🫠 This Week in Psychedelics

PRESENTED BY ALTHEA 🤝

Welcome to Tricycle Day. We’re the psychedelics newsletter that loves how these “controlled substances” always seem to remind us we’re not in control. 🙃

Here’s what we got this week.

• The first randomized trial of psilocybin for OCD 🍄

• Cannabis is (maybe) getting rescheduled 🌿

• Psychedelic edible brand under investigation 🕵

• See your favorite artist at Red Rocks 🏜️

FROM OUR SPONSORS

Everyone deserves access to psychedelic therapy.

Not just the people with the right resources, connections, or criteria to join clinical trials.

At least that’s what Healing Hearts Changing Minds believes. Which is why they’ve distributed more than $600k to nonprofits helping veterans and marginalized communities get care.

Healing Hearts Changing Minds isn’t waiting for laws to change. They’re backing the orgs doing the work right now.

Their next batch of grantees will be announced soon.

Learn more about their vision here or reach out directly.

MICRODOSES

🔬 Research

One day at a time: Microdosing lifts mood and creativity on dosing days, but the effects don’t seem to carry over to off days.
Sniff or sip: AtaiBeckley’s 5-MeO-DMT nasal spray could be effective as a treatment for alcohol use disorder.
Baggage claim: Childhood trauma may be a risk factor for long-lasting difficulties after psychedelic experiences.
Tuesday blues: Science confirms the three-day comedown after MDMA.
What’s your motive? The largest study to date investigating why people use psilocybin is seeking anonymous participants.

🏛️ Policy

Michigan magic: Jackson, MI could effectively decriminalize entheogenic plants and fungi.
Houston, we have funding: Texas has awarded its $50 million for ibogaine clinical trials to UTHealth Houston, which will lead a statewide partnership across multiple universities.
All outta ink: Natural Medicine Alaska failed to collect enough signatures to get its legalization question on the 2026 ballot.
Oh hi, Ohio: Ohio lawmakers met to discuss the possibility of legalizing ibogaine treatment in clinical settings.
For his next trick: Sam Chapman, former director of Healing Advocacy Fund, has launched the Center for Psychedelic Policy, a think tank focused on affordability at the state level.

📈 Business

Growing pains: Now entering its third year, Oregon’s psilocybin program is grappling with attrition.
Own it: AtaiBeckley and Enveric Biosciences both added new patents to their IP portfolios.
Let’s rock and roll: The Etheridge Foundation donated $20k to support the National Psychedelics Association’s advocacy to reschedule psilocybin.
Cold exposure: 190 adventurous leaders took an expedition to Antartica, where they discussed psychedelics and the next era of mental healthcare.
Think of the children: A psychedelic church in Oakland is trading sacraments for toy donations through the holidays.

🫠 Just for fun

True colors: Psychedelics are revealing hidden sides to people’s identities.
Lost in translation: An American playwright and actor was detained in Japan for traveling with MDMA.
The most magical kingdom: This fungus eats radiation.
Meme of the week: When you try to microdose by eyeballing the mushroom…

THE PEAK EXPERIENCE

Alert, alert

You ever had a smoke detector run low on batteries and start going off every time you breathe?

That’s what OCD is like.

That benign thought you just had: fire. That doorknob you touched: fire. That vague sense that you’re doing it wrong (never mind what “it” is): roaring flames.

Despite what many think, OCD is a lot closer to intense anxiety than quirky perfectionism. And sadly, about half of patients don't respond to standard treatments. But new research out of Yale suggests psilocybin could silence the false alarms.

In the first randomized, placebo-controlled trial of single-dose psilocybin for treatment-resistant OCD, researchers found clinically significant symptom reductions 48 hours after dosing.

Here’s what they learned from interviewing the participants.

• ✨ Partial mystical experiences: Unlike in depression trials where people often report full ego dissolution, OCD patients kept “pumping the brakes” when their need for control kicked in.

• 🧠 But it still worked: Participants experienced increased “cognitive distance” from their obsessions and a new ability to approach situations they feared.

