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

Rapid advances in psychedelic medicine research compel healthcare leaders and legislators to plan how to expand access to these treatments while ensuring safety and effectiveness. The pharmacy profession has been largely absent from these discussions. This commentary reviews potential strategies for legal reform, professional regulation, and pharmacy operations concerning psilocybin and MDMA, using Canada as an example. It outlines possible paths for policy creation and clinical practice changes needed to integrate these agents into healthcare systems.

Study at a glance

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.