News

PMC founder Melissa Lavasani was featured on a recent episode of The Microdose Diet with Peggy Van de Plassche.

PMC Board member and CEO and host of Psychedelics Today sat down with Melissa Lavasani to discuss what led to the inception of PM PAC and the work she’s doing in Washington DC.

Listen to Lavasani speak about her story and work at PMC.

As the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world, this directive for the NIH would expand government wide efforts to understand the potential risks and benefits of psychedelic-assisted therapy to this critical population.

The Psychedelic Medicine Coalition hired its first federal lobbyists this month and also launched a political action committee to back lawmakers supportive of investing in research on psychedelic substances like ketamine, psilocybin — or mushrooms — and MDMA, or ecstasy, several of which are in various phases of clinical trials.

The study, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, suggests that nature-derived psilocybin may be demonstrably more therapeutic than its synthetic analog.

The Congressional Research Service’s updated brief discusses the current state of the CSA and how new legislation and ballot measures, like PMC founder Melissa Lavasani’s Decriminalize Nature DC movement, are renewing focus on the scheduling of certain substances, like marijuana and psilocybin.

Jose Martinez, a former Army gunner whose right arm and both legs were blown off by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, has a new calling: He’s become one of the most effective lobbyists in a campaign to legalize the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs across the country.

Some suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder have had little relief from traditional anti-depressants; now, a recent FDA-approved trial using MDMA – a.k.a. ecstasy – has shown promising results.

Jon Lubecky was desperate when he signed up for a clinical trial testing a new type of therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder, one that included the use of a psychedelic drug called MDMA, known on the street as “ecstasy” and “molly.” Tortured by memories from his tours in Iraq, the retired army sergeant had attempted suicide five times. Now he saw the possibility that he could get past those memories so that his son would have “a father instead of a folded flag.”

Jose Martinez, a former Army gunner whose right arm and both legs were blown off by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, has a new calling: He’s become one of the most effective lobbyists in a campaign to legalize the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs across the country.

From approving religious exemptions to budgeting for medical research, advocates are hopeful that Biden and a Democratic Congress could mean progress for psilocybin and other therapeutic psychedelics. Psychedelic reform isn’t exactly President Joe Biden’s top priority. But as his administration and the new congress gets underway, advocates are hopeful that the next four years will continue to bring policy changes that chip away at the federal prohibition of psilocybin, MDMA, and other psychedelics.

On Point host Meghna Chakrabarti speaks with newsmakers and real people about the issues that matter most.