The warning applies to Banff, Yoho, Kootenay and Jasper national parks, Kananaskis Country, and nearby areas.

In a move that made international headlines, America’s top drug regulator denied approval last year for psychedelic-assisted therapy to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. 

In its decision, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cited concerns about study design and inadequate evidence to assess the benefits and harms of using the drug MDMA.

The decision was a significant setback for psychedelics researchers and veterans’ groups who had been advocating for the therapy to be approved. It is also reflective of a broader challenge faced by researchers keen to validate the therapeutic potential of psychedelics.

“Sometimes I feel like it’s death by 1,000 paper cuts,” said Leah Mayo, a researcher at the University of Calgary.

“If the regulatory burden were a little bit less, that would be helpful,” added Mayo, who holds the Parker Psychedelics Research Chair at the Psychedelic and Cannabinoid Therapeutics Lab. The lab develops new treatments for mental health disorders using psychedelics and cannabinoids.

Sources say the weak research body behind psychedelics is due to a complex interplay of factors. But they would like to see more research conducted to make psychedelics more accessible to people who could benefit from them.

“If you want [psychedelics] to work within existing health-care infrastructure, you have to play by [Canadian research] rules,” said Mayo.

“Therapy has to be reproducible, it has to be evidence-based, it has to be grounded in reality.”

Psychedelics in Canada

Psychedelics are hallucinogenic substances such as psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine that alter people’s perceptions, mood and thought processes. Psychedelic therapy involves the use of psychedelics in guided sessions with therapists to treat mental health conditions.

Psychedelics are generally banned for possession, production and distribution in Canada. However, two per cent of Canadians consumed hallucinogens in 2019, according to the latest Canadian Alcohol and Drugs Survey. Psychedelics are also used in Canada and abroad in unregulated clinics and settings to treat conditions such as substance use disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and various mental disorders.

“The cat’s out of the bag, and people are using this,” said Zachary Walsh, a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia.

Within Canada, there are three ways for psychedelics to be accessed legally.

The federal health minister can approve their use for medical, scientific or public interest purposes. Health Canada runs a Special Access Program that allows doctors to request the use of unapproved drugs for patients with serious conditions that have not responded to other treatments. And Health Canada can approve psychedelics for use in clinical trials.

Researchers interested in conducting clinical trials involving psychedelics face significant hurdles.

“There’s been a concerted effort — and it’s just fading now — to mischaracterize the risks of these substances,” said Walsh, who has conducted several studies on the therapeutic uses of psychedelics. These include studies on MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD, and the effects of microdosing psilocybin on stress, anxiety and depression.

The U.S. government demonized psychedelic substances during its War on Drugs in the 1970s, exaggerating their risks and blocking research into their medical potential. Influenced by this war, Canada adopted similar tough-on-drugs policies and restricted research.

Today, younger researchers are pushing forward. 

“New ideas really come into the forefront when the people in charge of the old ideas retire and die,” said Norman Farb, an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto. 

But it remains a challenge to secure funding for psychedelic research. Government funding is limited, and pharmaceutical companies are often hesitant to invest because psychedelic-assisted therapy does not generally fit the traditional pharmaceutical model.

“It’s not something that a pharmaceutical company wants to pay for, because it’s not going to be a classic pharmaceutical,” said Walsh.

As a result, many researchers rely on private donations or venture capital. This makes it difficult to fund large-scale studies, says Farb, who has faced institutional obstacles researching microdosing for treatment-resistant depression.

“No one wants to be that first cautionary tale,” he said. “No one wants to invest a lot of money to do the kind of study that would be transparent if it didn’t work.”

Difficulties in clinical trials

But funding is not the only challenge. Sources also pointed to the difficulty of designing clinical trials for psychedelics. 

In particular, it can be difficult to implement a blind trial process, given the potent effects of psychedelics. Double blind trials are the gold standard of clinical trials, where neither the person administering the drug or patient knows if the patient is receiving the active drug or placebo. 

