Category Archives: Psychedelics

In recent years, dozens of newcompanies have begun to undertake the long and expensive process of developing psychedelics-based drugs for regulatory approval.

In turn, a handful of VC firms focused specifically on funding psychedelics businesses have stepped up to the plate, helping to spur studies around compounds like MDMA, psilocybin, and LSD for a plethora of illnesses.

But as drugs inch closer to approval by regulatory bodies like the Food and Drug Administration, they also become much more expensive to develop, since later-stage clinical trials often require larger numbers of participants, more trial sites, and longer trial lengths.

Enter mainstream healthcare VCs, who are dipping their toes into the still-nascent industry and have the deep pockets to support expensive late-stage clinical trials, which are crucial in order to get any new drug to market.

While a handful of high-net-worth individuals and tech investors have made investments in studying the use of psychedelics as medicine, the entry and sustained presence of mainstream healthcare VCs marks a new level of acceptance for the space, one that brands psychedelics as promising treatment for mental-health disorders in established biotech circles.

Insider scoured press releases and talked with healthcare analysts and psychedelics VCs in order to understand which mainstream healthcare VCs are leading the charge on turning psychedelics into regulated treatments.

One of the most high-profile healthcare VCs that has invested in psychedelics companies is Boston-based RA Capital. The firm, which has previously invested in companies including Novavax and Moderna, has funded at least three psychedelics-focused companies since 2020: GH Research, Cybin, and Delix Therapeutics.

All three companies are working to develop psychedelics-based compounds to treat mood disorders such as depression and anxiety.

According to CB Insights, RA Capital was one of the most active healthcare VCs in the second quarter of 2021. RA Capital did not respond to Insider's request for comment.

Other mainstream firms, like Catalio Capital and OrbiMed have made at least two investments into the space.

Catalio Capital was founded in 2020, when it spun out from Camden Partners Holdings to focus on expanding its investments in the biotech space. It has invested in biotech companies including Thrive Earlier Detection, Recursion, and Freenome. The firm backed the psychedelics companies Atai and Compass Pathways when the companies were private, and since their respective IPOs, Catalio has continued to hold positions.

New York-based OrbiMed, which has invested in over 80 life-sciences startupsincluding diagnostics giants Invitae and Guardant Health. The firm has backedAwakn and Cybin in the psychedelics space. Awakn is developing ketamine and MDMA for alcohol-use disorder while Cybin is working to develop compounds like psilocybin and DMT to treat anxiety, neuroinflammation, and other illnesses in early-stage trials.

A smaller healthcare VC firm, Connecticut-based Soleus Capital, has made investments into two psychedelics companies: Compass Pathways and Field Trip.

The vast majority of mainstream healthcare VCs that have made an investment into the psychedelics space have gone in on one name:GH Research.

Almost a dozen mainstream biotech investors, including Deerfield Management Company and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, have backed the firm since it was founded in 2018.

Dublin-based GH Research is developing a medicine for treatment-resistant depression that's based on a psychoactive compound called 5-MeO-DMT, found in the Sonoran Desert toad. Its lead compound, GH001, was tested in a phase-one and partial phase-two trial, which wrapped up in November 2021.

The company said it expects to submit clinical trial applications for a phase-two-B trial in the third quarter of 2022.

Connor Williams, an analyst at RTW Investments who covers GH Research and neurological diseases, told Insider that he believes his and other VCs' interest in GH Research is based on the fact that the company's compound didn't have the same "onerous requirements for patients" as the other psychedelics in development. Cowen analyst Ritu Baral added that the pedigree of the company's founders who have substantial biotech experience likely also helped catapult awareness among specialist investors so quickly.

Though the vast majority of mainstream VCs interested in psychedelics have only hedged their bets on GH Research, George Petrocheilos, a managing partner at Catalio, told Insider that he believes more mainstream investors are becoming interested in the space.

"I think it's already happening," Petrocheilos said, adding that he's received a lot of diligence calls and interest calls from mainstream investors who want to better understand the industry.

"They understand that it's a great opportunity," he said.

RTW's Williams agreed that more healthcare VCs may become interested in the space, especially as the science develops.

"If you continue to see strong data with novel compounds that are differentiated, then it could grow," he said. "If you see data get worse, then maybe not. So it's really about following the science."

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The Mainstream Healthcare VCs Dipping Their Toes Into Psychedelics - Business Insider

Psychedemia is a mix of psychedelic and academiameaning the integration of psychedelics into academiaand is a term coined by LSD research pioneer Humphry Osmond in 1957.

It has been used since 2012 as the title for a grassroots collaborative psychedelics conference organized to foster novel contributions to this burgeoning field, and to consider data from new research with an open mind.

The three-day psychedemia conference in 2012 was organized by the University of Pennsylvania, the Penn Medicine Neuroscience Center, the Perelman School of Medicine, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, the School of Arts and Sciences Student Government, and several other departments was a grand gesture ten years ago to not only raise the awareness of psychedelics but give the whole industry a shot in the arm.

It represented a sort of full-circle path of academia for psychedelics after academia abandoned psychedelics when Harvard University psychology professor Timothy Leary derailed the industry in the 60s after doing experiments with psilocybin and LSD that lacked scientific rigor.

Now academia is reclaiming psychedelics and putting more university brainpower into it than ever before.

The psychedemia conference is still going on, with the next one scheduled in August 2022, as a partnership with the newly founded Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education at Ohio State University. It will be presented on the campus.

But academia-inspired conferences and the founding of university-related psychedelics studies centers are just the tip of the iceberg in the huge rush by academia to embrace and better understand psychedelics.

Universities are creating masters degree level psychedelics classes, attracting world-class scientists to help find novel psychedelics therapeutics, and pushing to create a broader and deeper intellectual base for psychedelics study and research that is just gaining traction.

Heres a quick look at five developments of note among the reported 100-plus U.S. universities researching psychedelics:

Brian Pace, a scholar at Ohio State University who teaches psychedelics studies at the university, and is one of the organizers of the 2022 Psychedemia conference to be held at Ohio State, told Open Foundation, a Netherlands non-profit think tank, that the new-agey, cultish stuff they see around psychedelics now, with tuning your chakras and merging souls or whatever, is their fault. Thats an abdication of the responsibility to investigate interesting questions and to chase down data: to find out how things work, Pace said. So where we are now is a very timid and late re-entry to the subject, more so for education than research. Psychedelic research didnt end when the universities and governments abandoned it. It continued in the underground. The role of the university courses on psychedelics is to identify and evaluate high-quality information on the topic. We have a lot of catching up to do and I think that should be done with humility.

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LSD Is Back On Campus, But This Time It's Approved - Green Market Report

Consuming magic mushrooms (shrooms) and alcohol together can have unpredictable results. For this reason, doctors recommend against combining alcohol and recreational drugs such as shrooms.

