Jamaican pharmacy chain Fontana Pharmacy announced that it partnered with the country’s first legal psychedelic consumer packaged goods company PATOO to sell PATOO’s suite of legal and lab-tested psilocybin-infused products at seven locations across the island.

Jamaica is one of only a handful of countries in the world where the cultivation, sale, and consumption of psychedelic mushrooms are legal.

Fontana Pharmacies said that the PATOO products will be securely stored behind retail counters, and there are age restrictions on buying the products. The company also said that Fontana staff will receive comprehensive training on dosage, benefits, and safety measures to ensure informed and responsible handling. Here’s more: https://www.greenmarketreport.com/jamaican-pharmacy-chain-to-sell-psychedelics/

New research published in the journal Nature Communications suggests brain blood vessels are the key to combating cognitive decline.  

Researchers from Penn State highlighted the critical role of healthy blood vessels in maintaining brain health and addressing age-related cognitive decline. The study reveals that vascular degradation in the brain can lead to neurodegenerative disorders.

Advanced imaging of mice brains showed significant vascular changes with aging, particularly in areas vital for memory and cognitive function. These findings suggest that preserving vascular health could be crucial for preventing cognitive decline. Check it out: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-50559-8

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis published a new study in the journal Science, identifying a method to study aged neurons in the lab without a brain biopsy.

By studying these cells in this manner, researchers were able to identify aspects of cells’ genomes — called retrotransposable elements, which change their activity as we age — in the development of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The findings suggest new treatment strategies targeting these factors, which you can read more about here: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl2992

Did you know that two new species of psychedelic mushrooms were recently discovered in South Africa?

In a paper published in the journal Mycologia, researchers from Stellenbosch University and citizen mycologists describe the two new species as Psilocybe ingeli and Psilocybe maluti.

The paper also contains information on the traditional use of Psilocybe maluti by Basotho traditional healers from the mountain kingdom of Lesotho. According to the researchers, this appears to be the only recorded first-hand report of hallucinogenic mushrooms being used traditionally in Africa.

Here’s more: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00275514.2024.2363137#d1e448