The Race to Patent Magic Mushrooms Heats Up
Alex Pietrowski, Staff Writer
Waking Times
There’s a certain magic to the business of patenting medicines. For decades, pharmaceutical companies have been seeking out indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants and bringing this into the laboratory in order to develop synthesized or variant versions of natural medicines, then patenting them. This is an insanely profitable business model.
With the progressive legalization of cannabis in North America, research into its potential medicinal uses has increased dramatically, and there are currently some 500+ active patents on cannabis related substances and compounds.
In this race, large corporations such as Scott’s Miracle-Gro and Monsanto, the U.S. government, and numerous mid-size companies, are competing to own the most profitable pharmaceutical variations of cannabis, and to dominate the medical marijuana market.
“According to Big Buds Magazine, Monsanto and Scotts Miracle-Gro have a “deep business partnership” and plan on taking over the cannabis industry. Hawthorne, a front group for Scotts, has already purchased three of the major cannabis growing companies: General Hydroponics, Botanicare, and Gavita. Many other hydroponics companies have also reported attempted buyouts by Hawthorne.
“They want to bypass hydroponics retail stores…When we said we won’t get in bed with them they said, ‘Well, we could just buy your whole company like we did with Gavita and do whatever we want.’” – Hydroponics Lighting Representative” [Source]
Regarding magic mushrooms, in recent news, the FDA approved the first controlled trials of psilocybin-based depression therapies for Compass Pathways, a startup funded by Peter Thiel. The federal government is now authorizing the study of psilocybin as an alternative to antidepressants.
“This summer we are beginning a randomised controlled trial of psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant depression. This will be the largest clinical study of its kind and will take place in a number of clinical trial sites across Europe. The trial is a phase IIb dose-ranging study with 216 patients. If successful, it will be followed by phase III studies in which we will look at comparing the optimal dose, mostly likely to placebo or standard of care.” [Source]
Psilocybin is the psychoactive compound found in ‘magic’ mushrooms, which grow in abundance around the world. They are one of the most prolific plants found in all of nature, and as mycologist Paul Stamets notes, they are ‘nature’s little teachers,’ that is, the profound psychological and spiritual benefits of ingesting magic mushrooms is well-known and centuries old.
But now, thanks to prohibition and the rise of corporate research science, the race to patent and profit from magic mushrooms is heating up again.
For example…
“A composition including psilocybin (4-phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) or psilocin (4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) in pure form or extracts from Psilocybe and psilocybin containing mushrooms combined with erinacines or hericenones, or extracts from Hericium mushroom species, and niacin (nicotinic acid or 3-pyridinecarboxylic acid, also known as vitamin B3), uniquely aids in repairing and improving neurologic functioning and signaling.” [Source]
In the 1960’s, Sandoz pharmaceutical actually produced a concentrated psilocybin product, Indocybin, which was eventually pulled because people were known to be abusing it.
“Because their physiological effects last only about three and a half hours (about half as long as psilocybin), they proved more manageable in European clinics using “psycholytic therapy”—a form of psychotherapy involving the controlled use of psychedelic drugs. Sandoz marketed and sold pure psilocybin under the name Indocybin to physicians and clinicians worldwide. There were no reports of serious complications when psilocybin was used in this way.” [Source]
Innovation in the medical industry is certainly a good thing for consumers and people seeking reliable ways to benefit from natural substances such as cannabis and magic mushrooms, and in this regard, the current trend is quite promising.
“The Psilocybin and cannabis fields both share three critical features. First, both are products of nature. Second, those natural products were criminalized by 1970’s laws, based on 1970’s reasoning. Third, that criminal status chilled innovation. As a result of these three facts, many naturally occurring substances (in both “magic mushrooms” and cannabis) were understudied and underdeveloped. Accordingly, the these industries remained stuck in about 1970. Until recently, the state of the art for cannabis was smoking plant matter. The state of the art for psilocybin is almost exclusively eating mushrooms.
Most likely, the state of the art will evolve beyond eating mushrooms and exclusively focusing on only one molecule. Soon, scientists will recognize that those magic mushrooms have dozens of pharmacologically active magic molecules that can be purposely formulated into safer, more effective, and more reliable products. These advances will arise from human innovation, making them patentable.” [Source]
But, as with all things naturally beneficial, we will soon see the corporate/state takeover of magic mushrooms, and will be exposed to more and more scientific evidence proving what we already know: that spiritual experience is good for mental health.
What is at stake here, however, is that our trust in nature is being culturally supplanted with trust in corporate funded research and corruptible state organs which will further insert themselves into one’s ability to do perfectly natural things like pick a mushroom from a cow patty, go sit in a field for a few hours and be in awe of the magnificence and wonder of the universe before us.
This would turn something that costs nothing and is wildly abundant into something that is wildly regulated and ridiculously expensive.
Magic mushrooms and cannabis in their natural form are two of the safest psychoactive and medicinal substances on the planet. The fact that the we have to wait for the government and corporations to give us permission to experience something as ancient and as powerful as magic mushrooms is an insult to the collective intelligence and spiritual history of the human race.
Read more articles by Alex Pietrowski.
About the Author
Alex Pietrowski is an artist and writer concerned with preserving good health and the basic freedom to enjoy a healthy lifestyle. He is a staff writer for WakingTimes.com. Alex is an avid student of Yoga and life.
This article (The Race to Patent Magic Mushrooms Heats Up) originally created and published by Waking Times and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Alex Pietrowski and WakingTimes.com.