Experts Discuss Botanical Psilocybin's Effect On Neurogenesis And More At Benzinga Cannabis Conference

"Over 131 million people in the United States, that’s over 66% of the population, are currently prescribed to a prescription medication," said Courtney Barnes, a partner at a New York-based cannabis and psychedelics law firm Feldman Legal Advisors. "Of those prescription medications available on the market, 69% of them have 10 to 100 side effects. There is only 9% of drugs that have less than 10 listed side effects."

With this information, Barnes started an important conversation about natural-based products, moderating “How Plant Medicine is Shaping the Future” panel at the recent Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Florida. She was joined by cannabis and psychedelics industry experts such as Hadas Cohen Dewey, a COO at Capsoil Technologies and founder of It's All About Choices, Claire Stawnyczy, a CEO at Lophos Pharma, Dr. Elizabeth Cawley, a CSO Bluestem API, and Dustin Robinson, a managing principal of Iter Investments and the founder of Mr. Cannabis Law. 

Natural Vs Synthetic 

Kicking off the discussion on natural plant medicine, Elizabeth Cawley focused on botanical psilocybin, talked about the important difference between natural and synthetic products. She said that various naturally occurring compounds in psilocybin-based mushrooms are contributing to some of the positive effects. 

According to a recent paper in molecular psychiatry, "It was botanical psilocybin that had a more potent and more prolonged effect on neurogenesis compared to its synthetic analog," she said. Cawley added that one of the issues the industry is dealing with is that regulators are seeing these natural plants as impure instead of focusing on the science and recognizing their actual benefits. 

When it comes to natural drug development, Barnes said she believes we're just touching the tip of the iceberg on the potential benefits of what comes from the Earth. 

Stawnyczy of Lophos Pharma followed up, highlighting the importance of the entourage effect and how traditional pharmaceuticals are usually focused on a single molecule. "And I think we’ve seen distinctly that there are instances where that full spectrum experience is more enjoyable and more therapeutic for the patient," said the CEO of a Canadian bioscience company focused on peyote cultivation and research. 

"I think peyote actually is very interesting when you compare it to cannabis, it’s it’s one of the more unique psychedelics, in that cannabis has this full spectrum cannabinoid profile, and peyote is the only psychedelic that has over, as we know, 50 alkaloids and all of those alkaloids are therapeutic," Stawnyczy continued. "So if you were to just take it down to the mescaline only you’re missing out on a full spectrum experience. And so I really think that natural medicines are going to continue to evolve." 

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Dewey of Capsoil Technologies focused on the shift in customer preference, with people looking for both instant gratification but also finding relief. "We want to make sure we’re using technologies, and we’re using processes that are organic, that are solvent," she said. "So we’re not harming the full genetic portfolio, whether that is of cannabis or plant medicine. And we’re getting the full benefits of the plant." 

Investing In Plant Medicine 

Robinson, the founder of a venture capital fund that invests in alternative therapies for mental health talked about investment opportunities in the space. "We've invested in two companies that are using AI, to kind of look at all natural medicines," he said. "Psychedelics, for example, they all hit different receptors, mainly on the 5-HT2A receptor area, but if you’re trying to do it from a therapeutic perspective, you may want to hit certain receptors and not other receptors." The idea is to be able to look at the natural plant medicine, but actually dial it and fine-tune it to hit the receptors that you want to hit, he said. 

"The reality is that all people react differently to different psychedelic medicines," Robinson highlighted. "So being able to look at the biomarkers and kind of doing a more personalized medicine approach to figure out which of those medicines is best for a particular individual." 

Sharing his projections, Robinson said that when the dust settles from a regulatory perspective, the cannabis market will be split into a more pharmaceutical-based making only 10% of the space, and the remaining 90% will consist of CPG-focused products. In psychedelics, the opposite will happen, and "about 90% will be pharmaceutical products." 

Industry experts advised those interested in joining the space to first understand the regulatory framework, keep their funds alive and remain aware and authentic to what this industry is about and their own passion in the field.

Now read: The Court Case That Could Change The Cannabis Industry Forever And How It Affects Rescheduling

Photo: Quentin Dupree for Benzinga