Alcohol and shrooms interact because they can affect the brain in some of the same ways. Combining substances that act similarly intensifies the drugs effects, side effects, and potential risks.

Some people may notice that mixing alcohol and mushrooms can lessen the effect of each drug. However, it may also make it more difficult to think clearly.

Keep reading to learn more about the effects of mixing mushrooms and alcohol.

Shrooms are mushrooms that contain psilocybin, a natural hallucinogenic and psychoactive compound. They can cause hallucinations and an inability to tell the difference between fantasy and reality.

Although people usually use shrooms recreationally, they can have adverse effects. People may experience:

Alcohol affects the brain similarly to shrooms. Drinking too much alcohol can change a persons mood and behavior, and it can cause people to have trouble with memory and motor control.

Although doctors generally advise against combining substances, there is limited research showing the effects of shrooms and alcohol. This means most of the effects of mixing them come from peoples reported use.

Combining alcohol and shrooms can cause unpredictable results, but experts consider it a high-risk combination. It can cause headaches, panic attacks, and nausea. Drinking alcohol while taking shrooms can also increase a persons risk of a bad trip, which can include hallucinations and frightening emotions.

Some people report drinking alcohol to lower the effect of shrooms and feel less high. While they may decrease the effects of alcohol, there is limited research supporting this, and the effects can be unpredictable.

It is also unclear how much alcohol is safe in combination with shrooms. Overall, doctors do not recommend consuming alcohol while using other drugs.

Experts also advise avoiding polysubstance use, which means using more than one drug together or within a short time.

Interestingly, researchers suggest that psilocybin, the active drug in shrooms, may help people with alcohol addiction. An ongoing study is currently exploring, in a controlled setting, whether psilocybin can lower the number of heavy drinking days among people living with alcohol addiction.

The psilocybin in mushrooms may have mind-altering effects, and reality can appear distorted. Other effects of mushrooms include:

Psilocybin causes hallucinations because it acts on serotonin receptors in the brain and other parts of the body. Serotonin and psilocybin can both bind to serotonin receptors, so when psilocybin is in the body, it competes with serotonin to bind to them.

These receptors are responsible for controlling our emotions and moods. They also control behavior, learning memory, appetite, and other processes.

Other psychedelics include lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), mescaline, and dimethyltryptamine (DMT).

When combining psychedelics such as LSD with alcohol, people may also notice that the effects of alcohol are lower than usual. However, like with shrooms, these results can be unpredictable.

Researchers are also studying the benefits of using psychedelics in people with alcohol use disorder (AUD). Another study showed that using psychedelics might lower a persons alcohol intake.

These study conditions do not reflect real-life use of alcohol and psychedelics. In controlled studies, the risk of unsafe behaviors and side effects from illicit drugs is low.

People should note that the United States classifies shrooms as an illegal drug.

With years of evidence from peoples reported use and modern scientific studies, experts confirm that shrooms have low toxicity. They also have a low risk of addiction.

However, people can overdose on shrooms. The side effects of an overdose can include:

Another consideration is the risk of accidentally taking a poisonous mushroom when using shrooms.

The effects of mixing mushrooms and alcohol are unpredictable and may vary from person to person. The following symptoms of alcohol poisoning require immediate medical attention:

People experiencing a bad trip, or a psychologically challenging drug experience, may want to contact a doctor. A bad trip can feel like a sudden and long-lasting side effect of a drug. This may occur when taking shrooms alone or with alcohol.

During a bad trip, people can put themselves or others at risk of harm. Some may have aggressive or violent behaviors. A person who feels concerned about their well-being and the safety of others when mixing mushrooms and alcohol should seek immediate medical attention.

The effects of mixing shrooms and alcohol are unpredictable. While some people may experience a lower effect of shrooms when mixing them with alcohol, this effect is unproven. Someone can experience a bad trip when mixing drugs.

If a person experiences concerning side effects after consuming shrooms and/or alcohol, they should seek medical attention.

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Mixing mushrooms and alcohol: What you need to know - Medical News Today

MIAMI, May 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mycotopia Therapies Inc. (OTC Pink: TPIA) (the Company), a biopharma company focused on research, technology, and the development of medical psychedelics, announced today a partnership with Brussels-based PsychedelicsEUROPE. Mycotopia Therapies will collaborate with PsychedelicsEUROPE to accelerate its psychedelic research and develop new models of care under the regulatory framework for the medicinal use of psychedelics for mental health in the EU market.

PsychedelicsEUROPE has a team of seasoned public affairs specialists advocating for the establishment of an EU-wide regulatory framework that promotes medicinal use of psychedelic substances to the benefit of patient, while stimulating research under a safe and predictable environment. Europes commercial psychedelic healthcare ecosystem is growing rapidly as innovative research centers, NGOs, and private companies attract ideas, capital, and mainstream support. While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and public health authorities in other countries have formalized policies on psychedelic medicine, the EU is still formulating its policies for psychedelic substances. PsychedelicsEUROPE strives to be a beacon of innovative mental health care models, while inspiring and accelerating the development of regulations that work for the patient through its relationships with medical professionals, academia, and private sector shareholders.

With ambitious regulatory initiatives, such as the Europes Beating Cancer Plan, or the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe, we need to make sure that more focus and funding will be dedicated to innovative mental health solutions, like medicinal use of psychedelics, explains Viktor Chvatal, the Secretary-General of PsychedelicsEUROPE. Mr. Chvatal continued, In Europe, our goal is to raise awareness about existing best practices in other countries amongst the EU policy makers and regulators to speed up the process.

Ben Kaplan, CEO of Mycotopia Therapies, said, We are grateful to be able to have a role in advancing psychedelic therapy across Europe in a way that is consistent with sustainability principles while ensuring patient accessibility. We believe this partnership with PsychedelicsEUROPE will provide numerous opportunities to transform innovation into real treatments for patients across the EU and beyond. With that in mind, we look forward to collaborating with the rich academic and biomedical science community in the EU, as well as its world-class talent, to advance our commercialization efforts on our psychedelic assets.

Mr. Kaplan added, Mycotopia Therapies is continuing to work toward completing the acquisition of botanical psilocybin pioneer, Ei.Ventures. The transaction is moving forward as planned, and we look forward to providing shareholders with additional updates in the very near future.

About Mycotopia Therapies

Mycotopia Therapies focuses on helping you heal and reclaim your life. Your journey of healing is an understanding of the causes and works to mental wellness through psychedelic enhanced psychotherapy, integrated with a professional team of mental wellness practitioners and cutting-edge technology. Psychedelic therapy is a holistic and spiritual approach providing healing and has shown successful treatment for many years. Additional information on Mycotopia Therapies can be found on the Companys website at: https://www.mycotopiatherapies.com.

