The challenges of mainstreaming psychedelic therapies for conditions like PTSD, anxiety and major depression will be brought home this week when federal drug advisers scrutinize what could be the first such treatment to gain approval in the U.S.

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott on Wednesday signed into law a bill that could put Vermont on the path to decriminalizing the use of psychedelic mushrooms.

As a former Army Ranger, Jesse Gould is used to lawmakers thanking him for his service. But those good wishes sound hollow after Sacramento legislators spiked a proposal to legalize psychedelics for therapeutic purposes that could have helped veterans PTSD and other ailments.

In less than a week, an FDA advisory committee will meet to discuss Lykos Therapeutics’ MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD. Last month, the agency established a docket and issued a request for comments from the public.

A new proposal from an Atlanta City Council member would direct municipal officials to explore the pros and cons of adding coverage for psilocybin and ketamine as mental health treatments to the city’s healthcare plan for firefighters, police and other government workers.

Next week, the FDA’s Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee (PDAC) will meet to discuss Lykos Therapeutics’ MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD New Drug Application (NDA).

The councilmember, Liliana Bakhtiari, believes that health plans for city workers should include the treatments, which research has shown to be effective in combating mental health disorders such as PTSD.

A ballot initiative and a proposed substitute version are pushing for the legalization of psychedelics in Massachusetts within the next year, but opponents said “it’s too premature.”

The legislation, sponsored by Assembly Health Committee Chair Amy Paulin (D), is one of the latest examples of New York legislators moving to enact psychedelics reform amid a growing state-by-state movement across the country.

Hospice providers are navigating an evolving landscape of laws opening up pathways of access around psychedelic utilization at the end of life.

As it turns out, your marital status could affect the extent to which psychedelics can lower your stress levels. And it appears that single folk may experience the greatest benefit of psychedelics.

The bill would have established regulated, licensed psychedelic services in the state, replete with a Board of Regulated Psychedelic Facilitators and a Division of Regulated Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy.

A bill working its way through the California Legislature, would allow the therapeutic use of psilocybin; mescaline; MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy; and DMT, the active ingredient in ayahuasca, a plant-based psychoactive tea.

A top official with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says there’s an “unstoppable narrative” in support of advancing psychedelic medicine, with a combination of compelling personal stories of recovery and robust clinical data from studies he’s hoping to expand upon.

To investigate the potential of the 5-HT1A receptor in mood disorders, researchers modified a compound found in the venom of the Sonoran Desert toad.

The working group’s role would be to “review the latest research and evidence of the public health benefits and risks of clinical psychedelic assisted treatments” and “examine the laws and programs of other states that have authorized the use of psychedelics by health care providers in a therapeutic setting.”

The holdup revolves around the Research Advisory Panel of California, established decades ago to vet studies involving cannabis, hallucinogens and treatments for “abuse of controlled substances.”

Chris Keohan, a spokesperson for the campaign, dubbed the Coalition for Safe Communities, said the ballot question backed by Massachusetts for Mental Health Options allows for a 12-by-12-foot home grow area for psychedelics.

Scholars and concerned citizens file a public petition to the FDA to consider the unintended consequences of approving MDMA for PTSD therapy.

Advocates say their pushback to the proposal “caught the attention of the legislature” and convinced lawmakers to reverse course.