Psilocybin offers new ways to lower risks of opioid addiction

published on August 19, 2022 by Claire Wilson in Vancouver Is Awesome

The opioid crisis has been felt throughout B.C. for decades with policymakers, advocates and researchers looking for new ways to help those with opioid dependency or opioid use disorder (OUD).

Two benchmark treatments exist: methadone and buprenorphine, both synthetic opiate derivatives. These treatments come with high risks of dependence and therefore trade one addiction for another, according to a 2022 study on OUD by Jones, G., Ricard, J.A., Lipson, J. et al.

Western biomedicine is seeing a renaissance in the use of psychedelics and psychedelic-assisted therapy to lower one’s risk of addiction.

Pamela Kryskow, a founding board member of the Psychedelic Association of Canada, medical lead of the Roots To Thrive Program and a family physician, sees psychedelic-assisted therapy as an opportunity for deeper healing…

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