SciSparc, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focusing on rare diseases of the central nervous system, announced positive results from its weight loss and metabolic disorder program with its proprietary psychedelic-based treatment.

The trial was conducted as part of the collaboration between SciSparc and Clearmind Medicine, which combined SciSparc’s anti-inflammatory agent and Clearmind’s obesity drug, MEAI. Their collaboration is also exploring potential treatment for various addictions and depression. Here’s more: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/11/28/2786939/0/en/SciSparc-Announces-Positive-Results-from-its-Weight-Loss-and-Metabolic-Disorder-Program-with-its-Proprietary-Psychedelic-Based-Treatment.html

An Arizona Psilocybin Research Advisory Council began the process of providing millions of dollars in grant funding to support research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelic mushrooms.

The council – which was established under the Arizona Department of Health Services as part of large-scale budget legislation that the governor signed in May – held the meeting about a month before officials plan to open an application period for potential grant recipients. Check it out: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/arizona-psilocybin-council-to-hold-first-meeting-this-week-as-officials-prepare-to-distribute-5-million-in-research-grants/

Ukrainian MP Dmytro Gurin announced that he would like to see Ukraine become a test bed for psychedelics, as things like MDMA and psilocybin could help treat soaring rates of PTSD in the country.

Currently, the country's health ministry estimates that between 3 million and 4 million Ukrainians live with PTSD, but this figure could become much higher if the war persists. Last year, the ministry reported that as much as 57 percent of the population (about 25 million people) is at risk of developing the chronic mental health disorder.

Gurin maintains that Ukraine's large population of trauma sufferers means the country could become a research center for MDMA-assisted therapies. He's also urging the EU to provide financial support for Ukraine to develop a nationwide clinical trial to test MDMA-assisted therapy as a first treatment for trauma, rather than a last resort, as is normally recommended. Here’s more: https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-mp-dmytro-gurin-test-psychedelics-ptsd/

Did you know that architects charged with the responsibility of overhauling a Canadian psychiatric hospital used psychedelics for inspiration?

Japanese Canadian architect Kiyoshi ‘Kiyo’ Izumi was part of a small team (including British psychiatrist and psychedelic researcher Humphrey Osmond and Canadian biochemist Abram Hoffer) who were given the task of developing a psychiatric hospital overhaul that addressed the effects that clinical environments had on patients.

For his research, Izumi visited post-war Saskatchewan’s mental hospitals to interview patients and observe their surroundings. He then took LSD in an attempt to immerse himself in an alternate reality to create the ‘ideal mental hospital’ that subverted the stigma of the ‘insane asylums’ that previously existed.

Izumi wanted to mimic the psychomimetic experience and attempt to understand and empathize with patients who experienced their reality differently due to illness. Check it out: https://www.vice.com/en/article/ypp8ax/how-kiyoshi-izumi-built-the-psych-ward-of-the-future-by-dropping-acid-5886b6e98308bb45d5e26ae6