Last week, we presented a psychedelics webinar entitled “How to Protect Your Psychedelics Business.” The panelists were Paul Coble from our Phoenix office), me (Griffen Thorne from our Los Angeles office), and Graham Pechenik of Calyx Law in San Francisco. In the webinar, we presented on business law and intellectual property issues that will affect
In early 2020, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) declared a public health emergency (PHE) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. DHHS extended the PHE numerous times over the last few years, most recently on July 15, 2022 for a period of 90 days. The PHE will expire on October 13, 2022
In 2023, Oregon will have a regulated psilocybin market. Colorado voters will have a chance to vote on something similar this fall (although Initiative 58 would not take effect until 2024). Other than that, not a single other state has any form of psychedelic regulation in the works. Last week, an attempt to simply decriminalize
A recently published letter (“Letter”) indicates that the Biden administration is preparing for the approval of psychedelic drugs and MDMA to treat mental illness and PTSD. This type of federal agency correspondence would have been unimaginable five or six years ago. Things are changing fast! There are well-known potential health benefits of MDMA and psychedelics
We often receive questions from ketamine clinics regarding who must obtain a DEA registration to dispense controlled substances. There are two candidates to consider – the healthcare providers who work at the clinic and the clinic itself. Often, there is a misconception about whether a clinic needs to hold a DEA registration. We wrote about
Federal law requires prior in-person evaluations before a physician can provide telehealth services. The federal government declared a COVID-19 public health emergency, essentially suspending this rule. Following this suspension, ketamine telehealth providers and other virtual telehealth providers popped up all over the country. In all likelihood, the emergency declaration will end soon, leaving the industry
Ketamine telehealth just got a big lifeline. On April 12, 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) renewed its determination that a public health emergency (PHE) exists due to COVID-19. Obviously, this has been a hugely controversial move even if the renewal is only good for 90 days. This 90 day extension is
RICO (or the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) has been a thorn in the foot for cannabis companies since, well, the dawn of cannabis companies. RICO will be just as annoying for psychedelics companies. Today I will explain what RICO is and why RICO and psychedelics will have a rocky relationship. What is
We’ve discussed at length the DEA’s process for seeking religious exemptions to the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). You can read about that in my posts linked at the bottom of this one. Critics of the religious exemption petition process claim that the DEA rarely, if ever, responds to petitions. They also complain that they are
The gap in the treatment of controlled substances between the state and federal levels continues to widen. That has long been true with cannabis, but the trend has accelerated with psilocybin and other psychedelics recently. This growing disparity has implications under U.S. immigration law for employers and non-residents who wish to become involved in the