About PsychedelicsEUROPE

PsychedelicsEUROPE is an innovative mental health association with a global reach, which brings together leading research centers, NGOs, and private companies. Based on scientific evidence, the association advocates for a regulatory EU framework that promotes state-of-the-art therapies, fosters cutting-edge research, and secures lasting solutions for patients. Additional information on PsychedelicsEUROPE can be found on the Companys website at: https://www.psychedelicseurope.org

About Ei. Ventures

Emotional Intelligence Ventures, a company dedicated to research and production of botanical psychedelics, announced a public stock offering using the Reg A+ Framework. Ei. Ventures main differentiator in the space is a self-imposed directive to work exclusively with non-synthetic, plant and fungi-based ingredients for both is psychedelic and non-psychedelic products. https://www.Ei.Ventures

Forward-Looking Statement DisclaimerThis press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements may be preceded by the words intends, may, will, plans, expects, anticipates, projects, predicts, estimates, aims, believes, hopes, potential or similar words. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control, and cannot be predicted or quantified and consequently, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements: (i) the initiation, timing, progress and results of the Companys research, manufacturing and other development efforts; (ii) the Companys ability to advance its products to successfully complete development and commercialization; (iii) the manufacturing, development, commercialization, and market acceptance of the Companys products; (iv) the lack of sufficient funding to finance the product development and business operations; (v) competitive companies and technologies within the Companys industry and introduction of competing products; (vi) the Companys ability to establish and maintain corporate collaborations; (vii) loss of key management personnel; (viii) the scope of protection the Company is able to establish and maintain for intellectual property rights covering its products and its ability to operate its business without infringing the intellectual property rights of others; (ix) potential failure to comply with applicable health information privacy and security laws and other state and federal privacy and security laws; and (x) the difficulty of predicting actions of the USA FDA and its regulations. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this press release. The Company assumes no obligation to update any written or oral forward-looking statement unless required by law. More detailed information about the Company and the risk factors that may affect the realization of forward-looking statements is contained under the heading "Risk Factors" in 20/20 Global, Inc.s Registration Statement on Form F-1 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on September 24, 2015, as amended, which is available on the SEC's website, http://www.sec.gov.

For Media and Investor Relations, please contact:

David L. Kugelman(866) 692-6847 Toll Free - U.S. & Canada(404) 281-8556 Mobile and WhatsAppEmail: dk@atlcp.comSkype: kugsusa

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Mycotopia Therapies Partners with Public Policy Specialist PsychedelicsEUROPE to Explore Opportunities in the European Market - GlobeNewswire

Selection of lead candidate from initial short-list of 6 DMT-analogues

Lead candidate displays superior potency in two in vitro bioassays on two relevant human cell types

In vitro safety and biocompatibility testing using drug-loaded medical device demonstrates tolerability at doses anticipated to be within therapeutic range

Results to be leveraged by filing of Provisional Patent detailing a novel approach to treating primary open angle glaucoma

Initiates plans for second stage of R&D with Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 3, 2022) - PharmaDrug Inc. (CSE: PHRX) (OTCQB: LMLLF) ("PharmaDrug" or the "Company"), a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the research, development and commercialization of controlled-substances and natural medicines such as psychedelics, cannabis and naturally-derived approved drugs, is pleased to announce that in collaboration with the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI), has selected its final lead drug candidate from a short list of six N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) analogue molecules. This decision, based on successful completion of the first phase of the sponsored research agreement, derives from the demonstration of lead candidate superiority as it relates to in vitro potency in two predictive bioassays, a favorable toxicity profile as well as physical, chemical, and metabolic properties necessary to fabricate a proprietary medical device capable of conveniently delivering sub-psychedelic levels of drug to the front of the eye over a sustained period.

With efforts related to discovery and candidate selection now complete, the Company intends to advance its program in primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) by entering into a second sponsored research collaboration with TIBI to undertake 1) mechanism of action studies, 2) optimize medical device drug release characteristics, 3) in vitro host-species justification studies to support, 4) evaluation of drug efficacy in an IND-enabling study of POAG with the goal of providing all necessary support to file an investigative new drug (IND) application with the United States Food and Drug Administration (the "FDA") to conduct clinical studies.

Paul Van Slyke, CSO of PharmaDrug, commented, "We are excited to announce that in collaboration with TIBI, we have successfully completed the studies necessary to elect the Company's lead drug candidate for the treatment of POAG. The next phase of this ongoing collaboration will start shortly and is underlined by the Company's strong commitment to work with outstanding research and development groups from around the world to provide innovative, life changing medications to patients at risk of vision loss as a consequence of insufficiently treated glaucoma."

Story continues

Under the terms of the first sponsored research agreement, PharmaDrug's DMT-analogue research program aimed to elect a drug development lead based on biological potency and toxicity and to use the development lead to engineer a medical device capable of sustained drug delivery to the front of the eye. The Company has now selected its lead candidate and completed fabrication and initial testing of its novel medical device designed to deliver therapeutic quantities of its DMT-analogues to the front of the eye. Specifically, drug-loaded medical device prototypes were suspended in a biological solution meant to mimic the somewhat harsh environment of the eye. Samples, maintained at body temperature were removed at defined periods of time over sixteen days and were quantified to determine concentration and rate of drug release and breakdown. Stability of the lead candidate molecule met necessary criteria set forth by the Company. The biocompatibility of drug-loaded medical device was examined by way of quantifying cell proliferation and live/dead staining on human ciliary muscle cells over time. Concentrations expected to be within the therapeutic range were found to not statistically impact cell viability the drug-loaded medical devices.

Most recently, potency of the lead candidate was evaluated in an in vitro cyclic adenosine 3':5' monophosphate (cAMP) production assay using human, primary trabecular meshwork (TM) cells and ciliary muscle (CM) cells. These cells, richly decorated with serotonin receptor 1a and 2a (5HT-1a, 5HT-2a), play a central role in the maintenance of healthy intraocular pressure. Tryptamine molecules, such as the Company's lead candidate are thought to bind to these receptors and elicit downstream biological outcomes which assist in the active drainage (reduction of pressure) of aqueous humor from the front of the eye to the posterior compartment. The Company's lead candidate demonstrated potent cAMP production following application, a statistically significant superiority compared to other candidate molecules examined (p<0001), and an unexpected bias towards cAMP production in TM cells versus CM cells.

Test article potency was previously evaluated using an in vitro calcium mobilization assay on TM and CM cells. Calcium mobilization is understood to provoke smooth muscle contraction, and specifically in the case of TM and CM cells, is thought to contribute to the maintenance of healthy IOP by channeling aqueous humor away from the front of the eye. The Company's lead candidate was found to activate calcium mobilization, to levels that were comparable or greater than the experimental positive control, ionomycin. The lead candidate was also examined for in vitro toxicity and found to be non-toxic to TM and CM cells at concentrations expected to be used in treatment for various eye diseases. Collectively results from the first phase of the sponsored research agreement will be used to draft an upcoming Provisional Patent application which describes use of tryptamine family members, fabricated into a proprietary medical device, to treat conditions marked by elevated intraocular pressure.

