June Psychedelic News Roundup

Here are some of the most compelling headlines and highlights from the past month:

Major Policy & Research Developments

Texas Goes All In on Ibogaine In a historic move, Texas approved up to $50 million in public funding to launch the nation’s first state-sponsored clinical trials on ibogaine. The psychedelic compound will be studied for treating PTSD, addiction, and brain trauma, especially among veterans.
Portugal Approves Public Funding for Ketamine Therapy Portugal’s national health service is now covering esketamine for adults with treatment-resistant depression, making it one of the first countries in Europe to offer publicly funded psychedelic therapy.
Indiana and Colorado Expand Access Indiana lawmakers have passed new funding for psychedelic mental health research, and in Colorado, a stroke survivor became a licensed psilocybin facilitator after his own healing experience with the compound.

Magic Mushrooms and Parkinson’s New studies from UCSF and other institutions show promising signs that psilocybin may help alleviate symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, improving quality of life and reducing anxiety and depression.
Psilocybin for Cluster Headaches A Guardian investigation spotlights how people suffering from cluster headaches, a condition nicknamed “suicide headaches”, are finding relief through psilocybin, with early clinical data supporting these anecdotal breakthroughs.
KAP vs. KAP+Psilocybin A recent comparative study evaluates how long symptom relief lasts in patients receiving Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) alone vs. those receiving KAP combined with psilocybin therapy, offering insights into how different compounds may work together.

This Is Your Priest on Drugs (The New Yorker) A university-led study explored how clergy from various faiths experienced psilocybin journeys. Many described mystical insights that deepened their religious beliefs, and even led some to advocate for psychedelic healing.
Taking Psychedelic Spiritualities Seriously Scholar Jay Michaelson urges a new conversation around psychedelics and spirituality,one that avoids stereotypes and engages more deeply with religious experience, ethics, and transformation.
The Rise (and Co-optation) of Psychedelic Capitalism Articles in The Tyee and New Lines Magazine critique the corporate commodification of psychedelic medicine, raising concerns about how biotech and profit-driven models are shaping the future of access, equity, and authenticity in this space.
Dark Web Psychedelic Empires WIRED published a gripping exposé on Akasha Song, a DMT kingpin who built an online psychedelic empire from tree bark and crypto payments, until the feds caught up.

Florida Bans Psychedelic Mushroom Spores Florida legislators passed a bill outlawing the cultivation and sale of psychedelic mushroom spores, a sign that not all states are moving toward liberalization.
Religious Exemptions & Psychedelic Sacraments Debates are intensifying over religious use of psychedelics as a psychedelic church reported receiving the first religious exemptions to the Controlled Substances Act without filing a lawsuit against the DEA, with legal experts and church leaders pushing for clearer protections under federal religious freedom laws.
Mapping the Retreat Industry A newly published landscape analysis of psychedelic retreats revealed trends in marketing, legality, and therapeutic offerings, showing just how broad, and unregulated, the retreat ecosystem has become.

The Acid Queen A biography of Rosemary Woodruff Leary, a forgotten figure in the psychedelic underground.
Psychedelic Therapy is Back on Academia's Radar A new NORC-BrainFutures survey of academic leaders reveals interesting insights on what the academic community is thinking of the psychedelic renaissance.
Opinion: Psychedelics & MDMA & Mental Health An opinion piece advocating for broader access to MDMA and psilocybin-assisted treatments, highlighting their transformative potential for mental illness and the need for regulatory reform.
Psychedelics, Social Work, and Legal Care This podcast episode from our very own board member Andi Walsh explores how social work practitioners can integrate legal care into psychedelic therapy with a trauma informed approach.

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