocybin, MDMA, mescaline and DMT in a supervised environment with trained facilitators.

The “Regulated Therapeutic Access to Psychedelics Act” has been drafted in a way that’s meant to be responsive to concerns voiced by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year when he vetoed a broader proposal that included provisions to legalize low-level possession of substances such as psilocybin. Check it out: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/california-senators-approve-bill-to-legalize-psychedelics-service-centers/

A second committee in Missouri’s House of Representatives advanced legislation that would legalize the medical use of psilocybin by military veterans and fund future studies exploring the therapeutic potential of the psychedelic.

The bill, HB 1830, would in its current form allow military veterans who are at least 21 and are diagnosed with a qualifying condition such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or substance use disorders to legally access laboratory-tested psilocybin. Meanwhile, a separate budget proposal that would spend $10 million from state opioid settlement funds to study the use of psilocybin to treat opioid use disorder passed the full House last month. Here’s more: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/second-missouri-house-panel-approves-bill-to-legalize-psilocybin-therapy-for-veterans/

Did you know that keeping your eyes closed during a psychedelic experience can enhance that experience?
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According to a recent research paper entitled: Effects of External Stimulation on Psychedelic State Neurodynamics, while brain entropy increases with LSD, it exhibits the largest changes when subjects have their eyes closed. As well, brain entropy changes are consistently associated with subjective ratings of the psychedelic experience, but this relationship is disrupted when participants are viewing a video – potentially due to a “competition” between external stimuli and endogenous LSD-induced imagery. Check it out: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acschemneuro.3c00289#