The Need for Improved Medications to Treat Primary Open Angle Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a disorder of the optic nerve that results in irreversible vision loss and is the second leading cause of blindness in the world, according to the World Health Organization. Glaucoma impacts more than 2.7 million people aged 40 or older in the United States and current treatments are known to have poor rates of compliance of up to 80% of patients. The global market for glaucoma was estimated by Market Scope at $4.8 billion in 2019 with the U.S. market representing $1.9 billion. Although the exact etiology of primary open angle glaucoma remains poorly understood, and may be variable across patient subsets, it is generally accepted that the observed increase in IOP correlates with progressive vision loss1. Current treatments for POAG primarily consist of eyedrops that can be grouped into three main categories: prostaglandin analogues, carbonic anhydrous inhibitors, and alpha-2 agonists. While these approaches usually provide partial improvement, they often result in side effects such as redness and stinging and require multiple daily applications; all of which diminish patient compliance. Tryptamines, including DMT-analogues are thought to work in a completely distinct way to lower IOP and as such potentially embody a new class of glaucoma medications that may be used alone, or in combination with already approved medications. The Company's streamlined focus on two highly promising, undisclosed tryptamines as a potential therapeutic solution in treating glaucoma represents a potential paradigm shift.

Modulating the serotonin receptor pathway to improve glaucoma outcomes

Key regions of the eye that regulate fluid dynamics, including maintenance of healthy IOP, are known to be richly decorated with various serotonin receptor family members. Previous research has highlighted the role of serotonin receptor signaling in the regulation of IOP2-5. Tryptamines, often hallucinogenic above certain threshold concentrations, constitute a large collection of molecules that selectively act on multiple different serotonin receptors including 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A. Topical application of several different tryptamines have shown early promise in preclinical models of elevated IOP, however formulation, delivery, the potential for undesirable hallucinogenic side effects, and the controlled substances act of 1970 have all contributed to a lack of development of tryptamines to treat this serious threat to vision.

About Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation

The Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation is a biotechnology institute which develops medical devices and cutting-edge protocols for a variety of diagnostic, monitoring and treatment applications. Their research platforms include work in biomaterials, cellular and tissue engineering, wearable biosensors and organs-on-a-chip, with specific expertise in novel polymer development.

About PharmaDrug Inc.

PharmaDrug is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the research, development and commercialization of controlled-substances and natural medicines such as psychedelics, cannabis and naturally-derived approved drugs. PharmaDrug owns 100% of Pharmadrug Production GmbH ("Pharmadrug Production"), a German medical cannabis distributor, with a Schedule I European Union narcotics license and German EuGMP certification allowing for the importation and distribution of medical cannabis to pharmacies in Germany and throughout the European Union. PharmaDrug owns 100% Sairiyo Therapeutics ("Sairiyo"), a biotech company that specializes in researching and reformulating established natural medicines with a goal of bringing them through clinical trials and the associated regulatory approval process in the US and Europe. Sairiyo is currently developing its patented reformulation of cepharanthine, a drug that has shown substantial third party validated potential for the treatment of infectious disease and rare cancers. Sairiyo is also conducting R&D in the psychedelics space for the treatment of non-neuropsychiatric conditions. The Company also owns 100% of Super Smart, a company building a vertically integrated retail business with the goal to elevate the use of functional mushrooms, and psilocybin mushrooms where federally legal, as natural based medicines.

For further information, please contact:

Daniel Cohen, Chairman and CEO dcohen@pharmadrug.co(647) 202-1824

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information:

THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED NOR DOES IT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking information. Generally, forward-looking information may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "proposed", "is expected", "budgets", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases, or by the use of words or phrases which state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, or might occur or be achieved. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking information in relation to: future in vivo efficacy testing in an accepted model of primary open angle glaucoma (POAG), the ability to complete the required studies and obtain regulatory approval, and the impact the Company's potential products will have on treating glaucoma. This forward-looking information reflects the Company's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to the Company and on assumptions the Company believes are reasonable. These assumptions include, but are not limited to the ability of the Company to successfully execute on its plans for the Company and its affiliated entities; the ability to obtain required regulatory approvals and the Company's continued response and ability to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic being consistent with, or better than, its ability and response to date.

Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; general capital market conditions and market prices for securities; the actual results of the Company's future operations; competition; changes in legislation affecting the Company; the ability to obtain and maintain required permits and approvals, the timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals; risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic including various recommendations, orders and measures of governmental authorities to try to limit the pandemic, including travel restrictions, border closures, non-essential business closures, service disruptions, quarantines, self-isolations, shelters-in-place and social distancing, disruptions to markets, economic activity, financing, supply chains and sales channels, and a deterioration of general economic conditions; and a deterioration of financial markets that could limit the Company's ability to obtain external financing.

A description of additional risk factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking information can be found in the Company's disclosure documents on the SEDAR website at http://www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated.

The Company's securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or applicable state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or "U.S. Persons", as such term is defined in Regulations under the U.S. Securities Act, absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in the United States or any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking information contained in this press release represents the expectations of the Company as of the date of this press release and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. However, the Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities law.

References:

Weinreb RN, Leung CK, Crowston JG, Medeiros FA, Friedman DS, Wiggs JL, Martin KR. Primary open-angle glaucoma. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2016 Sep 22;2:16067. doi: 10.1038/nrdp.2016.67. PMID: 27654570.

May JA, McLaughlin MA, Sharif NA, Hellberg MR, Dean TR. Evaluation of the ocular hypotensive response of serotonin 5-HT1A and 5-HT2 receptor ligands in conscious ocular hypertensive cynomolgus monkeys. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2003 Jul;306(1):301-9. doi: 10.1124/jpet.103.049528. Epub 2003 Apr 3. PMID: 12676887.

Sharif NA. Serotonin-2 receptor agonists as novel ocular hypotensive agents and their cellular and molecular mechanisms of action. Curr Drug Targets. 2010 Aug;11(8):978-93. doi: 10.2174/138945010791591278. PMID: 20426763.

Najam A Sharif & Jesse A May (2011) Potential for serotonergic agents to treat elevated intraocular pressure and glaucoma: focus on 5-HT2 receptor agonists, Expert Review of Ophthalmology, 6:1, 105-120, DOI: 10.1586/eop.10.69

Sharif NA, McLaughlin MA, Kelly CR. AL-34662: a potent, selective, and efficacious ocular hypotensive serotonin-2 receptor agonist. J Ocul Pharmacol Ther. 2007 Feb;23(1):1-13. doi: 10.1089/jop.2006.0093. PMID: 17341144.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/122498

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Pharmadrug Advances Opthalmology Program with Final Selection of Lead DMT-Analogue to Provide Sustained Control of Elevated Intraocular Pressure for...

