Convenience Big Store: Experts want Ecstasy and shrooms legalized. The government is behind the curve.

March 12, 2024

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Good morning, Houston.

Happy Tuesday! You may have noticed yesterday's edition had a broken link for the story on whether or not spring is earlier in Houston this year. Read the story here.

☁️ Temperature check: High of 75; low of 66. Justin's insight: The Houston metro area is likely to cross into the highest threshold for tree pollen counts in the weeks to come. Read more here.

Yasmeen Khalifa, Audience Engagement Producer

yasmeen.khalifa@houstonchronicle.com

Best of the Bayou

Today we're talking about experts wanting ecstasy and shrooms legalized...

If you read one thing: Once soccer moms are risking felony arrest to eat tiny amounts of psychedelic mushrooms for their anxiety and depression, you know government officials and the pharmaceutical industry are tragically behind the curve, writes business columnist Chris Tomlinson.

What is going on with psychedelics?

The Wall Street Journal Magazine recently published a lengthy feature on the growing number of middle- and upper-income women who micro-dose psilocybin, the psychoactive component of magic mushrooms.

Researchers and psychiatrists are catching on, and so are venture capitalists and a slew of startups, as Tomlinson learned at the South by Southwest Conference and Festivals in Austin. There are even promising signs that federal regulators are catching up, too.

What are the medical effects?

While recreational users focus on mushrooms and LSD, the most promising psychedelic for medical use at the moment is MDMA, also known as Ecstasy or Molly.

While the Drug Enforcement Agency lists MDMA as a Schedule 1 drug with no medical uses, the Food and Drug Administration is expected to reach a different conclusion in August.

Researchers expect the FDA to approve the drug for use with traditional talk therapy because it reduces inhibitions, anxiety and emotional distress for many people undergoing post-traumatic stress disorder treatment. Patients must talk through their experiences, and clinical tests show MDMA speeds up the healing process.

Read Chris Tomlinson's full story here.

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— Yasmeen Khalifa