A roadmap for psychedelic pharmacy in Canada: A proposed policy and operations approach for controlled access to select psychedelics for treatment of mental illness

Summary

The burgeoning field of psychedelic medicine, particularly psilocybin for mental illness, necessitates immediate action from health care leadership and the legislature. The pharmacy profession, surprisingly, has been largely disengaged. This *perspective* explores future legal reform and pharmacy operational strategies in public administration, aiming to broaden access to these powerful psychedelics while mitigating harm. Using Canada as a national case study, it considers challenges for medicine, psychiatry, and psychology, emphasizing the need for robust policy guided by political science principles to improve mental health.

Abstract

The unprecedented progress in the science and clinical investigation of psychedelic medicine will require those in healthcare leadership and the legislative policy arena to conceptualize how future reforms, policy creation, and clinical practice should occur to broaden access to these agents while simultaneously maximizing effectiveness and mitigating harm. The pharmacy profession has surprisingly had little engagement on this front. This article provides a perspective commentary and overview of potential future strategies in legal reform, professional regulatory authority policy creation, and pharmacy operations regarding the psychedelic agents’ psilocybin and methylenedioxymethamphetamine, using Canada as a national case study.

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