The DEA violates religious freedom through its opaque and arguably illegal process for applicants seeking religious exemptions to the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). I’ve made this point before. But today, I want to look at one of the more nefarious ways in which the DEA’s exemption process violates religious freedoms. To do that, I first
I get the same questions any time I tell someone that my law firm has a psychedelics practice group. One of the top 5 is: “is microdosing psilocybin legal?” The short answer is no. But like any area of the law, it’s complex. Today, I’ll dissect the legality of microdosing psilocybin. What is psilocybin microdosing?
The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is preparing to pass a rule that would place five tryptamine hallucinogens on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). These compounds would then be as illegal as heroin, fentanyl or other dangerous drugs. Their possession, use, and manufacture would be a felony that could lead to
DMT, or N, N-dimethyltryptamine is a powerful psychedelic. DMT, like its sister psychedelics (LSD, MDMA, psilocybin … and even marijuana), is a Schedule I controlled substance. So according to the DEA, its abuse potential is high and it has no medical use. Also, according to the DEA, “the history of human experience probably goes back
Cannabis is legal and regulated in most U.S. states. Oregon legalized and will soon regulate psilocybin. Cities around the country decriminalized (and more are decriminalizing) a host of other psychedelics. Ketamine clinics are popping up around the county. Next up is MDMA (referred to in some forms as “ecstasy”). Today, we’re going to talk about
Microdose hosted its annual psychedelics conference in Miami last week (appropriately titled “Wonderland”). We were there, meeting industry insiders and clients, and keeping on the cutting edge of the psychedelics space. For our readers who weren’t able to make it, here are some of our key takeaways from two days of all things psychedelics: Everyone
Public and scientific interest in psychedelics such as psilocybin and MDMA is expanding. Once off-limits because of federal prohibition, a trickle of research from the 1990s has grown into a stream. But despite increasing acceptance by the public, and commercial investment in psychedelic therapies, aging federal laws stem the flow of vital research. Psilocybin, a
The Physician Self-Referral Law, commonly referred to as the Stark law (42 U.S.C. § 1395nn), is one of several federal fraud and abuse laws. We have previously written about the federal anti-kickback statute (“AKS”) (click here to review). While the two laws may seem similar at first, they have very different rules and penalties. The
As the economy continues to flourish, there is a proliferation of merger and acquisition activity in the healthcare space. We continue to see a rise in ketamine clinic acquisitions as well as investors who are starting management services organizations (“MSO”) to assist such clinics with their administrative burden. Likewise, we have seen an increase in
In a prior post, we discussed the federal anti-kickback statute (the “AKS”) and the implications for ketamine clinics. In short, the federal AKS prohibits anyone from paying or receiving anything of value for the referral of patients where a federal government healthcare payment program is the payor (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, VA, etc.). 42 U.S.C. §
