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A biotech firm recently received a US patent for a new medicine that will merge cannabinoids and psilocybin into one single formula.
Washington state-based CaaMTech initially filed the patent application for this unique new medicine back in 2021. Full details on the proposed medicine or its specific use have yet to be released, but the company explained that their research focuses on how cannabinoids can modulate the effects of psilocybin. Cannabinoids like CBD can bind to the same serotonin receptors that psilocybin interacts with, and the resulting combination can produce effects that neither compound can induce on its own.
In a press release accompanying the original patent application, CaaMTech founder and CEO Dr. Andrew Chadeayne explained that his company’s research “has shown that cannabinoids work synergistically with psychedelic tryptamines in producing their effects. In doing so, CaaMTech has demonstrated the potential for two drugs once declared by the United States Federal Government to have ‘no known medical value’ to treat some of the world’s most challenging mental health issues.”
Hundreds of scientific research studies have confirmed the healing powers of cannabis and psilocybin, but relatively few have explored combining these two medicines into one. In one specific case, researchers discovered that a combined treatment of THC, CBD, and psilocybin helped shrink tumors in a 49-year-old woman diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Of course, that study only involved one subject, so it’s impossible to conclude whether the same effects would apply to everyone.
Researchers aren’t necessarily planning to pack THC, CBD, and shrooms all into the same drug, either. Some companies are investigating ways to combine lesser-known cannabinoids like cannabichromene (CBC) with psilocybin. “That most certainly can be done,” said Charlie Bowman, president and CEO of Canadian cannabis firm Hexo Corp, to MJBizDaily. “You can put CBC into a water-soluble form, and then put it with mushrooms, you could actually consume it as tea.”
In addition to the potential cancer-fighting effects of cannabis and shrooms, researchers also believe that this unique combo of psychedelic medicines could help treat brain injuries. In 2020, the University of Miami launched a new study exploring how the combination of CBD and psilocybin could effectively treat symptoms associated with traumatic brain injuries and PTSD. Neither of these conditions respond to traditional pharmaceutical treatments, so doctors and patients alike are desperate for a plant-based solution.
And on the therapy front, researchers are also investigating if cannabis could help augment the effectiveness of psilocybin-assisted therapy. A 2021 study by the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London concluded that “therapeutically desirable psychological effects associated with psychedelics may, in theory, be enhanced by concomitant cannabis use.” This study only relied on self-reported online survey data, though, so researchers will need to launch comprehensive clinical trials in order to confirm the real-world effectiveness of this potentially powerful combination.