A portrait of late Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman is seen on a collection of LSD blotting papers shown ... [+] during an exhibition entitled "LSD, the 75 Years of a Problem Child" at the Swiss National Library on September 21, 2018 in Bern. - Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI

Some of you may be wonderingWhat is Bicycle Day? On April 19, 1943, the Swiss father of psychedelic medicine Albert Hofmann dropped lysergic acid diethylamide (at 4:20pm, is that a coincidence?) and went on a bike ride, becoming the first human to trip on LSD. As the onset of the psychedelic revolution zooms across the globe at breathtaking speed, this unofficial holiday for psychonauts is an opportunity to reflect on the history of psychedelics and the state of them now.

This day prompts me to think about how different things were when Albert Hofmann accidentally discovered LSD in the 40s, shares DoubleBlind Co-founder Shelby Hartman. At the time, the psychedelic revolution (and shutdown) had not happened, and he could never have dreamt of it: a Swiss scientist looking for an analeptic, a type of stimulant for treating respiratory and circulatory problems, literally fueled a cultural and political paradigm shift decades later. The impact was so destabilizing to the status quo that the government shut it down. It took nearly half a century for institutional science to begin to look at LSD and compounds like it seriously again, Shelby explains. And now, they may be our most promising tool yet for disrupting the current mental health epidemic. How far we've come, and how far we have to go.

The only way to keep up with the momentum of the psychedelics movement is to share dispatches from our community. In this way we can pay respect to the hipstory of this day, how it came to be, and to those who have sacrificed the most to make sure the rest of us can celebrate on our bicycles with the people we love most. Were all incredibly blessed to share in these exceptional times, doing this exceptional work. We can never forget all those who have come before us. We are standing on their shoulders, one and all. Be safe out there, everybody.

Ophelia Chong

Asian Americans for Cannabis Education Founder Ophelia Chongs advocacy is guided by the mission to advocate and offer truthful reflections of the communities that embrace cannabis and psilocybin: In our own ways, we are broken. Psilocybin, 5-MeO-DMT, MDMA, LSD, all allow you to hold your heart and mind outside of your body to heal, to view your trauma in an out of body experience that separates you from your fear, which creates space for the hidden strength you can no longer hold back or deny.

Reggie Harris

California Psychedelic Conference Founder Reggie Harris has created a grassroots gathering designed to showcase the people influencing psychedelic culture and policy, featuring masters of mycology, chemists, medicine workers, underground therapists, policy makers, and psychedelic wellness workers: There would be no psychedelic community without the legacy community, PERIOD. These people have put their lives on the line and built this culture for us to be a part of. In a day and age when we talk about Land Back and Reparations, we have a unique opportunity to structure the psychedelic landscape in a way that will center the people who built this entire thing on their backs, whove been to jail and had their families split up. We should be rewarding them for taking those risks.

Josh Pollack

Bicycle Day SF Producer Josh Pollack has been curating and producing music and art events nationwide since 2006, ranging from intimate club nights to large multi-day camping festivals that aim to evoke creativity and provide a platform of inspiration: I'm honored to help carry the torch for the psychedelic community, especially in the Bay Area with the annual Bicycle Day SF celebration. Its crucial to pay homage and give recognition to the founders of the movement, by providing an event that embodies psychedelic culture, both past and present. The event includes a daytime conference featuring a panel discussion with legends such as Leonard Pickard, Rhoney Stanley, Isaac Abrams, Hamilton Morris, Mountain Girl, Madison Margolin and more, in addition to nighttime festivities which include a full scale art and sensory immersion at The Midway Creative Complex in San Francisco.

Chef Nikki

The High-End Affair Founder & Celebrity Chef Nikki Steward is one of the most sought-after culinary entertainment chefs in the country, and a master in the art of cooking and conversation. Nikki is an advocate for safe and equitable spaces across the plant medicine and psychotherapy community: I believe in creating supportive, community-driven environments when it comes to accessing plant medicine, while also introducing sensible drug policy that allows for treatment, free testing, and access to healing outside of the criminalization frame workings we are so often used to.

Kat Walsh

Kat Walsh is the Creator & Host of Trip On This, a psychedelic podcast exploring trippy stories and expansive thinking. Walshs latest venture is the launch of her second podcast Life With Kat Walsh, a solo podcast centered around the raw, vulnerable nature of the spiritual awakening journey: "For so long I lived my life just going through the motions, filling time with my eyes trained on the weekend escape from the mundane. Then, psychedelics found me and blessed me with a world of beauty and wonder. From that newfound sense of joy, life took on a new vibrancy that led me down a path of purpose, direction, and fulfillment I never knew possible including the creation of my psychedelic podcast. It made me realize that miracles are there for the asking. Psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin have the power to change our minds and in a world where so many minds are stuck in despair, what a gift it is to know there is a rainbow light at the end of the tunnel."

Lulu Tsui

Lulu Tsui, Co-Founder and Chief Experience Officer at On The Revel, applies her vast XD and UX expertise across verticals in the cannabis industry while championing ways to normalize and destigmatize cannabis and entheogens: These psychedelic medicines and healing practices/rituals originated from black, brown, and indigenous communities, but if you look at any psychedelic event, conference, patient waiting room, or psychedelic company's C-suite or board, there are hardly any included or represented. I hope the psychedelic space can start including more black and brown voices in the growth of this industry. Access to mental health and wellness should be accessible to all people.

Dave & James

Farechild Events Founders Dave Tran & James Zachodni curate cool events that enable grassroots networking opportunities between the industrys most influential advocates, brands, and thought leaders for the cannabis industry and beyond. Up next, they are taking their signature experience to Hall of Flowers in Palm Springs on May 4th. The massive hotel takeover High on Life event will connect artisans, retailers, consumers, and everyone in between. Both cannabis and psychedelics have had a huge impact on the way Dave sees the world and lives life, and the that hes building a legal business around entheogens 30 years later is mind blowing and brings everything full circle. Once cannabis broke through the publics consciousness of being something that can help people, James says, It really opened up the doorway for more people to enjoy other mind altering substances without the social stigma.

Jordan Wagman

In The Weeds Podcast Host Jordan Wagman is a James Beard Nominated Chef with a goal to change the world one conversation and meal at a time: In my younger years, specifically leading up to a weekend; the hottest topic wasWhich drug should we take? LSD, mushrooms or stick with cannabis? Truth is, we often indulged in it all simultaneously. Back then, psychedelics were about self exploration and releasing my creative mind. Today, Im thankful for psychedelics and their impact on my mental health. After years struggling with Psoriasis, a debilitating autoimmune disease, I changed my diet, began consuming cannabis, and began microdosing mushrooms, all with the intention of getting healthier. Within 60 days, my change in diet and cannabis consumption led to my Psoriasis improving and losing 30 pounds. Magically, Ive become a much happier person. My new book follows my journey to health and is entitled WILL- How I Found My Health Through Food, available May 2022.

