A top federal drug official says the \u201ctrain has left the station\u201d on psychedelics.<\/p>\n
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Director Nora Volkow said people are going to keep using substances such as psilocybin\u2014especially as the reform movement expands and there\u2019s increased attention being drawn to the potential therapeutic benefits\u2014and so researchers and regulators will need to keep up.<\/p>\n
The comments came at a psychedelics workshop Volkow\u2019s agency cohosted with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) last week.<\/p>\n
The NIDA official said that, to an extent, it\u2019s been overwhelming to address new drug trends in the psychedelics space. But at the same time, she sees \u201can incredible opportunity to also modify the way that we are doing things.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it that the [National Institutes of Health] can do to help accelerate research in this field so that we can truly understand what are the potentials, and ultimately the application, of interventions that are bought based on psychedelic drugs?\u201d Volkow said.<\/p>\n
The director separately told Marijuana Moment on Friday in an emailed statement that part of the challenge for the agency and researchers is the fact that psychedelics are strictly prohibited as Schedule I drugs under the federal Controlled Substances Act.<\/p>\n
\u201cResearchers must obtain a Schedule I registration which, unlike obtaining registrations for Schedule II substances (which include fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine), is administratively challenging and time consuming,\u201d she said. \u201cThis process may deter some scientists from conducting research on Schedule I drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn response to concerns from researchers, NIDA is involved in interagency discussions to facilitate research on Schedule I substances,\u201d Volkow said, adding that the agency is \u201cpleased\u201d the Drug Enforcement Administration recently announced plans to significantly increase the quota of certain psychedelic drugs<\/a> to be produced for use in research.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will also be important to streamline the process of obtaining Schedule I registrations to further the science on these substances, including examining their therapeutic potential,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n At Thursday\u2019s event, the official talked about how recent, federally funded surveys showed that fewer college-aged adults are drinking alcohol and are instead opting for psychedelics and marijuana. She discussed the findings in an earlier interview with Marijuana Moment<\/a> as well.<\/p>\n Don’t miss out on the @NIDAnews<\/a>, @NIAAAnews<\/a>, & @NIMHgov<\/a>-sponsored virtual Workshop on Psychedelics as Therapeutics: Gaps, Challenges, and Opportunities, Jan. 12\u201213, 2022. Learn more and register: https:\/\/t.co\/S1zttkoYXq<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/C2Qrk6FN9a<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NIDAnews (@NIDAnews) January 10, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cLet\u2019s learn from history,\u201d she said. \u201cLet\u2019s see what we have learned from the marijuana experience.\u201d<\/p>\n While studies have found that marijuana use among young people has generally remained stable or decreased amid the legalization movement, there has been an increase in cannabis consumption among adults, she said. And \u201cthis is likely to happen [with psychedelics] as more and more attention is placed on these psychedelic drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think, to a certain extent, with all the attention that the psychedelic drugs have attracted, the train has left the station and that people are going to start to use it,\u201d Volkow said. \u201cPeople are going to start to use it whether [the Food and Drug Administration] approves or not.<\/p>\n There are numerous states and localities where psychedelics reform<\/a> is being explored and pursued both legislatively and through ballot initiative processes.<\/p>\n On Wednesday\u2014during the first part of the two-day federal event that saw nearly 4,000 registrants across 21 time zones\u2014NIMH Director Joshua Gordon stressed that his agency has \u201cbeen supporting research on psychedelics for some time.\u201d<\/p>\n Tune in today and tomorrow for the @NIH<\/a> workshop on Psychedelics as Therapeutics, which will examine findings on psychoplastogens for treating depression, post-traumatic stress, and substance and alcohol use disorders. https:\/\/t.co\/Qzxte5xJt9<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Joshua A. Gordon (@NIMHDirector) January 12, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cWe can think of NIMH\u2019s interests in studying psychedelics both in terms of proving that they work and also in terms of demonstrating the mechanism by which they work,\u201d he said. \u201cNIMH has a range of different funding opportunity announcements and other expressions that are priorities aimed at a mechanistic focus and mechanistic approach to drug development.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Volkow also made connections between psychedelics and the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic. She said, for example, that survey data showing increased use of psychedelics \u201cmay be a way that people are using to try to escape\u201d the situation.<\/p>\n But she also drew a metaphor, saying that just as how the pandemic \u201cforced\u201d federal health officials to accelerate the development and approval of COVID-19 vaccines because of the \u201curgency of the situation,\u201d one could argue that \u201cactually there is an urgency to bring treatments [such as emerging psychedelic medicines] for people that are suffering from severe mental illness which can be devastating.\u201d<\/p>\n But as Volkow has pointed out, the Schedule I classification of these substances under federal law inhibits such research and development.<\/p>\n The official has also repeatedly highlighted and criticized the racial disparities in drug criminalization enforcement<\/a> overall.<\/p>\n Delaware Lawmakers File New Marijuana Legalization Bill With Key Equity Revisions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Top Federal Drug Official Says \u2018Train Has Left The Station\u2019 On Psychedelics As Reform Movement Spreads<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A top federal drug official says the \u201ctrain has left the station\u201d on psychedelics. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Director Nora Volkow said people are going to keep using substances such as psilocybin\u2014especially as the reform movement expands and there\u2019s increased attention being drawn to the potential therapeutic benefits\u2014andContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52350"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52350"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52351,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52350\/revisions\/52351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Top Federal Drug Official Says \u2018Train Has Left The Station\u2019 On Psychedelics As Reform Movement Spreads<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"