A medicinal version of the popular hippie brew, ayahuasca, could be available to Americans within a decade.
Filament Health, a Canadian psychedelic company, has developed a medicinal form of the powerful psychedelic that can be taken orally as a pill. The company hopes to submit the medical version to an FDA trial in 2023.
Ayahuasca has been touted as an alternative treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression after gaining popularity with endorsements from celebrities including Joe Rogan and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
But Americans currently have to travel to Central and South America for expensive retreats and religious experiences with the potent brew.
However, its therapeutic benefits are mostly anecdotal, and a growing body of evidence shows that the drug also carries a risk of long-term mental health effects.
Ayahuasca is a brown-reddish drink made by boiling stems of the vine of the same name and leaves of the chacruna bush (pictured).
Ayahuasca contains the compound N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), one of the most powerful hallucinogens in the world.
Like LSD and psilocybin, DMT has proven its ability to increase connectivity between different brain networks disrupted by depression and trauma.
The ayahuasca brew is made from the boiling Amazonian vine Banisteriopsis caapi, which contains the DMT and the chacruna bush.
The brew is usually administered by a shaman who acts as a guide during the journey.
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There is no standard recipe for ayahuasca. Different cultures and shamans do it differently depending on tradition, meaning there is no one-size-fits-all dose of DMT, resulting in a different user experience.
Filament Health, which focuses on developing botanical psychedelics to treat mental illness, has developed a medicinal form of ayahuasca that is expected to undergo a regulatory trial in 2023.
It could be prescription-only in North America within a decade, according to Filament Health CEO Ben Lightburn.
“Drug development is long and expensive … a typical drug development process takes at least five to seven years, and we’re only in the early stages,” said Mr. Lightburn told the Toronto Star.
Filament licenses its therapies to researchers and institutions interested in exploring the uses of psychedelics in mental health care. Several institutions have begun to study psilocybin produced by Filament.
The same process must occur before medicinal ayahuasca can be studied in a clinical trial.
Researchers looking to study illicit drugs like DMT also have to jump through a series of bureaucratic hurdles. Because DMT is a Schedule 1 substance, meaning it has no medical use, researchers are required to provide the DEA with comprehensive ingredient lists, monitoring logs, and storage plans.
Researchers interested in researching DMT must submit an investigational new drug (IND) application to the appropriate division of the Food and Drug Administration, which may be denied. In this case, a project can be clinically suspended indefinitely
Even if the experiment is approved and medicinal value is discovered, there is no obvious way to reclassify the drug, making its introduction to the US market even more uncertain.
Filament Health specializes in developing psychedelics to treat mental health conditions such as major depression and opioid addiction.
Medicinal ayahuasca is just the latest development in research into the therapeutic properties of similar drugs such as psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms.
The psychological side effects that people have experienced are listed above. Hearing or seeing things or feeling disconnected were the most common
Seven out of 10 people who used ayahuasca reported experiencing a physical side effect. Vomiting was the most common, but this is considered normal with drinking and is part of the ‘cleansing’ process.
The ayahuasca plant is typically the star of the psychedelic experience. The compound increases connectivity between different brain networks and increases synaptic plasticity.
It causes strong hallucinations and distorts the view of reality.
The chacruna bush in turn gets the DMT going in the elixir.
The body’s natural enzymes break down the psychoactive effects of the ayahuasca plant, so shamans add the extracts of the shrub.
The chacruna shrub is high in a compound known as a “monoamine oxidase inhibitor” (MAOI), which stops the body’s enzymes from working. South American shamans used the shrub to develop various ayahuasca recipes, and Filament wanted to honor the traditional basis of the brew.
DMT is generally self-synthesized, but Filament Health’s scientists obtained one of the traditional preparations, including the chacruna bush, to extract the medicinal ayahuasca.
Mr Lightburn said: “We hypothesize that the reason why ayahuasca can work well for certain indications has to do with the fact that it’s not just DMT, it’s the combination.”
Filament has already begun clinical trials with another psychedelic treatment for major depression. The PEX010 capsule is made from the compound that gives magic mushrooms their psychedelic effects, psilocybin.
PEX010 is currently in clinical trials approved by health authorities in Canada and the United States.
The company has also received several patents from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and the United States Patent and Trademark Office for its process of extracting natural psilocybin from plants and manipulating it into a beneficial medicinal treatment.
Despite its illegal status in the US, ayahuasca has gained a high-profile following, including fans such as Miley Cyrus and Joe Rogan.
Miley Cyrus said in a 2020 interview with Rolling Stone magazine that she “loved the drug” and immediately saw snakes from it.
Joe Rogan is a big proponent of DMT – the active ingredient used in ayahuasca – and regularly shares his experiences on his podcast.
Booze was also blamed for Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ struggles as his team lost five games that season.
Mr. Rodgers, a four-time MVP winner with back-to-back victories, credited his success on the field to the transformative journeys with ayahuasca. IS THIS ALL CURRENT NOW?
Ayahuasca has been used for spiritual purposes, mainly in religious rituals, by the indigenous people of the Amazon basin for at least a century.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