Brooke Burgstahler

Brooke Burgstahler is a Creative, Actress, Founder of Budding Mind, a wellness startup and podcast designed to expand minds and hearts through the exploration of plant medicine, alternative healing, science, and spirituality: I believe that we will remember Ophelia Chong as one of the great mycelium masters of our time. I just had the great honor of interviewing Ohelia on my podcast, and she reminded me that amidst the rising popularity of psychedelics, the most important thing to come from this emerging industry is, very simply, people healing. Decriminalization would be great, a potential marketplace could be cool, but the real purpose of all this effort in normalizing psychedelics and plant medicines is human beings finding inner peace and returning to self love.

Jesus Burrola

Jesus Burrola, Chief Executive Officer of POSIBL, a cultivation that leverages a state-of-art system that uses less to do more, brings the best greenhouse technology and expertise from traditional agriculture into cannabis, and pairs it with the best possible genetics to produce the perfect flower: As we make progress on the stigma of cannabis, the world is opening its eyes to other plant medicines. As with cannabis, entheogens like psilocybin mushrooms are magical with many potential benefits to help those in need, specifically mental health. As many markets struggle with the repercussions of imperfect regulations on cannabis, we should keep those valuable lessons in mind as the psychedelics space potentially evolves into an industry to avoid those same mistakes.

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Bicycle Day: Honoring The Onset Of The Psychedelic Revolution As It Zooms Across The Globe - Forbes

Psilocybin fosters greater connections between different regions of the brain in depressed people, freeing them up from long-held patterns of rumination and excessive self-focus, according to a new study by scientists at UC San Francisco and Imperial College London.

The discovery points toward a general mechanism through which psychedelics may be acting therapeutically on the brain to alleviate depression and possibly other psychiatric conditions that are marked by fixed patterns of thinking.

Depression

Psilocybin

Post-treatment

Scientists analyzed fMRI brain scans from nearly 60 people who had participated in two psilocybin trials. In the first one, all the participants had treatment-resistant depression and knew they were being given psilocybin. In the second one, the participants were depressed but not as severely, and they were not told whether they had been given psilocybin or a placebo that turned out to be escitalopram, an SSRI antidepressant. In addition to the drugs, all the participants received the same type of psychotherapy.

The scans, which were done before and after treatment, showed the psilocybin treatment reduced connections within brain areas that are tightly connected in depression, including the default mode, salience, and executive networks, and increased connections to other regions of the brain that had not been well integrated.

Participants were also less emotionally avoidant and their cognitive functioning got better. The improvement in their depressive symptoms correlated with changes to their brains, and these changes lasted until the study ended three weeks after the second psilocybin dose. No such changes were seen in the brains of those who received escitalopram, suggesting that psilocybin acts differently on the brain than SSRIs.

Psilocybin and other serotonergic psychedelics like ayahuasca affect 5-HT2A receptors, which are plentiful in brain networks that become overactive in depression. One hypothesis is that the drugs briefly disrupt these connections, giving them a chance to reform in new ways in the ensuing days and weeks.

In previous studies we had seen a similar effect in the brain when people were scanned whilst on a psychedelic, but here were seeing it weeks after treatment for depression, which suggests a carry-over of the acute drug action, said Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD, who directs the Neuroscape Psychedelics Division at UCSF and is the senior author of the study, which appears April 11, 2022, in Nature Medicine.

We dont yet know how long the changes in brain activity seen with psilocybin therapy last, and we need to do more research to understand this, said Carhart-Harris, who is the Ralph Metzner Distinguished Professor of Neurology, Psychiatry, and Behavioral Sciences and a member of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. We do know that some people relapse, and it may be that after a while their brains revert to the rigid patterns of activity we see in depression.

The authors caution that while these findings are encouraging, patients with depression should not attempt to self-medicate with psilocybin. The trials took place under controlled, clinical conditions, using a regulated dose formulated in a laboratory, and involved extensive psychological support before, during, and after dosing.

But the study points to a mechanism that, if it holds up, may explain both how psilocybin helps to alleviate depression and potentially other debilitating psychiatric conditions.

For the first time we find that psilocybin works differently from conventional antidepressants making the brain more flexible and fluid, and less entrenched in the negative thinking patterns associated with depression, said David Nutt, DM, head of the Imperial Centre for Psychedelic Research. This supports our initial predictions and confirms psilocybin could be a real alternative approach to depression treatments.

Disclosures, as well as the full list of authors and funding are available in the paper.

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Psilocybin Rewires the Brain for People with Depression - University of California, San Francisco

An episode of a CNN show about psychedelic drug treatments sent Spring resident Katy Parr on a quest.

Psychedelic healing was the topic on host Lisa Lings This Is Life series on CNN.

The story centered on three individuals: one who used psilocybin on his own, another who tried ketamine with a psychiatrist and a third who had treatments of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (commonly known as Molly or Ectasy) with the nonprofit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies.

Parr was so intrigued that sometimes the show became too overwhelming to watch.

I had to stop several times and cry, she recalled.

Parr has experienced depressive symptoms since adolescence and began therapy at 25. She has anxiety, major depressive disorder and complex post-traumatic stress disorder.

In the past, Parr has been prescribed several different selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a class of drugs used as antidepressants. The experience only set her back, she said.

Therapy, however, has been essential for her treatment. The idea of coupling it with psychedelic healing, as she saw on CNN, seemed promising.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Clinic Field Trip Health brings ketamine-based therapy to depression treatment

Parr called her therapist, who replied, I think youd be an incredible candidate for this.

Chloe Chew gives a tour Friday, March 11, 2022, at Field Trip Health in Houston.

Her therapist was actually in the midst of training with MAPS but not yet able to prescribe anything.

She recommended Field Trip, Parr said. She knew that they had a new office here, right in our backyard.

Field Trip Health Houston at 4310 Westheimer, opened in May. The company, which now has 12 locations globally, launched in Canada in 2019.

Field Trip Health says on its website that clients using ketamine-assisted psychotherapy report 92 percent improvement with anxiety and 89 percent with depression one month after treatment.

Parrs treatment began at the end of September.

During the first psychedelic exploration session, Parr received two small doses of ketamine and was monitored for her reaction.

This appointment sets the stage for the correct dosage moving forward. Its also a time for psychotherapists to gauge how the body will respond to ketamine.

The goal is to get you into a psychedelic space, Parr said. Thats where the healing happens.

She had six more psychedelic explorations, and during each, her dosage increased.

Youre in an enclosed room in a zero-gravity chair that reclines, Parr said. She had a weighted blanket, eye shades and headphones pumping out a curated playlist.

Field Trip Health, photographed Friday, March 11, 2022, in Houston.

Her guide, psychotherapist Bobbie Russell, was in the room and there to help if she picked up on any signs of distress.

The psychedelic explorations are paired with full integration appointments, when Russell and Parr could discuss what happened.

It helped me understand what all of this was about, Parr said.