• ⤴️ Therapy shortcut: People reported insights that normally take months of exposure therapy (like recognizing their compulsions serve no real purpose).

We know what you’re thinking. Surrender to the experience! Trust the process!

But give ‘em a break. As the lead researcher notes, OCD patients' resistance to the psychedelic experience reflects a core feature of the disorder: the compulsive need to maintain control.

(In fact, we covered another study in July, where researchers deliberately chose a gentler 10mg dose for that very reason. Yale used ~17-20mg depending on body weight.)

The downside is, the effects lasted days to weeks, rather than months to years. So multiple trials are now testing repeated dosing with therapy to integrate and extend the benefits.

We’d tell ‘em to hurry up… but we’re slowly learning not everything is an emergency. 🫠

AFTERGLOW

Right on schedule

Now for the rare psychedelic-adjacent update. Rumors are bubbling that Trump plans to sign an Executive Order, moving cannabis from Schedule I (the land of heroin and most psychedelics) to Schedule III (next to steroids and ketamine). Cannabis stocks are surging. Tax lawyers are salivating. Everyone’s cheering for progress.

But before you light one up in celebration, here’s what rescheduling actually means. Cannabis businesses could finally deduct normal expenses instead of getting smoked (see what we did there?) by IRS Code 280E. Banks might serve the industry. Research would become easier. Cannabis would still be federally controlled, just a tad less aggressively. And the DEA would still have to finalize the rule, which at their pace, would probably (maybe? hopefully?) happen by summer.

Meanwhile, psilocybin is still rotting in Schedule I. In August, the DEA forwarded a rescheduling petition to HHS after years of legal battles, but there's no timeline for action. As long as federal prohibition continues, the legal psilocybin businesses in Oregon and Colorado are still pretty much S.O.L. for banking and insurance. But if cannabis rescheduling works, maybe psychedelics get their turn next.

Playing in traffic

Ah jeez, here we go again. California just seized over 1,000 pounds of TRE House “magic mushroom” edibles and issued a statewide warning about the brand's products. TRE House's website claims their products contain zero psilocybin or psilocin, and technically that's true. So what gives? Well, lab tests confirmed they’re packed with (equally illegal) synthetic analogues.

From where we stand, the interesting part isn't the warning itself. It's that TRE House has been operating in broad daylight for years. They’ve been selling online and through retail, publishing lab reports, and posting their address for all to see. They’re certainly not the only ones, either. Of course, they market their chocolates and gummies as “microdose” products with a “proprietary nootropic mushroom blend” (classic), which again—let’s be clear—contain no mushrooms.

California is now investigating TRE House and their contract manufacturers, with civil and criminal penalties on the table. Grey market psychedelic brands have been playing regulatory chicken for years, banking on the fact that enforcement is slow and resources are limited. Be careful out there, Cyclists. TRE House just f'ed around and found out.

CYCLISTS’ PICKS

• 🎟️ Giveaway: Win tickets to a 2026 show of your choice at Red Rocks, the most iconic concert venue in Colorado, for you and a friend. PORTAL will even cover roundtrip flights and a hotel stay for the lucky winner.

• 📓 Book: Double Blind just released their first book. Like their flagship magazine, it’s got stunning photography, rigorous reporting, and a healthy mix of history and wisdom for the here and now.

• 🔐 Course: Psychedelics Today is running a sale on its cybersecurity fundamentals course for psychedelic practitioners and activists. Your data wants to be protected, especially if you’re operating in a grey area.

• 🪶 Artwork: The Center for Shamanic Exchange has some beautiful pieces for sale from the Shipibo and Wixárika communities. All proceeds support indigenous-led projects. Order by 12/16 if you need gifts for Christmas.

UNTIL NEXT TIME

That’s all for today, Cyclists! Whenever you’re ready, here’s how we can help.

ONE CYCLIST’S REVIEW

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DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. The use, possession, and distribution of psychedelic drugs are illegal in most countries and may result in criminal prosecution.