EXCLUSIVE: Fox Rothschild Cannabis Attorney Analyzes Psychedelics Regs And Changing Public Perceptions

(Part one of a three-part series)

Psychedelics as a field has seen a great deal of progress over the past several months, ranging from positive results in clinical trials such as MAPS’ MDMA trial for PTSD and COMPASS CMPS’ psilocybin trial for Treatment-Resistant Depression to numerous reforms at a state level in the U.S.

Benzinga had the opportunity to interview Joshua Horn, co-chair of Fox Rothschild's cannabis practice group and one of the nation’s leading cannabis attorneys, according to Chambers USA.

One of the first things tackled during the conversation was the growth of psychedelics services in two US states where these substances have been legalized -Oregon and Colorado- and the parallels that can be drawn from cannabis legalization.

Oregon has begun to receive applications for psychedelics therapy training as well as psychedelics services facilities in keeping with Measure 109 although some places have “opted-out” of the psilocybin services enactment in their territories. 

See also: Oregon Update: Psilocybin Therapy Services Implementation, From Concept To Reality

“I think in these instances it’s really state-specific to Oregon, and the fact that this is the way it’s rolling out doesn’t surprise me,” Horn told Benzinga. “It’s actually similar to medical cannabis throughout the US, in the sense that many of the programs had provisions for municipalities to opt out whether they wanted to participate in the program.”

Medical Psychedelics Vs. Medical Cannabis

Horn said all states holding some sort of legalized therapeutic psychedelic will eventually roll them out the way medical cannabis did, with Oregon becoming educational for others who are looking to do the same.

See also: Senators Take Bipartisan Action To Legalize Medical Marijuana In North Carolina

The difference, he says, is that the medical psychedelics program will probably face more resistance.

“I think people still equate psychedelics with the 60’s, the hippie movement in the US and elsewhere,” Horn said. “And people lose sight of the fact that before that generation, these substances were used successfully for medical purposes, including LSD being used as a psychological treatment.”

He noted that the industry will likely face the challenge of educating people in such areas as small-dose psilocybin capacity to relieve mood and other psychological disorders.

In contrast, Horn says “people always saw cannabis as not that big of a deal, whereas a hallucinogenic, people have these wild ideas about what it is and what it does to you.”

Colorado and Oregon’s bills, by calling them “natural” psychedelics, have begun this educational path.

“Most are put out of the ground. Even LSD, which comes from a fungus called ergot but must then go through another process to get to the actual psychedelic. But I think that does appeal to people, that it’s a natural therapeutic.”

This could be the reason why, paired with scientific evidence, psilocybin is more present in bills as compared to more clinical-stage advanced MDMA. 

Horn believes that’s why cannabis has public support throughout the US. “Because again, it’s a product that you can see growing in the ground, so you can understand it better than something coming out of a lab. I think that’s why people view it favorably.”

But besides the fact that psilocybin is a natural substance that can be grown in one’s backyard vs. MDMA’s need for in-lab, standardized production, Horn thinks another reason for psilocybin’s win so far is that MDMA has a history of having been abused.

See also: A Brief History Of MDMA: From The CIA To Raves To Psychedelic Therapy

“And that abuse was widely reported. It certainly was back in the 80s, and through the 90’s, because you had these rave parties where everyone would take MDMA. And all that got much more attention than people who either grew or got some mushrooms and ate them in the privacy of their own home,” he said. “And I think MDMA was much more available, in my opinion than psilocybin, at the time.”

Can psilocybin consumption eventually be similar to cannabis?

“If it’s administered through microdoses, which is what people usually do with mood disorders, then I think maybe,” he says. “But the concern I have is, like anything –alcohol, gambling, tobacco- all these things can be abused: if these psilocybin clinics are gonna be set up in a way that you can just buy an ounce of mushrooms, then I think that type of system may be more subject to abuse than if all you can get in a dispensary is a microdose.”

Photo: Benzinga edit with photo by Flametric, aiyoshi597, Gisele Yashar, Bacsica and Freedomz on Shutterstock. 

Next up: Psychedelics Education, Rescheduling And Decriminalization As Seen By Fox Rotschild Cannabis Partner