The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) says the so-called Right To Try law does not include exemptions for controlled substances and therefore the agency refuses to allow cancer patients access to psilocybin treatments.
The DEA last month filed a brief in a lawsuit filed against the DEA by Sunil Aggarwal of Advanced Integrative Medical Science Institute, an end-of-life care physician based in Washington state. Aggarwak has tried various tactics to gain federal approval to treat dying patients with psilocybin under the Right To Try Act, a law signed by former President Donald Trump that allows terminal patients to try experimental treatments that have not been approved by the FDA.
The agency’s brief is a response to the latest suit before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
“The Right to Try Act does not itself ‘provide any exemptions from the [Controlled Substances Act] or its implementing regulations’ or ‘give the DEA authority to waive’ statutory restrictions,” the brief reads.
The agency says if Aggarwal wants to dispense psilocybin to patients, he will have to register as a psilocybin researcher and apply for study approval.
Researchers Find Few Bad Effects From Magic Mushrooms
A new study published by the American Medical Association (AMA) found that adverse effects from single-dose psilocybin treatment are short-lived if they happen at all.
The study, published last month in JAMA Psychiatry, found that psilocybin therapy can sometimes have some adverse effects, including headache, anxiety, nausea, dizziness and elevated blood pressure. However, researchers found that those effects were “tolerable” and resolved within 48 hours.
Notably, the study found that the treatment was not associated with a risk of paranoia or transient thought disorder (experiencing psychotic episodes). In the past, psilocybin detractors have claimed that these negative effects were associated with the drug.
The study’s authors reviewed data from randomized, double-blind clinical trials of psilocybin in patients treated for depression and anxiety in which participants reported adverse effects. The team analyzed a total sample of 528 participants.
The researchers wrote that future studies need to more actively evaluate the appropriate management of adverse effects.
Legalization Linked to Lower Deportations
A new Columbia University study found that immigrant deportation rates in states that have legalized marijuana are lower than in states where the drug is still prohibited.
The study, published in the journal BMC Public Health, analyzed data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse that included immigration arrest information from 2014 to 2018 and immigration deportation information from 2009 to 2020.
The researchers found that while there were no meaningful changes in arrest prevalence during that time, legalizing recreational marijuana was associated with a moderate relative decrease in deportation prevalence.
The researchers did not identify the mechanism behind the association.