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She scheduled three weeks with six explorations and three integrations. She went from feeling high at the lower dosages to having a full psychedelic experience later on.

Its almost like youre jerked into a different reality, she said.

The experience was cathartic.

This medicine is bringing you on a journey, Parr said.

Russell was drawn to merging psychedelics with therapy after reading studies of how effective the option has been.

I knew my clients deserved the absolute best treatments we could give them, she said.

Field Trip Health sources ketamine from licensed medical suppliers and employs a trained team of health professionals to support treatment. All treatments are completed with supervision and on-going monitoring to ensure safety.

Russell said the treatment is an option for individuals with depression, anxiety, PTSD or chronic pain.

I want them to know that there is hope, she said.

Many of her clients have treatment-resistant depression. Theyve tried everything, but they dont have symptom reduction, Russell said.

Bobbie Russells shoes sit next to crystals Wednesday, March 16, 2022, at Field Trip Health in Houston.

With ketamine, she has seen a change in her patients. She said that the treatment, which is short term and lasts four to six weeks, is about 80 percent effective.

Its safe, she said. Its medically monitored. Its evidence-based and its effective.

Therapists are also trained to deal with trauma and to work with veterans.

A common concern, Russell said, is that ketamine will be addictive. Another is that the drug alone will treat a symptom. Neither is true, Russell said.

Its the medicine and psychology working together, she said. Its not the drug itself.

Russell said talk therapy sessions help patients integrate the psychedelic experiences to create long-lasting, positive outcomes.

One of the main lenses she uses for therapy is the internal family system, which explores an individuals subpersonalities in order for them to better understand identity.

Russell uses the Pixar film Inside Out to explain the concept. The main character Riley is faced with a move across the country, and her emotions guide her on the journey.

Crystals and coloring books, photographed Friday, March 11, 2022, at Field Trip Health in Houston.

All of these parts of herself have different feelings and ideas of how Riley should react, Russell said. Their views are informed by life experiences. Sometimes, they can be our worst critics, but they are there to guide us and keep us safe.

By building understanding of these aspects, clients can better spot their triggers and guide their own responses.

Pairing the therapy with psychedelics holds immense promise for patients, Russell said.

It empowers them to make informed changes in their behavior and reaction to stress, she said.

For Parr, the internal family systems approach was a game changer.

Its helped a lot with how I speak to myself, like moving past negative self talk, she said.

And when it came to changing her reaction to stress, Parr put that to the test, shortly after completing her treatment with Field Trip Health.

About a week after her last individual session, she went through a divorce. She said the therapy helped her take in stride what, in the past, would have been impossible to handle.

I think this happened at just the right time of my life, Parr said. I was able to accelerate the therapy in that psychedelic space. Out of that session I got so much.

Some clients come into Field Trip Health skeptical about the treatment, Russell said.

Theyve tried everything and dont believe this is going to work, she said. But theyre out of options.

After a month, they return telling a different story, she said.

Bobbie Russell, a social worker, poses for a portrait Wednesday, March 16, 2022, at Field Trip Health in Houston.

Theyll say, For the first time in my life, I dont have crippling anxiety. For the first time, Im not depressed, she said. And that is why I get up every day to go to work. My clients say they feel better.

That doesnt mean they are cured, Russell added. But their baseline is better, she said. They leave treatment with hope, with a renewed view of life and with new skills.

Parr, for instance, said she will face depressive symptoms for the rest of her life. In the past, that realization could make her feel hopeless, like depression was lurking on the horizon.

But the ketamine treatments, in conjunction with her usual therapist, have given her a different outlook.

It helped me focus on the fact that its not always going to be like this, she said. Even when I dont have access to joy in those moments, I know it will be available to me in the future.

She added, The work that Ive done is helping me change my relationship with depression and see it more as a teacher in my life instead of a monster always following me around.

Peyton is a Houston-based freelance writer.

Excerpt from:

Field Trip Health Houston's psychedelic healing with ketamine helps patient with depressive anxiety - Houston Chronicle

Californias K-12 Enrollment Drops Again. We Ask Local Districts What Theyre Seeing

CA School Enrollment 4.13.22

Californias K-12 enrollment has dropped for the fifth year in a row, and the California Department of Education says the trend is projected to continue. When comparing this academic year to the previous one, California public schools lost 110,000 students, a steeper drop than we saw before the pandemic, when declines were driven largely by demographic shifts due to housing affordability. Most California public schools are funded based on enrollment and attendance, so the enrollment drop could have big implications for districts bottom lines.

Today on AirTalk, we discuss these drastic changes to enrollment, whats driving them, and how the trend could possibly be reversed with dean of the USC Rossier School of Education Pedro Noguera, San Bernardino City Unified School District associate superintendent Harold Sullins, and El Monte City School District superintendent Maribel Garcia.

MLB Bets Big On Streaming With Apple TV Deal -- Will It Drive In New Fans Who Turn Into Subscribers?

MLB and Streaming 4.13.22

For decades big money in baseball broadcast rights has been traditional cable television, but now as streamers proliferate, Major League Baseball is stepping up to bat with a major streamer who just won Best Picture at the Oscars and also features one of the most beloved and acclaimed series on streaming TV.

Last month, MLB and Apple TV announced a deal to broadcast a Friday Night Baseball doubleheader on Apple TV. Forbes reported that sources close to the deal said it is worth $85 million a year, and Apple says access to the games is free until June. Major League Baseball also signed a two year deal, per Forbes, to broadcast Sunday games on NBCUniversals streamer, Peacock. For baseball, a sport that desperately needs to reach new fans, its a bet that theyll get more eyeballs on a national scale and that fans will follow their favorite teams onto the streaming platforms. And for the streamers, its a bet that those people following their teams to the platforms will be first-time users of the platforms who turn into subscribers when they begin exploring other content.

Today on AirTalk, Los Angeles Times baseball writer Bill Shaikin calls in to talk about his reporting on why Major League Baseball thinks this will be a win for both the league and the streamers who will now carry games, and why both sides are betting fans will like it too.

Baseballs Rebels: The Dissenters, Radicals, Mavericks And Trailblazers That Changed The Game

Peter Dreier Baseball Book 4.13.22

The history of baseball is rife with stories of people who pushed boundaries, blazed trails and shattered glass ceilings. Jackie Robinson being the first Black man to play in the Majors is probably the most well-known, but the effort to desegregate baseball that led to Jackie even being in a position to make history began well before the Pasadena native first set foot on the diamond for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. And as Occidental College Professor of Politics Peter Dreier writes in his new books Baseball Rebels: The Players, People, and Social Movements That Shook Up the Game and Changed America and Major League Rebels: Baseball Battles over Workers' Rights and American Empire, Jackies story is just one chapter, albeit an incredibly important one, in the history of changemakers in baseball, whose impacts have spanned and still span across labor, gender and sexuality. Just this past week, Rachel Balkovec became the first woman to ever manage an MLB-affiliated team when she won her debut game managing the Tampa Tarpons, a minor league affiliate of the New York Yankees.

