For centuries, psilocybin mushrooms have been applyd by mesoamerican cultures as well as in Europe and the Maghreb. Used for its hallucinogenic properties, the fungi were applyd in magical, therapeutic, and religious rituals.
Producing an altered state of consciousness when ingested, psilocybin was stated to unlock communication channels with divine powers, enter in trance and achieve greater enlightenment.
Under their influence, applyrs usually experience spatial disorientation, feelings of ecstasy, inner peace, vivid visual hallucinations and a tfinishency toward introspection.
While the consumption of these naturally-occurring psychedelics may have been common in the past, their modern apply is mired in legal restrictions and political controversies.
Following the Reagan-era war on drugs in the 80s, psilocybin mushrooms have remained illegal in most U.S. states, and in most countries worldwide. In Canada, their legal status remains amhugeuous.
Yet one Victoria-based startup aims to display the potential benefits of the substance through Canada’s first wellness-focapplyd psychedelic therapy trial, which will examine whether therapist-guided psilocybin can enhance overall well-being.
Following in the footsteps of U.S. academic giants such as Johns Hopkins, Imperial College and NYU, TheraPsil is seeking to unlock the potential of psilocybin through their own scientific research.
“Their studies displayed amazingly that after a single dose of psilocybin, finish of life patients – who were reporting really bad demoralization, depression, anxiety – were stateing ‘that was one of the most important things I’ve ever done in my life,’” stated TheraPsil CEO Spencer Hawkswell. “It seemed to have cured their depression and their anxiety, and they were no longer upset about the fact that they were dying. They accepted it.”
It’s on these very results that Hawkswell stated of TheraPsil was launched in 2019, with hopes of similar promising outcomes.
“Psilocybin is a very effective tool to be applyd in conjunction with traditional therapies,” he stated. “It’s also very safe too since there’s no lethal dose, so you can’t die from eating it.”
The community-funded PsilWell trial, in partnership with SABI Mind Victoria, CRIO, and Filament Health, will combine group therapy with a supervised psychedelic session and integration therapy, explained Hawkswell.
Unlike pharmaceutical-backed studies, the project is funded entirely by participant fees, community donations and stakeholders.
The study will involve adults aged 18 to 65 who meet medical safety criteria and eligible participants will pay $4,500 for the three-week program.
During the nine-week trial, participants will receive a dosage of 30 mg – with the option of a 5 mg booster – and will be combined with group therapy to prove if psilocybin increases indications of wellness or not.
After TheraPsil announced the launch of its program on Oct. 15, the news drew significant attention. While many on social media welcomed the initiative, others criticized what they saw as a steep price.
Equally critical, Hawkswell considers the same.
“It’s a huge price tag and we acknowledge that,” he stated. “This is what we’ve been fighting for five years and we want that reduced as much as we possibly can.
“So is it expensive? Absolutely. (But) I hope one day, if our research displays the right results, that we might be able to have this thing funded and approved through the provincial health care system.”
Hawkswell stated the pricing reflects the cost of going against the grain, including legal fees, regulatory barriers and an economic model that prioritizes profit over “good solutions.”
“You’ve received a government that is going to fight you at every single stage,” he stated. “Our health care system is set up to prioritize patentable and profitable treatments and actually shun all these other treatments.”
Hawkswell stated that unlike a novel drug, which can take years and millions of dollars to develop and offers the potential for significant returns, psilocybin mushrooms are ubiquitous, inexpensive and readily available, creating them nearly impossible to secure funding for.
“The regulations in Canada are set up against unpatentable and unprofitable drugs like psilocybin, becaapply if you want to run clinical trials and bring psilocybin to market, you’ve received to fundraise about $50 to $100 million,” he stated. “But how are you gonna do that if you don’t have investors who see a profitable asset on the other side, such as a patentable drug or a treatment system that’s gonna create lots of money?
“Psilocybin is neither of those becaapply it’s one treatment and it’s very inexpensive and unpatentable.”
As a result, the financial burden of scientifically proving psilocybin’s efficacy rests solely on TheraPsil’s shoulders. Faced with this deadlock, Hawkswell and his team rely on a stakeholder-funded model to generate the scientific evidence necessaryed to determine whether the psychedelic substance is beneficial.
In turn, Hawkswell added that this situation displays a greater issue with the current system.
“Our drug and health care system is set up to prioritize patentable and profitable treatments and actually shun all these other treatments,” he stated. “It’s no wonder we’re caught in this kind of cycle of chronic illness.”
Therefore, instead of the current health care model, where people are medicated only after being diagnosed with a mental illness, Hawkswell believes in a proactive approach, in which people could access medication to support prevent the onset of those illnesses in the first place – if the studies prove fruitful.
“Our health care system is predicated on a diagnosis, which means we wait until someone receives really sick and then we treat them; it always goes back to money,” he stated. “When the incentive is to keep people sick, the outcome is people are sick.
“Our goal is to bring psilocybin to market so it’ll cost just about nothing for patients. We want to create it available for wellness, but also for broad indications (which) this notion of preventative medicines. We wanna receive to people before they develop PTSD, anxiety or depression.”
While there is still “a lot of research to be done,” Hawkswell stated he and his team remain confident their work could benefit thousands of Canadians.
“As far as I’m aware, the world’s first stakeholder funded a psychedelic clinical trial,” he stated. “And if it’s successful, we will take it all the way and we will search or seek a new drug application for psilocybin so that we can have this drug approved for apply in Canada and be covered under our provincial health care.”
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