🌿 MDMA and Magic Mushrooms available for therapeutic use

Good Morning. Welcome to The Greenfields.

What've we got for you today?

• Psilocybin and MDMA approved for therapeutic use

• Hong Kong bans CBD

• There's little evidence for Cannabis 'hangover'

• New Segment Announcement: Dr. Lenny's Lab

• Althea Group Holdings raises $2.2m

Psilocybin and MDMA approved for therapeutic use

The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) relaxed restrictions on Psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and MDMA (ecstasy) so they can be used for treating two conditions: treatment resistant depression and PTSD.

This makes Australia the first in the world to make the two drugs available to patients.

However, only psychiatrists will be able to prescribe the drugs under controlled circumstances with the approval of the Human Research Ethics Committee. The psychiatrists also have to be approved as Authorised Prescribers.

Little Green Pharma (ASX:LGP) and Emyria (ASX:EMD) welcomed the news and saw share price increases of 40-60%. Little Green Pharma has a subsidiary, Reset Mind Sciences, focused on MDMA.

Emyria is probably the most advanced, claiming that they have already established a network of clinical partners, a supply of MDMA, and a protocol to support specialist psychiatrists to meet the requirements to prescribe MDMA.

We don't think you'll be dropping by your psychiatrist to grab a bottle of MDMA anytime soon. Medicinal cannabis started off under the same Approved Prescriber scheme and was difficult to access. It wasn't until it was made available on the Special Access Scheme B (SAS-B) that it became more widely available. It's something we'll continue to keep an eye on.

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Hong Kong bans CBD

Hong Kong CBD retailers have shut up shop or had to rebrand after a ban of CBD products started on the 1st of Feb. The Hong Kong narcotics division announced the ban of CBD products late last year.

The reason behind the ban was to bring Hong Kong into line with mainland China, but the officials also claimed there is difficulty isolating CBD from THC and ensuring that there is no THC in CBD products.

This is a small step backwards for cannabis in the Asia-Pacific region, but it's not entirely unsurprising for a country that is increasingly authoritarian.

Little evidence for cannabis 'hangover'

Lambert Institute has found that there's little evidence for cannabis causing a 'hangover' and impairing users the next day. They reviewed a number of studies and found that only about 3.5% of performance tests showed any impairment the next day.

Drug driving laws in Australia are a major impediment to the adoption of medicinal cannabis and recreational cannabis. You'll be breaking the law in most states if any THC is in your bloodstream while driving. This means that the majority of regular medicinal cannabis users that drive are probably breaking the law.

More evidence that cannabis does not have a 'hangover' should help efforts to change the laws in several states in Australia. This would help with the overall adoption of cannabis as a medicinal and recreational drug.

Dr Lenny’s Lab

We are thrilled to announce our new segment: “Dr. Lenny’s Lab”. Dr. Lenny is a brain and plant researcher. Two of our favourite things!

Dr. Lenny will be answering your questions about the brain, medicines, chemistry, biology, and research in the cannabis industry. Have you ever wondered why cannabis works? Do you want a straight, plain-english, no-nonsense, explanation of research results? Dr. Lenny has the answers.

Once a fortnight they’ll pick the best question from our subscribers. The first one will be published on the 14th of February, so reply to this email or hit us up on Twitter or Facebook with your question.

AGH raises $2.2m

Althea Group Holdings (ASX:AGH) has raised $2.2m that they believe will see them through to break even on cashflow and operating profitability in March 2023. The money will be used to fund development of new products, and grow their existing businesses.

AGH is made up of Althea and Peak. Althea specialises in medicinal cannabis and Peak in recreational cannabis including edibles, oils, and dried flower.

That’s your walk through The Greenfields of the cannabis industry today. We’ll see you again on Thursday, but if you want more before then follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is not financial advice. It is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell anything or to make any financial decisions. Please do your own research and do not buy anything dodgy.