Advertisement 1

Keenan: Finding the magic in the mushrooms

Article content

Bring up the subject of psilocybin at a party and someone will probably start reminiscing about trying “magic” mushrooms back in their hippie days. Yes, it’s true, psilocybin is the magic ingredient in those fungi.

Yet serious medical experts are now discussing this drug, and others like MDMA (ecstasy) and ketamine, as possible therapies for a number of conditions. The University of Calgary has even announced a new endowed chair in psychedelic research.

Advertisement 2
Story continues below
Article content
Article content

Funded by a $3-million donation by Calgarian Jim Parker, the chair’s mandate is to “conduct research on the potential use of psychedelics to improve mental health.” According to information provided by the University, Parker was inspired to support research into psychedelics because his then 21-year old niece Courtney was suffering from debilitating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Courtney went to the U.S. and “received five rounds of intravenous ketamine, precisely dosed under medical supervision.” She reports that the drug “took me out of body — you’re able to see your trauma from a third-party perspective, which was really helpful.” She is now thriving.

While the Parker Psychedelic Research Chair is a Canadian first, prestigious Johns Hopkins University has a Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. One of its investigators, neuroscientist Frederick Barrett, spoke at the recent conference of the American Association for the Advance of Science (AAAS). He described “growing clinical evidence of the really possibly profound effects that these (psychedelic) compounds, in the right setting, may have for patients suffering from at least mood and substance use disorders.”

Advertisement 3
Story continues below
Article content

Barrett emphasized the importance of careful screening of prospective patients for cardiovascular issues and risk of psychosis, as well as close monitoring of the sessions, which typically last six to eight hours. There is also extensive follow-up counselling and aftercare. This is definitely not something he’d advise you to try on your own, or even with a Mexican shaman or the like.

Barrett and his colleagues published a study in 2016 in which “patients with a late-stage cancer diagnosis who were suffering from depression and anxiety … were randomized to either receive a high dose or a low dose of psilocybin.” For those who received the high dose, researchers saw a “precipitous drop on both depression and anxiety scores,” and the effect persisted for six months. Even those who received the low dose showed substantial improvement which Barrett says may be attributable to the “extra-pharmacological effects” such as the counselling. Those patients were then crossed over to the high dose, and also saw significant improvement lasting for months.

While women have a two to three times higher risk of developing PTSD than men, males are more likely to be in professions like policing and the military which can lead to severe PTSD. A study by Miranda Olff of the University of Amsterdam also found that “traumatic stress affects different areas of the brains of boys and girls at different ages.”

Advertisement 4
Story continues below
Article content

Tony White participates in legal psychedelic-assisted therapy on January 1, 2021. The therapy is intended to help White deal with the challenges that come with stage 4 cancer. Courtesy, ATMA Journey Centers
Tony White participates in legal psychedelic-assisted therapy on January 1, 2021. The therapy is intended to help White deal with the challenges that come with stage 4 cancer. Courtesy, ATMA Journey Centers Photo by ATMA Journey Centers /ATMA Journey Centers

Other participants in the AAAS session talked about how psychedelic drugs work. According to Robin Carhart-Harris of the University of California, they can induce increased brain plasticity and produce “pivotal mental states.” He describes psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) as “a combination treatment where you try to harness the induction of plasticity for therapeutic ends.” He noted that the action is rapid, often with improvements the very next day. He reported encouraging results in treating depression, addiction, end-of-life distress, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The title of the AAAS session was “Psychedelic Research: Moving Beyond the Social and Political Stigma” and there are some major issues. One is cost. Dr. Devon Christie, medical director of Vancouver-based Numinus Wellness, Inc. said the cost of MDMA-assisted therapy is currently around US$10,000 to 15,000, which covers the drug, two therapists, and a 42-hour program.

There are also significant legal hurdles. MDMA and psilocybin are illegal in both the U.S. and Canada, except for approved medical trials. In Canada, some patients have received psilocybin therapy under what is called a section 56(1) exemption. However, in a recent case involving a Winnipeg patient with stage-4 breast cancer, the application was denied by Health Canada.

Advertisement 5
Story continues below
Article content

In January 2022, the regulator moved psilocybin to the Special Access Program. This long and complicated process requires physicians to apply for each patient and to take full responsibility for monitoring them. In the Winnipeg patient’s case, none of her doctors were willing to do this.

Calgary’s ATMA Journey Centres calls itself  “the first private therapy company to conduct legal psychedelic-assisted therapy using psilocybin under a Health Canada Section 56 exemption.” However, an update on their webpage, atmajourney.com, states that Health Canada will no longer be accepting such applications.

It appears that finding a clinical trial, or going out of the country, is currently the most effective way to get PAP. However, based on the growing evidence that these treatments have dramatic and unique benefits, you don’t need to take mushrooms to envision that this field has a vivid future.

Dr. Tom Keenan is an award-winning journalist, public speaker, professor in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape at the University of Calgary, and author of the best-selling book, Technocreep: The Surrender of Privacy and the Capitalization of Intimacy.

Article content
Comments
You must be logged in to join the discussion or read more comments.
Join the Conversation

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.

This Week in Flyers