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Missouri officials are asking for expert assistance as they prepare to award $5 million to study whether psilocybin can help treat opioid use disorders and curb overdose deaths.
In a memo posted on Monday, the state Department of Mental Health asked contractors to help the agency develop competitive grants for the psychedelics project.
“This [request for information] is to allow the opportunity for vendors to provide us with ideas, suggestions, and other relevant information as it relates specifically to opioid related research and its ability to treat addiction of opioids,” the memo says.
Eventually the goal is to develop a request for proposals on psilocybin-related opioid research.
The grant program is the result of HB 2010, a spending bill that included a $5 million allocation from the state’s opioid settlement fund to study opioid overdoses. Initially the provision was for twice that amount—$10 million—and was was briefly earmarked to study ibogaine as a potential treatment rather than psilocybin.
The line was later amended to focus on psilocybin, but before its final passage, all references to the specific substances were removed.
As passed by lawmakers, the line is ambiguous. The section once said the money was “to study ibogaine and its ability to treat opioid addiction,” which was later changed to say it was “to study psilocybin and its ability to treat opioid addiction.” In its final form, the measure says the money is “for opioid research and its ability to treat opioid addiction.”
Regardless, the Department of Mental Health is giving money out with a focus on psilocybin.
“The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to obtain written feedback from the vendor community for use in preparation of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for procurement of Opioid Related Research of Psilocybin for the State of Missouri,” the new document says.
Here are the questions asked on the request for information:
How would research into the use of psilocybin be conducted? Please include in the detailed explanation whether human subjects would be used.
How long would the research project be expected to last and would it be conducted in phases. Please include a detailed explanation of each phase.
Please explain how the August 2024 complete response letter from the Food and Drug Administration to Lykos Therapeutics indicating the FDA would not approve methylenedioxy methamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted therapy for PTSD at this time based on the data that was submitted will impact your research into the use of psilocybin.
Please explain how research into the use of psilocybin falls into one or more approved uses specifically listed in Exhibit E of the National Opioid Settlements.
In the event a court or the National Settlement Administrator determines that research into the use of psilocybin and its ability to treat opioid use is not an approved use under the requirements of the National Opioid Settlements, will vendor repay the amount of the grant to the State?
Provide any recommendations you may have regarding the RFP for psilocybin research related to the ability to treat opioid use. Such recommendations should include an explanation as to why such suggestions would be beneficial to the State to take into consideration, and how the suggestion aligns with ensuring opioid use prevention, treatment, or recovery.
Respondents must submit their replies by the end of October.
Eapen Thampy, a lobbyist and founder of the group Psychedelic Missouri who supported the ibogaine provision, said that “at the end of the day, it is a very exciting thing that Missouri is looking to understand what role psychedelics may play in solving substance use crises, including opioids.”
But he emphasized that he’d still like to see further investigation into what role ibogaine can play.
“We’re going to be exploring pathways to fund ibogaine research as a breakthrough therapy for opioid use disorder,” he said.
HB 2010 was sponsored by Rep. Cody Smith (R), The short-lived addition of ibogaine, meanwhile, was the doing of Rep. Chad Perkins (R), a longtime police officer.
Smith, who also brought the subsequent amendment that replaced ibogaine with psilocybin, previously explained that the ibogaine proposal was nixed as the result of a conversation he had with the state Department of Mental Health.
“They had concerns about the ibogaine research they had read, and there are concerns about the dangers involved in that research,” Smith said. “However, they are interested in the psilocybin piece. And we’ve seen many other states use their opioid settlement funds to that end.”
At the time, Perkins said he was “not disappointed” with the change.
“I believe that bringing more exposure to the benefits of psychedelics has been an ancillary effect of the pursuit of this budget item,” he told Marijuana Moment. “This issue will hopefully raise the profile of psychedelics and provide a foundation on which we can base future policy decisions.”
As for ibogaine, a Stanford University study published earlier this year found that military combat veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) saw “dramatic” and “life-changing” improvements in their symptoms and cognitive functioning immediately after receiving treatment with the substance. In response to the increased demand for research, DEA has proposed a dramatic escalation in the production quota for ibogaine and other psychedelic compounds in 2024.
Meanwhile in Missouri, marijuana employers are embroiled in a legal challenge over workers’ effort to unionize, with St. Louis-based Beleaf Medical cannabis company contending that their employees are agricultural workers and thus don’t have a right to organize.
Allegations are also continuing that predatory entrepreneurs took advantage of social equity-eligible applicants for business licenses in the state’s marijuana program in order to secure control of the industry.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia/Mushroom Observer.
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