Health Canada also requires researchers to meet strict trial criteria, such as demonstrating that the benefits outweigh the risks, that the drug treats an ongoing condition with no other approved treatments, and that the drug’s effects exceed any placebo effect.

It is especially difficult to isolate the effects of psychedelics. Psychotherapy, for example, can play a crucial role in treatment, making it difficult to disentangle the role of therapy from the drugs.

Mayo, of the University of Calgary, worries the demands of clinical trial models are not practical given the limitations of Canada’s health-care system.

“The way we’re writing these clinical trials, it’s not possible within our existing health-care infrastructure,” she said. She cited as one example the expectation that psychiatrists in clinical trials spend eight or more hours with each patient.

Ethical issues

Psychedelics research can also raise ethical concerns, particularly where it involves individuals with pre-existing mental health conditions.

A 2024 study found that people who visited an emergency room after using hallucinogens were at a significantly increased risk of developing schizophrenia — raising concerns that trials could harm vulnerable participants.

Another problem is a lack of standardization in psychedelic therapy. “We haven’t standardized it,” said Mayo. “We don’t even know what people are being taught psychedelic therapy is.”

This concern was underscored in a 2015 clinical trial on MDMA in Canada, where one of the trial participants was subjected to inappropriate physical contact and questioning by two unlicensed therapists. 

Mayo advocates for the creation of a regulatory body to standardize therapist training and prevent misconduct.

Others have raised concerns about whether the research exploits Indigenous knowledge or cultural practices. 

“There’s no psychedelic science without Indigenous communities,” said Joseph Mays, a doctorate candidate at the University of Saskatchewan.

“Whether it’s medicalized or ceremonial, there’s a direct continuity with Indigenous practices.”

Mays is an advisor to the Indigenous Reciprocity Initiative, which funnels psychedelic investments back to Indigenous communities. He believes those working with psychedelics must incorporate reciprocity into their work.

“If you’re using psychedelics in any way, it only makes sense that you would also have a commitment to fighting for the rights of [Indigenous] communities, which are still lacking basic necessities,” said Mays, suggesting that companies profiting from psychedelic medicine should contribute to Indigenous causes.

Despite these various challenges, sources remained optimistic that psychedelics would eventually be legalized — although not due to their work.

“It’s inevitable,” said Mays. “They’re already widespread, being used underground.”

Farb agrees. “A couple more research studies is not going to change the law,” he said. “Power is going to change the law.”

The post Why psychedelic therapy is stuck in the waiting room appeared first on CANADIAN AFFAIRS.

EGG HARBOR CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim implored a standing-room-only town hall on Thursday to get involved in politics as a way to push back against President Donald Trump’s agenda.

The freshman Democrat opened a three-day tour of GOP-held House districts on Thursday, visiting a town in the southern New Jersey district not far from where Trump’s casino empire in Atlantic City rose and fell decades ago.

“Please, I just — I am here to just say please stay engaged, stay with me, stay with others and help me try to build the kind of movement that we need to be able to mobilize,” Kim said near the end of the roughly hour and 40-minute Q&A at a Teamsters union hall.

Kim’s meetings come as the out-of-power Democrats struggle to find a message and a method for pushing back on the president’s quick-paced policy rollouts. It also coincides with word from the Republican House speaker to his members to skip town halls after an onslaught of protests, though some GOP members are forging ahead with constituent meetings.

Many of the questioners expressed frustration at cuts to government agencies and the prospect for cuts to Medicaid in particular. An emotional moment unfolded when Susan Coll-Guedes of Galloway said she worried her 24-year-old son with Down syndrome who relied on Medicaid to cover nursing could lose care if the service is cut. Kim approached her and gave her a hug after she finished speaking.

“We are not bad people. This is not waste. It’s not fraud. It’s real,” she said.

Other speakers called on Democrats to more forcefully push back against the president and Elon Musk in particular.

“I understand the ins and outs and the right way to do things,” said Heather Ogden of Camden County. “They have tossed all of the rules out of the window.”

