Two BIG wins have happened nationally in the last two weeks!
The first BIG win was President Trump signing an Executive Order on April 18 that expedites access to psychedelic-assisted therapies such as ibogaine. This is fantastic news, especially in light of recent legislation in Texas and Mississippi to advance ibogaine research.
While the media splash from the executive order focused on ibogaine, in no small part due to the role podcaster Joe Rogan has played in elevating education about it, the order actually impacts numerous psychedelics, including psilocybin and MDMA.
For a fantastic conversation about the history of the nation’s first psilocybin program in Oregon, check out our latest podcast episode, Lessons From Treating 20,000 People with Legal Psychedelics, which just dropped today!
To learn even more about how psychedelics are used for therapeutic purposes, we recommend Michael Pollan’s book How to Change Your Mind or the Netflix adaptation by the same name.
The second BIG win was acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announcing last week that cannabis products that are regulated by a state medical marijuana program will be rescheduled to Schedule III (instead of Schedule I), along with all FDA-approved cannabis products.
Changing the scheduling of a drug impacts everything from research access to criminal penalties, from tax implications to banking options for businesses, and, of course, how consumers can legally access it. Schedule I is the most restrictive category. A move to Schedule III is a huge step in the right direction if we want functional markets and better research.
At End It For Good, we consider these to be wins for two reasons. First, any time we can move a popular substance toward legal markets, it removes cash and the incentive to commit crime from the underground market. Second, some drugs really do have therapeutic potential. If we want more people to get effective help for substance use disorder and other mental health crises, we need to have every effective tool available.
Cannabis isn’t the best tool for some people, but it’s helping others like Kelsey Parker regain their lives after addiction. Psychedelics can be dangerous for people with certain pre-existing conditions, but for others, like Ben Bush, they gave him his life and family back.
Our goal continues to be shifting away from a criminal justice response to drugs and addiction and towards a health-centered one. That means we’re not just focused on what to stop doing, we’re also focused on innovative tools that could help more people get healthy and thrive. We’re glad you’re here for that journey!