2023-04-22 20:25:22
Originally, Laurie Brooks never thought she would ever use magic mushrooms. She would never have believed, either, to be the spokesperson for other people who wish to have access to this kind of treatment.
However, she discovered the effects of psilocybin on the sidelines of her battle with incurable colon cancer. His anxiety as his death neared prompted a friend to suggest that he take small doses of magic mushrooms as a treatment.
The documentary Dosed: The Trip of a Lifetimeby Nicohas Meyers and Tyler Chandler, explores what she went through, what she understood, and her path to coming to terms with the disease and its consequences when she decided to refuse a third surgery.
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A last resort solution
The film appears on the sidelines of a lawsuit brought once morest the federal government by psilocybin users who believe that the difficulties of access to the product generated by the restrictions imposed by Health Canada and the waiting times and in order to obtain a authorization violates the rights to life, liberty and security of the person guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In August 2020, Health Canada began giving one-year exemptions for patients who wish to use psilocybin to relieve end-of-life anxiety. Since January 2022, healthcare professionals can apply for an exemption under Health Canada’s Special Access Program for people for whom all other alternatives have proven unsuccessful.
Laurie Brooks was one of the first in the country to obtain a personal exemption. The Abbotsford resident. She first took three grams of psilocybin during a first accompanied session, then five grams during a second session, a year later.
During these sessions, she listened to music blindfolded, lying on a sofa. During the first session, she described an assembly of colors in the manner of a kaleidoscope and a forest. From a feeling of loneliness and fear, she gradually calmed down as she saw her deceased grandmother guiding her.
She says that this first experience allowed her to cope with grief and that the second session allowed her to find her rightful place in the world.
According to her, access to psilocybin in a regulated market would allow people at the end of life to better cope with anxiety, while the current system is rather stress-inducing.
Why don’t we help people
, she asks. “In my case, it only took a six-hour experiment.
A way to alleviate anxiety
According to retired Vancouver doctor Gabor Mate, who appears in the film, clinical trials of the effects of psilocybin conducted in the United States show that these effects are small, but significant on the lives of cancer patients in last phase.
A 2016 study from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine shows lasting improvement in quality of life and reduction in anxiety six months following treatment in 41 of 51 patients who received psilocybin.
I know several people who have had positive experiences with different substances, including psilocybin, administered under the supervision of trained therapists.
explains Dr. Mate.
Governments are far too slow to recognize the potential
treatment, he adds.
Health Canada says it has authorized two clinical trial programs for psilocybin-assisted therapy to alleviate end-of-life distress. One is in British Columbia and the other is in Ontario.
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