🫠 This Week in Psychedelics

Welcome to Tricycle Day. We’re the psychedelics newsletter with an anxious attachment style. So thanks for opening us. We were about to spiral. 🥹

Here’s what we got this week.

We like to make things simple around here.

Research and policy news, for sure. But that also goes for having a psychedelic experience of your own. We strive to make that process as straightforward as possible.

Which leads to our latest offering, Althea Direct, just launched on Sunday.

Althea Direct is a private, one-on-one psilocybin session, matched and confirmed fast, with a facilitator our care navigation team has already vetted for you.

Pricing is 100% clear upfront, so there are never any surprises before you book.

(You’ll get enough of those from the mushrooms on journey day.)

Big brain moves: In a review of studies on classic psychedelics, MDMA, and ketamine, psilocybin showed the most consistent gains in cognitive benefits.
Battle tested: Special operations veterans with TBI still had meaningful symptom improvements 12 months after ibogaine treatment.
Is that what we’re calling it? Salvia divinorum induces a mode of consciousness reorganization, distinct from other psychedelics, that may be useful for psychotherapy.
Jury’s still out: A meta-analysis concluded that, while some microdosing studies demonstrated mood and personality benefits, the evidence for clinical use is thin.
Magic markers: A study of low-dose oral ketamine identified two blood biomarkers that tracked with symptom improvements in depression and PTSD.

Time capsule: The University of Miami gifted HHS Secretary RFK Jr. the original 1994 ibogaine IND application to speed up development and approval in the U.S.
Nerd alert: The Yale Journal on Regulation posted four articles on psychedelics and the law, exploring topics like functional unblinding and pre-approval access.
Keep digging: Indiana’s psilocybin research has already produced “unprecedented findings,” and there are champions in the Senate pushing for more funding.
Another one bites the dust: Massachusetts is the latest state to issue an emergency order to restrict kratom sales.
Free the mushroom: The founder of Missouri’s first ketamine therapy practice has spent years pushing state legislators to allow psilocybin use in clinical settings.

Spill the tea: Psychedelic Alpha has more details on Resilient’s MDMA resubmission. (See previous coverage.)
Match made in healthcare: Osmind is using it network of psychiatric practices to support the launch of Tasman Therapeutics’ investigational oral extended-release ketamine product.
Deep pockets: Optimi Health struck a deal that lets it sell up to $100 million in shares over time to a single investor.
Coming to America: Overseas manufacturers of MDMA and psilocybin are making moves to access the potential U.S. market.
Just getting started: A psilocybin healing center team with two Colorado locations reflects on business as it enters year two.

Let the light in: Have a look at the fluorescent innards of sacred plants.
Incomprehensible preciousness: Watch “don’t die” evangelist Bryan Johnson share his takeaways from 5-MeO-DMT.
Master of his domain: The founder of GoDaddy credits the Marines for shaping his life and psychedelics for helping him heal the trauma of war.
Integration circle: We may finally know why mushrooms grow in fairy rings.
Meme of the week: When you smoke 5-MeO-DMT and then make it your entire personality…

Compass Pathways is literally shaking right now.

Same with Usona, Resilient, and AtaiBeckley err, Eli Lilly… hmm actually, they probably don’t care.

Anyway, these companies have been chewing glass for years, trying to get psychedelics FDA approved. From a timing perspective, psilocybin and MDMA are leading the pack. They may well be approved first.

But in terms of actual results, Definium’s LSD (DT120) is kinda running away with it.

In June, we covered Definium's Phase 3 depression results, which sent the stock ripping. This week, Definium came back with more data, this time in generalized anxiety disorder, their lead indication.

Here’s how they did.

Once again, Wall Street picked up what Definium was putting down. Shares popped 15% at open before settling up ~5% by midmorning. Analysts expect to see sales north of $2 billion for anxiety alone.

One downside, compared to other psychedelics, is that LSD lasts a loooong time. Patients are monitored for up to eight hours post-dose. That's a full workday tied up per patient.

As for what’s next, Definium has a second GAD trial reading out next month, more depression results coming next year, and its first PTSD study also slated for 2027.

If you can’t be first, you can at least be so good they can’t ignore you. 🫠

Alright, candy lovers. A Colorado lab called Tryptomics is trying to save your ass. They recently launched testmyshroomgummies.com, a public database of independent lab results for the gray market “magic mushroom” products piling up in smoke shops and gas stations nationwide. We use scare quotes because *surprise, surprise* so far, there’s not a mushroom in sight.

To be clear, we’ve got nothing against synthetics. LSD is synthetic! The issue is, when brands hide behind opaque or deceptive labels, consumers have no idea what they're actually ingesting. We get it. There's a reason these guys reach for relatively obscure compounds. Psilocybin and psilocin are Schedule I, while cousins like 4-HO-MET, 4-ACO-DET, 4-HO-DET, and 4-ACO-MET can still slip through the legal gaps. (It's a whole alphabet soup out here.)

Need we revisit the infamous Diamond Shruumz incident? A couple years ago, dozens of people got hospitalized over exactly this kind of undisclosed ingredient blunder. Now, a searchable database won't solve the gray market’s transparency problems overnight, especially since it’s hardly scratched the surface of what's on shelves. But from now on, the only business we want to see flaunting a “proprietary blend” is KFC.

Psychedelics outside the mental health lane always get us going, and motor function is among the more titillating frontiers. For instance, we've covered psilocybin for Parkinson's and heard whispers about stroke recovery, too. Intuitively, neuroplasticity must be playing a role here. But just like with integration, you either use that window or it closes on you. So scientists just asked a fantastic question… can you do physical therapy while tripping, and how hard can you push it?

Researchers in Melbourne dosed 13 healthy volunteers with 5mg to 20mg of psilocybin and then ran them through balance beams and block-sorting drills. (Kinda like a field sobriety test, but more magical.) Up to 15mg, everyone crushed it. Some even beat their baseline scores. At 20mg, things pretty much fell apart. In fact, one participant lost the ability to move entirely and needed blankets just to remember they had a body.

Of course, these were healthy volunteers, not patients, so there's no verdict yet on outcomes for neurodegenerative disease or injury rehab. But we've got a theoretical dosing ceiling now to pressure test. Under 15mg, patients can do the work, but past 20mg, well… good luck getting them to engage with this ol’ meat sack.

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

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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.