Inspired by a growing body of research on the use of psychedelics to treat depression, anxiety, PTSD and other mental illnesses, a new political action committee is seeking to elect leaders who support the therapeutic use of substances such as psilocybin (mushrooms in magic), ketamine and MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy.

The founders of the newly formed Psychedelic Medicine PAC are also seeking to secure federal funding for further education and research during a period of heightened focus on the dangerous side effects of opioids, especially fentanyl, and other traditional pharmaceuticals.

Proponents have long argued that the therapeutic use of psychedelics may be safer and more effective than prescription drugs, some of which carry the risk of addiction. This movement has grown in recent years as more clinical research supports these claims and society grapples with deepening mental health issues exacerbated by the pandemic.

But even true believers say more research is needed to fully understand how the same substances popularized by hippies and ravers can be used to treat potentially life-threatening disorders.

“We have to convince the historically stubborn audience around psychedelics that this is not the 1960s,” said Ryan Rogers, co-founder and CEO of Psychedelic Medicine PAC.

“People will not look at the sun to make their eyes pop out. People are not going to jump off the building,” he said. “It’s about healing trauma. It’s not about rest.”

Melissa Lavasani, co-founder and chief executive of the group, experienced this healing firsthand after using psychedelics to treat postpartum depression and chronic pain. She led decriminalization efforts in Washington, D.C., where she pushed through an initiative that made growing and possessing herbal and mushroom medicines the lowest priority for local police and prosecutors.

The measure was overwhelmingly passed, with 76% supporting it in 2020, the same year that Oregon approved a ballot initiative to legalize the use of psychedelic mushrooms for therapeutic purposes.

Since then, similar initiatives have sprung up across the country. Bipartisan Congressional Leadership Group launched a caucus dedicated to advancing research and raising awareness of psychedelic therapy earlier this year. Last year, the Biden administration stated that exploring the possibility about setting up a task force to study psychedelics, with the expectation that the Food and Drug Administration would approve such therapy in the coming years.

“An exploratory approach and a science-based approach is really the path of least resistance,” Lavasani said. “It’s going to take a little longer – it’s a very slow approach and a very methodical thing we’re trying to do – but it’s a way of making people feel comfortable buying into this problem.”

The group, which plans to raise $10 million in its first year, is in the early stages of fundraising and is reaching out to donors of all levels, including investors in the commercial biotech space and Silicon Valley, Rogers said.

The action plan also includes securing support from both Democrats and Republicans, a strategy that worked in the early days of cannabis law reform but has yet to generate widespread support for legalization and decriminalization.

“We want to make sure that what we stand for does not create opposition to this issue in the halls of Congress,” Lavasani said. “We have seen some of the strategies used by the cannabis reform movement create controversy and that has really delayed progress. This is a real lesson.”

Among those lessons added by Lavasani is not to push for legalization or decriminalization until elected leaders have a better understanding of psychedelics and how they can be used in therapeutic settings.

“If their goal is to change the schedule or decriminalize, it will be very difficult for them,” said Dustin Robinson, founder of Iter Investments, a psychedelic venture capital firm. “But if their goal is to create more policy on what’s going on with psychedelics in the therapeutic space, the federal government seems to be very open to that.”

Unlike cannabis, which is deeply stigmatized by the so-called war on drugs, psychedelics seem to be more appealing to a wider audience. They are non-smoking, can be taken in low doses, and when combined with therapy, have been found to be effective in treating severe mental disorders.

“The time has come,” said Stuart Titus, chairman of the board of Hempacco, a California-based hemp products manufacturer. “With today’s economic climate, we are seeing a very difficult environment for companies to raise money for research and development. It would be very popular to make the federal government pay for it.”

But the sudden interest in psychedelics as a drug is very reminiscent of the early boom of the cannabis industry, which has since fizzled out as cumbersome regulations slow down government programs and congressional leaders stall efforts to decriminalize the plant at the federal level, which remains a Schedule 1 drug, which is currently time is not accepted. medical use and high potential for abuse, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The MDMA, LSD, and psilocybin found in hallucinogenic mushrooms are classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration as controlled substances with no medicinal value.

“We are now in the hype phase,” warned Ryan Munevar, director of the Decriminalize California campaign, which aims to decriminalize and eventually legalize psychedelic mushrooms in the state. “Everything in politics should be taken with a grain of salt. It’s not a system designed for quick action.”

With federal data showing a surge in deaths among pregnant women during the pandemic, California supporters say it strengthens their resolve to continue trying to prevent as many of these deaths as possible.

The National Center for Health Statistics said on Thursday that 1,205 pregnant women died in the United States in 2021, up 40% from 861 deaths in 2020. In 2019, there were 754.

