PSILOCYBIN NEWS

If LSD was the key molecule for the birth of Psychedelic Science in the 1950s, some say psilocybin is the molecule of the Psychedelic Renaissance. Warming up the engines for this month's CAMP.educ module meetings on "Psilocybin and Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy" (February 28th and March 1st, 2026), we decided to bring you some updates on this molecule in the current psychedelic landscape. It is worth remembering that at the dawn of Psychedelic Science, psilocybin was not yet known. It was only in 1955—when the effects of LSD had already been under investigation for over 10 years—that Gordon Wasson encountered magic mushrooms through Maria Sabina in Mexico and introduced them to Albert Hofmann. The chemist responsible for synthesising LSD then became the first to isolate psilocybin from mushrooms in 1958, and the first to synthesise it in 1959.

Following its social and countercultural use, and the consequences of prohibitionist policies and propaganda, LSD began to carry a strong negative stigma in society. Consequently, psychedelics in general became frowned upon within universities starting in the 1970s. In the Psychedelic Renaissance, beginning in the 1990s and 2000s, research resumed with DMT and ayahuasca, but it is psilocybin that has consolidated itself as the molecule of greatest interest among scientists - and not just among them: today, psilocybin is the psychedelic molecule with the most ongoing studies registered on ClinicalTrials.gov; furthermore, a RAND survey indicated that psilocybin was the most consumed psychedelic substance for microdosing last year in the USA, with a total of 11 million adult users.

In terms of regulatory policies, we have previously shared a general overview of psilocybin worldwide on this blog: in 2025, New Zealand, the Czech Republic, and Germany approved specific regulations for the therapeutic use of the molecule. In New Zealand, the first psychiatrist was authorized to prescribe psilocybin for cases of treatment-resistant depression. In the Czech Republic, the use of synthetic psilocybin was approved in general and public hospitals, prescribed by authorized doctors. Germany became the first country to allow legal access to psilocybin even before its full regulatory approval (through what has been called "compassionate use" or an "expanded access program").

In the USA, regulatory changes since 2020 have been authorizing the use of mushrooms or psilocybin in various contexts. Following Oregon, Colorado, and New Mexico, it is now the turn of New Jersey, New Hampshire, and Iowa with specific psilocybin regulation bills: on January 20, 2026, the Governor of New Jersey approved the creation of the Psilocybin Behavioral Health Access and Services Pilot Program. In New Hampshire, two ongoing bills (HB 1796 and HB 1809) propose therapeutic psilocybin programs to be administered by the state Department of Health and Human Services. In Iowa, on January 22, 2026, a bill (HF 2085) was introduced proposing the creation of a licensing board to review applications from psilocybin growers and qualified healthcare professionals.

The update of standards and legislation surrounding mushrooms and psilocybin in various countries is a reflection of the growing body of evidence regarding the substance's therapeutic potential. Since 2018, when it received "breakthrough therapy designation" from the FDA (which recognises the high therapeutic potential of a treatment and accelerates the regulatory stages) for treatment-resistant depression, other studies have described therapeutic potential for various other conditions, such as severe alcohol-induced anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and end-of-life distress.

Recent studies are opening new paths of investigation that go beyond treating mental disorders, exploring the complexity of the connection between body and psyche (the old mind-brain dichotomy, updated in light of psychedelics). Evidence has recently been found that psilocybin: improves insulin resistance and fatty liver in diet-induced metabolic diseases (pointing to potential use in treating obesity and diabetes); influences social behaviour and inflammation in female mice, depending on metabolic context and physical activity; and extended the lifespan of elderly mice (reinforcing the hypothesis that psychedelics could reprogram complex cellular networks, influencing aging processes). In most of these studies, researchers do not use raw mushrooms, but rather isolated or synthetic psilocybin, as well as "non-hallucinogenic" versions of the molecule—continuing the debate on the relationship between visionary effects and therapeutic benefits.

Brazilian Psychedelic Science, though historically strengthened by research on ayahuasca, has also advanced in investigations with mushrooms and psilocybin. In 2023, Unifesp began recruiting volunteers for smoking cessation treatment, and, in 2025, the Alma Viva Institute obtained unprecedented authorisation from Anvisa to import 18kg of mushrooms for use in studies focused on existential anxiety related to death in oncology patients, as well as major depression.

Keep following our blog for more psychedelic news!