Psychedelic therapy: Investors brace for paradigm shift

Drug laws stand in way

In November 2021, the largest ever trial into the therapeutic benefits of psilocybin concluded that the compound was effective in the treatment of serious depression.

Proof of the efficacy of psychedelics in helping people with mental illnesses previously deemed untreatable is building beyond the anecdotal evidence, but researchers continue to face an uphill struggle while investors wait for more opportunities in the psychedelic realm. Many of the psychedelic compounds researchers are working with are still classified as Schedule 1 under the 1971 UN Convention of Psychotropic Substances, meaning they are lumped into the same category as heroin, cocaine and amphetamines. "Schedule 1 is meant for drugs that are an especially serious risk to public he...