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Bruce Tobin became interested in psilocybin, the psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms, 10 years ago when he was approached by a woman who was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
She suffered from intense depression, fear and hopelessness and the prospect of impending death.
Fortunately, good treatment has brought her cancer into remission. However, she continued to suffer from these excruciating psychological symptoms, and conventional medical options proved ineffective to contain them.
“The cancer was behind her, but there was constant fear that he would return,” said Tobin, a Victoria, BC psychotherapist who has been practicing for 35 years.
1:23
Denver, CO, votes to decriminalize magic mushrooms
Denver, CO, votes to decriminalize magic mushrooms
After exploring other options, the woman tried psilocybin mushrooms. In a short time, her perspective improved drastically.
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“She reported huge increases in optimism, mental wellbeing, quality of life, and an increased sense of acceptance of her death whenever this happens,” said Tobin.
Her experience is in line with recent studies that have shown how psilocybin can help end-stage cancer patients deal with anxiety that results from their diagnosis. Other emerging research shows the potential of psychedelics that have been granted “breakthrough therapy” status by the United States Food and Drug Administration to potentially treat and cure a range of medical problems, from Alzheimer’s to depression to towards addiction.
Due to the positive mushroom experience of his patients, Tobin is committed to the fight for patient access to psilocybin and is ready to go to court, much like cannabis patients and lawyers fought for access.
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The Vancouver City Council files an application to put an end to the sale of “magic mushrooms”
Tobin is among a growing number of healthcare providers and researchers around the world who are committed to the potential of mushrooms and other psychedelics that have been banned in Canada and the United States since the 1970s, but are in the midst of a renaissance.
This autumn, the University of Toronto launched the Center for Psychedelic Studies, which is the world’s first clinical trial of microdosing psilocybin. It joins a number of other major institutions that provide resources for psychedelic research, including other research centers at Johns Hopkins University and Imperial College London.
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And in the year cannabis was approved for recreational use in Canada, the world of psychedelics has also attracted a number of cannabis leaders who see it as the next frontier for therapeutic innovation.
There are now competing forces across the country that are characterized by those who are willing to break the law to gain access to psychedelics and those who see legal channels as the best way forward.
1:34
The Canadian police officer says Ayahuasca helped him deal with the PTSD
The Canadian police officer says Ayahuasca helped him deal with the PTSD
In 2017, Tobin submitted an application to Health Canada requesting an exemption from existing drug laws that would allow him to procure synthetic psilocybin and make it available to a group of end-stage cancer patients who are in need of life the other treatments don’t work.
“You become depressed, demoralized and life seems to lose its meaning. There is no sense of the future, “said Tobin.
Tobin estimates that there are nearly 3,000 people in Canada, including his patient population, who may benefit from medical psilocybin.
He has revised his application to Health Canada several times over the years and has received letters of support from members of the psilocybin research team in the United States, including Johns Hopkins University.
But he says months have passed since he heard about the federal health agency. If he is rejected or receives no response, Tobin plans to take the matter to court next year.
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“We’re talking about several thousand Canadians who suffer every day and continue to be denied treatment,” said Tobin. “Late treatment is denied.”
Health Canada did not comment on the details of the exemption requests it received for privacy reasons, but said it received two requests for psilocybin, including one from 2017.
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Health Canada allows more religious groups to import Ayahuasca
Tobin’s arguments in favor of psilocybin supply are similar to those of medical cannabis advocates, whose successful legal battles eventually forced Health Canada to create special regulations that allow patients to obtain licenses to use and grow cannabis.
Tobin sees these precedents as the basis for his own case. However, he said that he is not in favor of decriminalizing psychedelics, as was done in Denver, Colorado earlier this year.
“I do not support the liberalization of psilocybin for spiritual or recreational purposes. I limit my message to the medical use of psilocybin, ”he said.
While Tobin is fighting for access to psilocybin on behalf of his patients, he realizes that he is not an “underground therapist”. The patients are responsible for procuring the substance themselves.
“I’ve always felt that if I go to court and engage in illegal activities, it could come back to bite me,” said Tobin. “So I played the spotless role here. But I won’t go away.”
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4:49
The psychedelic drug MDMA is currently used to treat PTSD
The psychedelic drug MDMA is currently used to treat PTSD
Dana Larsen goes the opposite way.
