Filament Health Corp. announced that Health Canada and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have authorized a Phase 2 clinical trial of PEX010, Filament's botanical psilocybin drug candidate, for the treatment of methamphetamine use disorder (MAUD). This will be the first ever clinical trial to study the safety and efficacy of botanical psilocybin in a MAUD patient population.

There is a critical need for new interventions to support people with MAUD as there are no FDA-approved pharmacotherapies for the treatment of the condition, and effective options are extremely limited.

It has been suggested that the complexities of MAUD call for a comprehensive approach to treatment that reduces stimulant overdose and relapse. This may not be achievable with solely pharmacological interventions and research has demonstrated that psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy may be a promising approach. Check it out: https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/filament-health-announces-authorization-phase-111500628.html

A group of California lawmakers introduced a new bipartisan bill to allow limited psychedelic drug use.

Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, R-Santee, and Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, announced Thursday the introduction of Senate Bill 803, a gut-and-amend bill that would allow for the therapeutically facilitated use of certain psychedelics for military veterans and first responders, in San Diego, San Francisco and Santa Cruz.

The bill would require the three participating counties to license facilitators, who must be a medical doctor, psychologist, social worker, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, clinical counselor or naturopathic doctor. It would sunset after three years, unless extended by future legislation.  Here’s more: https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article289072569.html

The University of Ottawa announced the launch of a new master’s degree program in psychedelic studies.

The master’s degree program provides graduate students with an exploration of the many therapeutic, spiritual, ritual, and naturalistic uses of psychedelics across cultures and throughout human history. It’s a collaboration between the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Social Sciences and Faculty of Arts, with the unified goal to advance research in psychology, consciousness, comparative mysticism, and psychedelic-assisted interventions.

Part of the program will provide specialized training components for mental health professionals and spiritual care providers.  Here’s more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/benjaminadams/2024/06/07/masters-degree-in-psychedelics-studies-debuts-at-university-of-ottawa/

P.S. JLS will be  participating in the Transformative Impact Summit Africa. If you are already in Zanzibar be sure to check out Simeon’s presentation "African Psychedelics” on June 9th or a panel "Investing in Africa" June 8th.Tickets are available here: https://www.catalist.network/tickets/tis-africa-24. And you can read more about the event here: https://www.transformativeimpactsummit.com/p/2024.

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Did you know that psychedelics could potentially help people who stutter?  

According to a recent study that analyzed self-reported effects of classic psychedelics on stuttering, psychedelics may have the ability to infrase speech control while on psychedelics or shortly thereafter. Users also reported reduced effort and “improved” speech.

Currently, there are no FDA-approved pharmacotherapies to treat stuttering. But this study indicated that some users who self-identify as people who stutter have reported beneficial short-term outcomes after using psychedelics. Check it out: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094730X24000263