Pregnant black women continued to be at the highest risk of death, according to the report. In 2021, the maternal mortality rate for black women was 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, 2.6 times that of white women (26.6 deaths). Among Hispanic women, there were 28 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the report.

The report did not list causes of death or provide data by state, but a federal government accountability office report released in October showed that a quarter of maternal deaths in 2020 and 2021 were attributable to COVID-19.

“We were afraid to see the real numbers,” the doctor said. Elliott Maine, medical director of the California Maternal Health Quality Assurance Alliance, which brings together government agencies, hospitals and health care provider associations to find ways to prevent pregnancy complications and death.

“It kind of overwhelms all the other work that we did to deal with hypertension deaths, bleeding deaths and blood clotting deaths,” Maine said. “All of them are now overwhelmed or minimized by the pandemic.”

In recent years, California has become a national leader in reducing maternal mortality. Speed maternal mortality in California in 2006 it was 16.9 per 100,000 live births, according to the California Collaboration for Quality Maternity. By 2016, the indicator had decreased by 65%.

Was 18.6 maternal mortality per 100,000 live births in 2020 in California, up from 12.8 in 2019, according to the state Department of Public Health.

Among pregnant women in California, cardiovascular disease was the leading cause of death between 2018 and 2020, followed by hemorrhage, sepsis, thrombotic pulmonary embolism, and amniotic fluid embolism. More than a quarter of deaths occurred on the day of birth.

According to Sonia Young Adam, executive director of the California Black Women’s Health Project, a non-profit organization based in Inglewood, few people know how high maternal mortality is.

She said it’s “amazing and hard” to hear stories all the time from black people who reminisce about failed births that happened to them, or family members with complications, or doctors who didn’t listen to them. Too often, she said, these stories involve the person feeling something is wrong before, during, or after childbirth.

But even in the absence of awareness, Adam said she and other advocates are trying to walk a fine line, educating black communities about maternal deaths and pregnancy complications without causing fear to the point that people refuse to get pregnant.

“It informs our community that they do have a voice and helps build advocacy capacity around it so people don’t walk away from the situation wondering, ‘What did I do?’ “” said Adam. “[It’s so] they come armed and ready to demand joyful childbirth, which they should be able to enjoy in any health care system in the state. We now know that this is not possible.”

The new report comes as families, health advocates and healthcare providers are raising alarm over the number of deaths and pregnant women who have not received the physical, emotional and social support they needed during the pandemic. Pregnant women often had to be isolated in hospitals to prevent potential exposure to COVID-19, limiting possible support in hospital wards.

Parent support groups and communities have moved from in-person calls to Zoom calls for the sake of social distancing. Some pregnant women were unable to maintain social distancing because they were essential workers and exposed to COVID-19. In addition, public health leaders at the federal, state, and county levels throughout the pandemic have struggled with the spread of messages to encourage more pregnant people to get vaccines for COVID-19.

Maine said that women who give birth today are “much more difficult patients than we were giving birth 20, 30, 50 years ago” because many of them are 35 years old and older and come with high blood pressure, diabetes or other problems, which can complicate pregnancy.

According to a federal report, there are 20.4 deaths per 100,000 live births in women under 25, 31.3 in women aged 25 to 39, and 138.5 in women aged 40 and over.

When it comes to narrowing the massive death gap between black and white mothers, Maine said part of it comes down to differences in rates of high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity. He also mentioned the “weathering impact” on black health from years of constant exposure to racism. But implementing protocols that all healthcare professionals must follow for every patient can help reduce complications.

“When you start to enter[to] subjective decision-making that is… biased,” Maine said. “The more we can reduce some of the subjective decision making, the better we can reduce inequality.”

Part of the work of the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative included helping develop the bleeding carts now available in every hospital in the state so that health care workers can quickly help if a mother is bleeding rapidly. The collaboration also worked with health care providers to develop protocols for helping mothers experiencing high blood pressure after childbirth, known as preeclampsia.

In recent years, California has also extended Medi-Cal benefits for new parents to 12 months after birth and now allows doulas to become qualified Medi-Cal providers.

Doulas are considered a key part of providing emotional and physical support and advocacy for mothers before, during, and after childbirth, especially for black women. The State has also established a fund for midwifery education programs that prioritize the admission of underrepresented groups.

The California Black Women’s Health Project has launched training for black midwives and created a set of business tools to help them get started and have support circles for midwives across the state. The organization is also developing training to help midwives apply to become a Medi-Cal provider.

The organization has also been a financial sponsor to help women in childbirth receive funding from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Despite the progress made, more “shameless investment” in black-focused community efforts is needed, Adam said.

“There are many, many, many, many of us who may even die from this Earth before this problem is really solved,” Adam said. “It’s going to take time, but no matter how we save someone along the way, that’s what we’re trying to do to reduce these stories – to arm our sisters with someone who will be there for them and a support team around them.”