- More Americans than ever see a need to legalize so-called “recreational” drugs for medicinal use
- Support for the legalization of medicinal cannabis in the U.S. has hit a new record-high (91%)
- This bodes well for a near-term thaw in U.S. drug laws on psychedelics
Investors in psychedelic drug stocks are aware of previous warnings about
the Mental Health Crisis,
a worsening pandemic that already afflicts as many as
1 in 4 people worldwide.
Obviously, this is not the only pandemic on the planet today. The COVID-91 pandemic has turned life upside-down for most people and greatly contributed to the worsening Mental Health Crisis.
Meanwhile, many other major diseases/disorders are also reporting increasing numbers of sufferers.
- Diabetes
- Traumatic brain injury
- Most forms of cancer
- Dementia
Worse still, many of the largest treatment markets currently suffer from a mediocre standard of care and low success/cure rates. In short, for many reasons, Americans (and other people around the world) are becoming much more concerned about their health.
We see this with the dramatic increase in the sales and use of dietary health supplements.
But we are also seeing this changing attitude with respect to formerly/currently illegal “recreational” drugs.
Americans want (medicinal) access to recreational drugs
drug
n. A substance used in the diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of a disease or as a component of a medication.
Many drugs that were used recreationally were heavily criminalized in what became the (now discredited) “War on Drugs”. What was completely ignored by governments at that time is that many of these substances also have potent medicinal and/or health & wellness properties.
Today, numerous health agencies, up to and including the
World Health Organization are now calling for the full decriminalization of these drugs.
As with U.S. alcohol Prohibition, the world has discovered that the “cure” (drug prohibition laws) is much more harmful than the “disease” itself (recreational drug use).
But that only addresses the legal/social aspects of the War on Drugs. Beyond this, Americans and other people around the world
want legal access to many of these drugs – to benefit from their bona fide medicinal uses.
This is illustrated emphatically in the latest poll from Pew Research on cannabis legalization. American support for legalizing
medicinal cannabis has reached a new record-high:
91 percent.
It’s one of the few political issues in the U.S. for which there is
strong bipartisan support (95% of Democrats, 87% of Republicans). Republicans and Democrats can’t agree on much, but both want legal access to medicinal cannabis today.
Cannabis has been shown (empirically) to have therapeutic value in the treatment of hundreds of medical conditions.
Non-toxic and not physically addictive, cannabis is not only delivering greater medicinal relief than conventional medications for many medical conditions. It does so with zero risk and few adverse side effects.
Enter psychedelic drugs.
Psychedelic drugs: the new Miracle Drugs of the 21st century
Like medicinal cannabis, psychedelic drugs are showing great potential (in both formal drug trials and non-clinical settings) to treat a growing number of medical diseases and disorders.
However, what has gotten a rapidly growing segment of the medical community so excited about these drugs is that they are displaying their treatment successes in many areas of medical treatment that currently exhibit the lowest success/cure rates.
At the top of this list are stress-related mental health disorders like depression, anxiety, addiction and PTSD. Conventional therapies are consistently delivering abysmal rates of treatment success.
- Two-thirds of Americans exhibiting symptoms of depression don’t even seek treatment due to the poor available options
- Two-thirds of U.S. veterans being treated for PTSD report no benefit from their therapy
- Addiction therapy is little more than a rehab revolving-door for most people, due to the lack of effective drugs to control addictive cravings
Clinical studies on the use of psychedelics-based therapies for these conditions are more than reversing these dismal treatment statistics.
- Roughly 90% of participants in a MAPS Phase III study using MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD have reported some benefit from their treatment
- A 2016 study on “treatment-resistant depression” reported that two-thirds of patients (66%) were in remission one week after their first psilocybin therapy session
- Using psilocybin to treat nicotine addiction, 80% of smokers were fully abstinent 6 months later (2014 study)
This doesn’t merely represent a (potential) incremental increase in treatment success. This is a full-fledged healthcare revolution:
the Psychedelics Revolution.
Rising American support for the medicinal use of psychedelic drugs
How many Americans support legalizing psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient in “magic mushrooms”?
We don’t have any national numbers – yet. This Revolution is simply so new that polling agencies haven’t even started to seek such data.
What we
do know about rising support is more anecdotal.
- Increasing numbers of U.S. states and local governments have either already decriminalized some/all of these drugs or are seriously considering doing so
- Increasing numbers of Americans are using these substances therapeutically on their own – often via “microdosing” – and openly acknowledging the positive health benefits of psychedelics
- Increasing numbers of medical practitioners are (at least) expressing support for psychedelics-based drug research, if not already seeking to incorporate psychedelic medicine into their own practice
Even if national polling on this subject had been done, undoubtedly approval numbers would be nowhere near the 91% support for medicinal cannabis. Not yet.
Awareness of the medicinal potential of these drugs is still spreading slowly. Most people remain oblivious to the Psychedelics Revolution. The COVID-19 pandemic (and the obsessive media coverage of this event) has slowed the growth in awareness here.
But that awareness is coming.
Rising public awareness of the potential of psychedelic medicine
A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine on a study comparing psilocybin with an antidepressant (for treating depression) has received widespread – though
rather uninformed – coverage in the media. But it gets more eyes on this emerging industry.
Personal testimonials will also go a long way in increasing public awareness.
Traumatic brain injury (e.g. concussions and other head injuries) is
an enormous and growing treatment market – and another area of treatment that is currently plagued by mediocre existing treatment options.
Psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin are rapidly gaining attention for their potential to (successfully) treat TBI, in large part due to the testimonials from former professional athletes on their own success in self-medicating.
The
National Football League, the
National Hockey League, the
Ultimate Fighting Championship. All of these heavy-contact professional sports are plagued by concussion issues and other TBIs. All have athletes who have stepped forward to acknowledge successfully using psychedelics to
dramatically improve their condition.
Professional athletes are among the most effective “influencers” in the world of marketing. When our sports heroes speak, people listen.
The Psychedelics Revolution will inevitably continue to build momentum.
Legalization of psychedelic drugs for medicinal use is coming
Today, the headline is 91% support among Americans for legalizing medicinal cannabis. Similar polling numbers on support for psychedelics legalization probably won’t be seen in the next year. But that day is coming.
The Mental Health Crisis, the world’s largest pandemic, demands attention. So, too, do the numerous other medical treatment “crises” – as Big Pharma has failed to deliver effective medications for a growing list of medical disorders.
The need for (legal) psychedelic medicine is more than acute. The potential of psychedelic medicine appears to be nearly unlimited.
The Cannabis Revolution continues to spread. But the Psychedelics Revolution is rapidly closing ground.
As industry leader,
atai Life Sciences,
files for a $100 million IPO financing with the SEC and
MindMed Inc (US:MNMD / CAN:MMED) announces
uplisting to the NASDAQ, the next leg up for psychedelic stocks may have already begun.
DISCLOSURE: The writer holds shares in MindMed Inc.