Today on AirTalk, Professor Dreier returns to the show to talk about his, both of which explore figures in baseball from players to managers to journalists who challenged the status quo, sometimes at the cost of professional success or even their career. Hell also talk about how we see some of these themes continue to play out in 2022 after Major League Baseballs season hung in the balance for a period of time in February and March during the labor lockout.

Professor Dreier will be talking about his books coming up next week on Tuesday, April 19th, at 6:00 p.m. in a virtual event presented by Vromans Bookstore. Registration is free and you can sign up to receive the link to the virtual discussion here.

Mental Health Week: What One Doctor Says Americas Mental Health System Is Missing, And How To Fix It

Mental Health Healing Books 4.13.22

In 2015, Dr. Thomas Insel, at that time, head of the National Institute of Mental Health, was giving a talk about stem cell studies of neurons in schizophrenia, when the father of a 23-year-old man with schizophrenia stood up and said, Our house is on fire and you're talking about the chemistry of the paint." The interaction changed the trajectory of Insels professional life. In his new book, he argues that while science has made tremendous insights to understand mental illness and develop better tools for diagnosis and treatment, the U.S. mental health system hasnt done enough to help ordinary Americans.

Today on AirTalk, Larry speaks with Dr. Thomas Insel, psychiatrist, neuroscientist and former head of the National Institute of Mental Health about his new book, Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health, and how Americas mental health care systems can pivot to better address the current mental health crisis.

If you or a loved one needs help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Los Angeles County maintains a 24-hour bilingual hotline at 800-854-7771.

Mental Health Week: Magnetic Stimulation, Psychedelics and Tai Chi How Treatments For Anxiety And Depression Are Growing

Mental Health Treatment 4.13.22

For many people, the burdens of mental illness are a daily struggle that the pandemic has only intensified. According to the World Health Organization, during the first year of the pandemic, rates of anxiety and depression increased by 25% worldwide. That is a massive jump. Another study found 33% of adults in the U.S. experienced elevated depressive symptoms during the first year of the pandemic. For decades, those suffering from depression have benefited from SSRIs, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, like prozac and zoloft among many others. But taking and prescribing these medications is not that simple. People become treatment-resistant over time, and many mood disorders can be difficult to diagnose, with no biological markers clearly indicating whether someone has bi-polar depression or a substance abuse disorder, for example. This is one of the reasons that researchers have been developing new forms of treatments for anxiety and depression that are non-invasive, long-lasting, and with minimal side-effects.

Today on AirTalk, were joined by geriatric psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry at UCLA Helen Lavretsky, professor of psychiatry at Stanford University and director of the Brain Stimulation Lab Nolan Williams, and professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins and researcher at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, Albert Garcia-Romeu to talk about how mental health treatments are evolving and how they soon might be made more widely available to those in need.

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Mental Health Week: Magnetic Stimulation, Psychedelics and Tai Chi How Treatments For Anxiety And Depression Are Growing - KPCC

Everyone wants a good nights sleep. There are multiple over-the-counter pharmaceuticals for sleep assistance, most with side effects such as dizziness and headaches, and other physical unpleasantries.

Cannabis has seemingly cornered the sleep market for those exploring alternative sleep strategies with a plant-based option, as more CBD and THC products are marketed and sold specifically for help with sleep. For example, Plus Products (OTC: PLPRF) has two products specifically marketed toward aiding sleep with varying levels of THC included.

The thinking is that yes, cannabis will certainly make you sleepy, specifically any indica strain. But is it helpful for your psychological well-being and your sleep/wake cycle? Can you keep taking it for sleep? Data to prove those points is a bit dodgyresearch on sleep and cannabis is in its infancy, one study added, and has yielded mixed results.

While studies indicate that cannabis may hold promise for REM sleep behavior disorder and excessive daytime sleepiness, and may reduce nightmares associated with PTSD, the study of sleep and cannabis has been plagued by error and bias, according to one study, with no hard and fast conclusions drawn except to note that there does not appear to be a consistent effect on total sleep time. These results are consistent with one interpretation that cannabis is typically not beneficial to sleep except among medicinal cannabis users who are identified by the presence of pre-existing sleep interrupting symptoms such as pain, the study concluded.

Another study found that cannabis helped people who had chronic pain issues sleep, but that use of cannabis overtime did not have the same effect. There is even a concern that cannabis consumption is associated with an increased likelihood of developing bipolar disorder, perhaps because of interactions of THC with sleep/wake circadian rhythm cycles.

Sleep disturbance is strongly associated with the development and maintenance of many common psychological disorders, including depression. Researchers have discovered that the need for sleep increases more slowly during wakefulness and so is chronically low in depressed patients. It is unclear whether sleep changes in depression represent disease symptoms or adaptive mechanisms to help handle the depressive state. Acute sleep deprivation oddly enough creates an anti-depressive effect that typically relapses after subsequent sleep occurs, according to research. There is a clear need for a large scale, longitudinal and well-controlled study on the specific effects of cannabinoids on sleep, a study concluded.

Now researchers are looking at psychedelics as a potential aid for sleeping. In a recent study published in Translational Psychiatry in February 2022, electrophysiological recordings were collected from mice to track sleep-wake architecture and cortical activity after psilocin injection. The mice had delayed REM sleep onset, and no long-term changes in sleep-wake quantity were found.

Psilocin-affected mice spent a significant amount of time in their nests, adopting a posture compatible with sleep, but still apparently awake according to electrophysiological measurements. Rest in these animals was frequently disturbed by small body movements, such as stretches and readjustments of posture, and often the eyes remained open even while motionless.

What researchers concluded is that the modulation of REM sleep is a core mechanism of the psychological benefits of psychedelics, although it remains possible that the underlying brain activity of REM sleep is affected in a more subtle way.

Psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin provide a novel approach to studying the basic science of sleep regulation, offering a means to manipulate the content of wakefulness and associated brain dynamics, the February 2022 study concurred. Psychedelic stimulation offers important advantages compared to other manipulations of waking brain activities because of its relative simplicity, physiological validity, translatability to humans, and comprehensibility in terms of the associated conscious experience.

So, bottom line, the jury is out on how helpful psychedelics is for sleep control. Research with psychedelics and sleep essentially is no further along than similar research with cannabis for sleep.

From the clinical perspective, sleep represents an overlooked aspect of physiology to understanding how psychedelic-mediated mechanisms yield psychological benefits, according to the February, 2022 study.

But this study using psilocybin for sleep is just another way that psychedelics are helping scientists understand the full range of its benefits. Although many essential questions remain, a consistent picture of psychedelic biology is gradually forming, carrying the great potential to inform neuroscience in areas spanning basic neurobiology to clinical practice.

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Psychedelics Want To Win Over The Sleep Aid Market - Green Market Report