By Stacey Lee, Jacobo Guzman, and Gladys Johnson
Amid federal and state vaccine mandates, labor shortages, and increased requests for remote work flexibility, employers find themselves in an evolving landscape with less latitude over their organization’s workplace. As a result, employers and employees find themselves in conversations about crafting a “new normal” in which worker well-being is featured more prominently than before.
By Leslie Francis and Michael Ashley Stein
Like plaintiffs with other conditions lacking definitive physiological markers, long COVID plaintiffs seeking disability anti-discrimination law protections have confronted courts suspicious of their reports of symptoms and insistent on medical evidence in order for them to qualify as “disabled” and entitled to statutory protection.
We call this “physical reductionism” in disability determinations. Such physical reductionism is misguided for many reasons, including its failure to understand disability socially.
Ironically, these problems for plaintiffs may be traced to amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that were intended to expand coverage for plaintiffs claiming disability discrimination. Three provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) are appearing especially problematic for long COVID patients in the courts.
By Dave Kopilak
In November 2020, Oregon voters passed the Oregon Psilocybin Services Act (the “Act”), of which I was the primary drafter. This piece of legislation legalizes and regulates the manufacturing of psilocybin products and the provision of psilocybin services under Oregon law. The manufacture, sale, and use of psilocybin products under the Act will continue to be illegal under federal law.
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is the state agency that will regulate the program. The Act provides for a two-year program development period that began on January 1, 2021 and that will end on December 31, 2022. The OHA is currently engaged in the rulemaking process and will adopt final rules by no later than December 31, 2022. The OHA will begin receiving license applications on January 2, 2023, and the first licensed businesses likely will begin operating in the first half of 2023.
By Bob Wold
One understudied condition for which small doses of psychedelic substances such as psilocybin may be beneficial is cluster headache.
As founder and executive director of the advocacy group Clusterbusters, I have seen firsthand, as a patient and an activist, that, despite its modest name, cluster is far from “just” a headache. It is a chronic pain condition that lasts “on” and “off” for months or years, often with no hint as to its origin. Estimates suggest that one in 1,000 people – which equates to over 332,000 Americans – suffer from cluster headache.
By James Fadiman
Law and policy around microdosing of psychedelic substances should reflect its proportionally low risks.
“Microdosing” refers to the practice of consuming very low doses of psychedelic substances, about 1/10th to 1/20th of a typical dose, primarily of psilocybin-containing mushrooms or lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Doses typically are taken intermittently, over several weeks, and they do not interfere with normal daily activities, unlike the powerful consciousness-altering effects of higher doses.
By Joseph Rootman
Public uptake of psychedelic microdosing has outpaced research on the practice, which has left gaps in our understanding. In order to help fill some of these gaps in the scientific literature, our clinical psychology research team at the University of British Columbia has launched the Microdose.me study along with a team of international researchers and partners. This symposium contribution provides an overview of our findings to date, and offers suggestions for future microdosing research.
By Kelan Thomas
Given the current evidence for psychedelic “microdosing,” the risks may outweigh the benefits for many people.
This is because there is compelling theoretical evidence to suggest prolonged and repeated microdosing may cause valvular heart disease (VHD), and only weak survey evidence that it provides the benefits microdosers typically seek, such as enhanced cognition, or relief from depression and anxiety.
By Erin Sharoni
Restricting access to microdosing, a low-risk intervention that may alleviate intractable pain, depression, and anxiety — obligatory requirements for human flourishing — is morally wrong.
Psychedelic microdosing involves the administration of a psychedelic substance in sub-perceptual doses — doses small enough not to provoke any intoxicating effects, but that potentially result in favorable physiological or psychological changes. Microdosing has emerged as a promising intervention for enhancing creativity and productivity, boosting mood, alleviating pain, and treating depression and anxiety with minimal risk of harm to the participant or society.
By Vincent Sliwoski
In light of the widespread cultural and business culture adoption of microdosing, private sector employers should reconsider the implications of a blanket prohibition on workplace use of controlled substances.
Microdosing is the practice of ingesting subperceptual amounts of psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin mushrooms or LSD. People microdose for a variety of reasons. These may include medical reasons, such as the treatment of anxiety, depression or attention disorders; or they may include “performance” reasons, like attempts to increase productivity, creativity or awareness.
By Vince Polito
People who microdose psychedelics claim that it provides a very wide range of benefits, from improvements in mood, to reduced substance use, to cognitive enhancement.
But is microdosing really delivering all of those benefits? Or is it just a placebo effect?