Over the past few years, I have received countless requests to help people reduce liability when operating a foreign retreat. Most of these retreats involve ketamine, psilocybin, ayahuasca, and/or cannabis. Typical locations include Jamaica, Costa Rica, and Mexico. The laws in these countries, discussed below, can allow operators to conduct retreats with limited exposure if
A new age for psychedelics We are on the verge of a psychedelic renaissance, with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepting a new drug application for midmafetamine (MDMA) in February of this year. MDMA the active ingredient in the common party drug “ecstasy” or “molly”. If approved, the drug would be used to treat
California recently failed at least twice in passing sweeping statewide psychedelic decriminalization bills: a) SB-58, which Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed last year, and b) SB-519, which didn't garner enough support in the assembly the year before. It's now trying something much more modest - convening a workgroup to study psychedelic assisted therapy. The bill at
Anyone familiar with the cannabis industry knows how difficult it is to make money. Things are going to be even worse for people in the state-legal psychedelics industry - much worse. There are a few key reasons for this. I should note that this post is focused on the state-legal psychedelics industry (i.e., service centers)
On September 6, 2022, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to pass a resolution aimed at decriminalizing psychedelics. This is yet another victory in the battle against prohibition. But it's important to remember that decriminalization is very different from legalization-- just see my older summary of a host of decriminalization efforts. Decriminalization does
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
In 2021, California State Senator Scott Wiener introduced SB-519, a statewide psychedelics decriminalization bill. Senator Wiener didn't have the support to push the bill all the way forward in 2021, so he gathered momentum for a 2022 vote. After a gutting by the California Assembly, the state won't decriminalize psychedelics in 2022. I've regularly blogged on
A statewide psychedelics decriminalization bill that's been on pause for almost a year was recently set for a legislative hearing next month. This is huge news for California psychedelics advocates, even if we don't have a ton of information on what is likely to happen just yet. In 2021, California State Senator Scott Wiener introduced
The Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board (OPAB) was established by Measure 109 and is responsible for making recommendations to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) for psilocybin services in Oregon. OPAB has met monthly since March of 2021, and the last monthly meeting was set for June 22, 2022. After that, OPAB will meet every two months. In a
On May 26, 2022, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) announced it received a legal memorandum from the Oregon Department of Justice (ODOJ). The legal memorandum (memo) addresses the Oregon Psilocybin Services Program and discussed the Entheogenic Framework. The Entheogenic Framework is a document created by Jon Dennis, an attorney in Oregon. It is a set
