Edward S. Adams
This article examines how the cannabis industry is regulated, tracing its origins, history, and flaws. It then compares the cannabis and psilocybin industries, arguing that the cannabis regulatory model should not be copied for psilocybin. Instead, the author proposes customized regulatory approaches that address psilocybin's distinct features, aiming to create a safe, effective, and well-regulated market.
Minsu Yoo, Sofia Sakopoulos
The commercialization of psychedelics like psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA for mental health treatment blurs the line between impartial science and profit-driven industry. Based on in-depth interviews with stakeholders, the study reveals how venture capitalists not only fund research but also provide regulatory and industry knowledge, creating ethical dilemmas for scientists. Researchers' reluctance to disclose personal psychedelic experiences during interviews signals a shift from an illegality paradigm to one of intellectual property. The findings suggest that ethical dynamics in scientific practice must be reconsidered, particularly how public and private funders shape researchers' priorities.
Samuli Kangaslampi, Morten P. Lietz
preprint
Psychedelics have long been thought to enhance autobiographical memory, and revisiting such memories may be key to their therapeutic effects, yet modern research has largely overlooked this area. This review identifies six open questions: whether psychedelics boost autobiographical recall; whether recalling significant or traumatic memories is common during psychedelic experiences; whether they can produce false memories; how memories change when recalled and reconsolidated under psychedelics; what memories of the psychedelic experience itself are like; and whether autobiographical experiences under psychedelics are especially important for therapeutic outcomes. The authors present the limited current evidence for each question and propose how future studies could address them, emphasizing relevance for optimizing psychedelic-assisted therapies and avoiding harm.
Research Square • Sean Viña
People who use psychedelics are less likely to seek formal mental health care, including medication and outpatient treatment, even when experiencing high psychological distress. Analyzing data from over 458,000 participants in a national US survey between 2010 and 2018, the study found that as distress levels increase, psychedelic users become even less inclined to use formal care compared to non-users. This suggests a heightened risk of self-medication as psychedelics become more culturally and legally accepted.
medRxiv • Klemens Egger, Daniel Meling, Firuze Polat et al.
preprint
In a double-blind, placebo-controlled pharmaco-fMRI study, 40 meditation practitioners on a three-day retreat received either placebo or buccal DMT-harmine (120 mg each). Meditation alone increased network segregation across several resting-state networks, while DMT-harmine increased functional connectivity within the visual network and between visual and attention networks. Between-group differences showed increased connectivity between visual and salience networks in the DMT-harmine group. No prolonged cortical gradient disruption was observed, indicating a return to typical brain organization shortly after the experience. Meditation reduced connectivity between networks, whereas DMT-harmine increased within- and between-network connectivity, revealing distinct neural mechanisms.
Christopher P. Albertyn, Jeremie Richard, Ron Joseph Shore et al.
preprint
Demoralization syndrome affects about one in five Canadians with advanced cancer, marked by helplessness, hopelessness, and loss of meaning, and is linked to a greater desire for hastened death and worse outcomes, but it is underrecognized and undertreated. Pharmacological treatments fail to address its existential roots, and psychosocial therapies are underfunded and not universally effective. Mindfulness-Based Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy (MB-PAT) combines mindfulness training with psilocybin's neuroplastic effects, but its traditional one-on-one delivery limits scalability. The authors argue that group-based MB-PAT could bridge this gap by leveraging existing group therapy infrastructure and therapist familiarity with mindfulness, offering a scalable, equity-focused model for publicly funded Canadian oncology. The Canadian Network for Psychedelic-Assisted Cancer Therapy (CAN-PACT) is highlighted as a key initiative to generate evidence and capacity.
SSRN Electronic Journal • Robin Sandell, Adele Lafrance, Olivia Gosseries et al.
In three people with incomplete spinal cord injuries who self-medicated with psilocybin, improvements in motor function, muscle activation, and strength were reported. One person with a C4–C5 injury noted better gait automaticity; another with a T7 injury regained activation of a previously non-responsive hamstring muscle; a third with a T12 injury experienced rapid strength gains and enhanced proprioceptive awareness. All three reported psychological benefits such as increased wellbeing, motivation for recovery, and improved adjustment. Benefits appeared greatest in partially innervated muscles and diminished after stopping psilocybin. Temporary spasticity was the only adverse effect. The authors suggest psilocybin may enhance recovery by amplifying existing neural pathways and call for controlled clinical trials.
Julia Etkin, Vincent Joralemon
Psilocybin, currently a Schedule I controlled substance with no accepted medical use and high abuse potential, is actually among the safest psychoactive compounds by comparative-harm metrics—far safer than alcohol and tobacco, which are exempt from the Controlled Substances Act and regulated as adult-use commodities. This essay argues that psilocybin should be regulated under food law, specifically the dietary-supplement framework of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, rather than drug law.
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) • Hanna M. Tolle, Andrea I Luppi, Timothy Lawn et al. • 1 citation
preprint
A geometric deep learning model called graphTRIP predicts post-treatment depression severity from pretreatment clinical and brain imaging data. Trained on a clinical trial comparing psilocybin and escitalopram, it achieves strong predictive accuracy (r = 0.75) and generalizes to an independent dataset. The model links better outcomes to reduced functional coupling within serotonin systems and broader serotonergic integration with sensory-motor networks. Causal analysis shows a group-level advantage of psilocybin over escitalopram but identifies individuals with specific stress-related neuromodulatory profiles who may benefit more from escitalopram, advancing precision medicine and biomarker discovery in depression.
Journal of affective disorders • November 1, 2026 • Carlton M Kelly, Mathieu Fradet, Catherine M Bostian et al.
A single 25-mg dose of psilocybin with psychological support was associated with sustained improvements in anxiety, quality of life, functioning, and PTSD symptoms in 15 veterans with treatment-resistant depression. Anxiety scores dropped 59% from baseline at three weeks and remained lower through 12 months. Quality of life increased 24% and functional impairment decreased 46% at three weeks, though these effects were no longer statistically significant after accounting for concurrent improvements in depression. PTSD symptom reductions were observed at all timepoints. Acute subjective experiences did not correlate with treatment response. The study is limited by its small sample and open-label design.