Long-time Vancouver cannabis lawyer is known to protest drug laws by overtly violating them. Now he’s targeting psychedelic mushrooms. Although he shares Tobin’s goal of ensuring medical access to psilocybin, he would like to see it fully legalized or decriminalized.
This summer, he opened an illegal mail order website, The Medicinal Mushroom Dispensary, and plans to open a physical space next year where people can consume psychedelics under supervision.
“It’s a natural development to turn into psychedelics. The time is right, ”said Larsen.
He is one of several illegal online mushroom stores in Canada, but Larsen seems to be the only operator who is knowledgeable about his business.
Dana Larsen in his cannabis pharmacy in Vancouver.
THE CANADIAN PRESS / Jonathan Hayward
Health Canada has instructed other pharmacies to cease operations entirely. In July, the Health Department sent a letter to Mungus.ca stating that its operations violated Canadian drug laws.
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“You must immediately stop all activities related to psilocybin mushrooms and remove any content from your website that is related to the sale of a controlled substance,” the letter said on the Mungus.ca website.
Health Canada confirmed in an email that the Mungus letter is authentic and is one of 6 letters sent to websites that offer psilocybin.
For Larsen, who has faced numerous cannabis charges, his mushroom pharmacy is part of a broader effort to normalize and ultimately legalize psychedelics.
“Civil disobedience was not the only reason cannabis was legalized in Canada, but I don’t think it would have happened without it,” said Larsen. “And I think we’ll see similar things with mushrooms and psychedelics.”
Larsen’s online company offers microdosing to its members. In this case, it is a small amount of mushrooms that should be taken a few times a week. This is different from taking a dose that is large enough to trigger a trip that can take several hours.
4:53
The University of Alberta is partnering with Atlas Biotechnologies to research cannabis
The University of Alberta is partnering with Atlas Biotechnologies to research cannabis
Like many illegal or so-called “gray market pharmacies” that operated before cannabis was legalized, Larsen will only sell to people in Canada who provide proof of diagnosis or recommendation for psilocybin from a healthcare doctor.
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This includes providing the substance to minors “if the parents agree under certain circumstances”.
According to Larsen, the number of members of the Pilz pharmacy has risen to over 1,000 in the six months since its introduction.
“It’s growing faster than I did cannabis 10 years ago, when I started pharmacies and other projects,” he said. “But cannabis itself was easier for normal people, but mushrooms, especially microdoses, need to know someone.”
4:00
Why Are Some Canadian Cannabis Companies Fighting?
Why Are Some Canadian Cannabis Companies Fighting?
Former cannabis executives and researchers working on psychedelics say that strict science and regulations must be followed first to keep up with the burgeoning industry.
“My argument has always been that cannabis exists everywhere. Ignoring helps illegal operators. It’s the same with psychedelics, ”said Bruce Linton, formerly co-CEO of cannabis giant Canopy Growth, who recently joined Toronto-based Mind Medicine Inc.
“The government’s job is not to ignore. They should regulate, educate, and make money in this area, ”said Linton, who still has a foot in the cannabis field, at a cannabis conference in Las Vegas. “Anyone who opens illegal activities simply gives the government a stronger, compelling argument, just to knock.”
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Bruce Linton, former Co-CEO of Canopy Growth Corp., greets the media in a new visitor center at Canopy Growth’s Tweed facility in Smiths Falls, Ontario on Thursday, August 23, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS / Sean Kilpatrick
THE CANADIAN PRESS / Sean Kilpatrick
Linton’s company, also known as “Mindmed”, announced in September that it had invested in a molecule based on another psychedelic, Ibogaine, to pursue its potential as a treatment for opioid addiction.
The company raised over $ 6 million in new investments earlier this year and plans to go public in Canada in 2020.
Although Linton says current scientific research into psychedelics is exciting and in many ways more advanced than cannabis, he doubts that a flood of cannabis experts like him will enter the sector. For him, it takes harder work and more complicated ideas.
“Researchers are more likely to come out of the woods if they can present themselves appropriately and have no access to capital or career,” said Linton.
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In the past 40 to 50 years, much of the research has been done “in the shade”.
“Now you have to be smart and choose the jurisdictions where you can do your job and not be out of sight. They don’t want to say, “I’ll change the rules in Canada and then get the job done.” No, do the work and use the work to change the rules. “
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