There’s an ongoing push to bring psilocybin therapy to New Mexico. Psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms, is federally illegal. But advocates say that psychedelics, specifically psilocybin, can help treat individuals with certain behavioral health disorders.
Chad Lozano is a veteran who suffers from PTSD related to his deployment in Iraq. He’s an advocate of cannabis and psilocybin, and said he avoids prescription medicine due to the harm that it’s caused for his family.
“[My sister] was a veteran herself and she actually passed away from prescription pills from the VA. And so after she passed away, she was on pretty much all of those and then some. I swore to never do that to my parents again. So I’ve actually told the VA no to all of them, just for the simple fact I don’t want to go that route,” he said. “I would rather learn how to deal with this versus just masking it over.”
During this year’s legislative session in New Mexico, a memorial passed that requested the state’s Department of Health study the use of psilocybin for therapeutic and medical purposes. The bipartisan senate memorial passed on a vote of 37-0.
Currently, only 2 states have legalized psilocybin, but there are ongoing efforts to study the effects of the drug. According to a study conductedby Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine researchers, 54 percent of participants diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder were considered in remission 4 weeks after receiving psilocybin treatment.
Lozano echoed this sentiment, saying that psilocybin has been beneficial in treating his own PTSD.
“With psilocybin, I feel the effects even days after I’ve stopped taking it. And it’s not like I’m feeling high or anything. It’s just that I’m getting the benefits of, you know, it’s just like learning something. And then you take something from that and it sticks with you for a little bit.”
When KRWG reached out to the New Mexico Department of Health regarding Senate Memorial 12, a spokesperson from the department sent back the following response:
“While Senate Memorial 12 does not allocate any funding for the work, it aligns with the objectives of the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) in addressing addiction within the state. Consequently, NMDOH will strive to identify and report on research and program models implemented in other states to inform and support future plans.”
As a Schedule 1 substance, The DEA says psilocybin has no currently accepted medical use, and there are reports of individuals reacting adversely to the substance. Research on how safe and beneficial psychedelic treatments are for the general public is ongoing.
And while Medical providers in New Mexico aren’t allowed to prescribe psilocybin, there are doctors in the state practicing other forms of psychedelic treatment. Dr. Deb Thorne, co-owner of Sol Tryp in Las Cruces, is an advocate of psilocybin treatment for behavioral health problems, and actively uses ketamine therapy with some patients.
“I actually went back to Canada to receive some training for psilocybin-assisted therapy. And so coming back to the U.S., and coming back to the state of New Mexico, I continue to use ketamine because it is legal, but I am not able to use psilocybin, which is one substance that could help thousands in this state.”
Dr. Thorne said psychedelic treatment could help ease some of the burden on New Mexico’s current behavioral health landscape, and while it’s not for everybody, it’s a tool that can be used to treat individuals who qualify.
“This is a powerful adjunct therapy to the mental health industry. And I think that we just need to be open to the possibilities, but do it safely,” she said. “Whether it be ketamine or psilocybin, just be properly informed and well supported. We need to look at the medical model. We know that cannabis has been received well in that light. And I think we need to look at psilocybin as being equally a similar path toward legalizing it for the state if we use it for medical purposes.”
LeeAnne Meadows is one of Dr. Thorne’s patients who has undergone ketamine therapy. Meadows said she has PTSD from trauma that happened when she was a child, and that she wasn’t making meaningful progress in traditional therapy.
“There’s a lot of stigma about psychedelics and drug use. Psychedelics can be used as a medication that are not just something that you do recreationally,” she said. “I feel like this medicine has helped me to change the way my brain works. I was really able to change the quality of my life and improve the quality of my life through these treatments. I think there’s a place for psychedelics for people that have been traumatized.”
With the momentum gained from this legislative session, advocates are hoping to push for a medical psilocybin program, following a similar model demonstrated by the medical cannabis program, so that progress can be made in treating complex behavioral health problems within the surrounding communities.
