Canadian Terminally Ill Cancer Patients Get Legaly Magic Mushroom Doses

Image Magic mushrooms

After authorities relaxed rules, six terminally ill cancer patients in Canada received doses of the psychoactive substance found in magic mushrooms.

Under new access rules, six terminally ill cancer patients in Canada received the country's first legally produced psilocybin the psychoactive compound found in "magic" mushrooms.

Over the weekend, the people were given the drug in addition to therapy.

In January, Health Canada changed its rules to allow doctors to request access to manufactured psilocybin for terminally ill patients as part of a special access program. Although psilocybin is illegal in the United States, it has shown promise in treating end-of-life anxiety in people with life-threatening cancers.

People could ask for exemptions to use psilocybin before, but there was no system in place for them to get access to professionally made medications. That meant they had to either grow their own mushrooms or buy them from an unlicensed dispensary.

Patients who have been approved for a manufactured version of psilocybin under Health Canada's special access program can now obtain it from a licensed dealer who has been approved by the authority. While the treatment tries to alleviate symptoms, it is not a cancer treatment.

Spencer Hawkswell, CEO of TheraPsil, a nonprofit that helps Canadians gain access to psychedelic therapy, called it a "momentous occasion" in a statement on Monday.

"This is a huge victory for patients and doctors who have been in the dark for the past two years with legal exemptions but no psilocybin supply," he said.

Patients didn't always know what was within the substances they were buying, according to Hawkswell, who spoke to the Vancouver Sun. Hawkswell stated, "It's not as safe as it should be."

In terms of six approvals, Health Canada said it is reviewing four other requests for other people.

Thomas Hartle was one of the first terminal cancer patients in Canada to receive legally manufactured psilocybin. TheraPsil. Image Credit

'Magic mushrooms allowed me to relax and help me forget about my worries.'

In August 2020, Thomas Hartle, the first Canadian to get authorized psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy, was one of six persons who received the medication alongside treatment over the weekend.

According to the Sun, Hartle went from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to Vancouver Island, off the coast of British Columbia, to get psilocybin for the first time since his yearlong exemption ended last August.

In Saskatoon, Hartle first legally bought his own mushrooms and used them with the help of his therapist. This time, he was given medical-grade psilocybin by Psygen Labs, a psychedelic drug company, and he was in group therapy with the other five patients. A treatment team and medical oversight are required for the special access program.

The impacts of Hartle's first experience, he told the Sun, lasted six months.

"Magic mushrooms allowed me to quiet the worries in my thoughts, allowing my body to use my energy for healing instead of worrying," he stated.

Hartle claimed that obtaining the initial exemption took him 103 days and that he had yet to receive a response to his renewal application after nearly 200 days. He stated it took three months to get approval through the new special access program.

Health Canada stated that now that the initial authorizations have been given, it expects permissions to be obtained more quickly.

"Requests to the SAP involving new goods or new indications often take longer to complete," the health agency explained, "since verifications must be made with the producer on product quality and their ability and willingness to offer the drug." "However, once the SAP has granted access to a given product, subsequent requests for the same medicine and indication can be processed much faster."

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