Kim cited the legal challenges against the administration as a component of responding but also criticized how the executive branch was using its authority.

“So much of what we believe in this country to be checks and balances honestly gets brought down and exposed as just norms and behavior. And, and we see what happens when some people are just unwilling or uninterested in behaving in a way that is befitting of our country,” he said. “That’s what’s so scary.”

Not everyone at the meeting was frustrated or angry with the administration.

A man wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat asked Kim why he didn’t clap when Trump honored people in the House gallery during his recent speech to a joint session of Congress.

Kim responded that he did clap when a boy with cancer was honored, but that otherwise the president had set a tone of “disrespect” in the room.

Kim was elected last year but took office early because of the seat opened by Bob Menendez’s resignation after he was convicted on federal corruption charges. Kim was first elected to the House in 2018 in a GOP-leaning district that Trump carried twice.

The town hall had an estimated capacity of 150, according to the senator’s office. There were about two dozen people outside, watching on their phones. Some of them had been turned away at the door because of a lack of space.

Mike Catalini, The Associated Press

NEW DELHI (AP) — Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya are among the stars set to miss the opening action when the Indian Premier League returns for its 18th season.

The defending champion Kolkata Knight Riders will host Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Eden Gardens on Saturday to open the 74-match, nine-week tournament. Kolkata will also host two knockout games, including the May 25 final.

Last year’s runners-up Sunrisers Hyderabad begins Sunday against Rajasthan Royals, who were the inaugural champions in 2008. Hyderabad will host the first two knockout games.

Chennai Supers Kings will host Mumbai Indians — both five-time champions — in Sunday’s second game.

Bumrah, the world’s top fast bowler, will miss that game for Mumbai as he hasn’t recovered from a lower back injury sustained in January during India’s tour of Australia. He could miss at least one-third of the IPL.

Mumbai skipper Pandya will also miss the high-profile match — he is suspended for a slow-over rate in last year’s last game and the penalty is being imposed to start the season. Vice-captain Suryakumar Yadav will lead Mumbai Indians in the season opener.

Pant, Iyer look to back up big salaries

Rishabh Pant will lead Lucknow SuperGiants, while Kolkata’s 2024 title-winning captain Shreyas Iyer will captain Punjab Kings. The duo fetched huge sums in the player auction — Pant became the most expensive player in IPL history with a contract worth about $3.12 million, and Iyer went a close second at about $3 million. Both figures are approximate based on Indian currency rates at the time of the auction.

“I personally felt I didn’t get the recognition I wanted to after winning the (2024) IPL,” Iyer said after Kolkata chose not to retain him. He will be combining again with former Australia captain Ricky Ponting — the captain-coach duo previously worked together at Delhi Capitals.

Other captaincy changes include Ajinkya Rahane leading Kolkata, and allrounder Axar Patel taking over at Delhi.

Kohli praises new captain Patidar

Rajat Patidar takes over as captain from Faf du Plessis at Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Signed as a replacement midway through 2020 IPL season, it marks a stellar rise for Patidar, a middle-order batter who made his test debut against England in 2024.

“He is an amazing talent — a great player and he has got a great head on his shoulders. He will do a great job for this amazing franchise and take the team forward,” Virat Kohli said at a Royal Challengers event. Bengaluru retained Kohli, part of India’s Champions Trophy-winning team in March, for about $2.4 million this season.

The new and the older

India great MS Dhoni returns to the IPL for Chennai at the age of 43. Dhoni retired from international cricket in 2020, and played his last one-day international in 2019. As per IPL rules, a player retired from international cricket for five years or more is classified under the “uncapped” category.

Dhoni — a veteran of 90 tests, 350 ODIs and countless Twenty20 games in the IPL or otherwise — has a season contract worth about $460,000.

At the other end of this age spectrum is 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi — set to be the youngest player to feature in an IPL season. He was chosen by Rajasthan Royals after a bidding war that saw his auction price rise to about $125,000.

Rule change

An IPL rule change stirred debate after England batter Harry Brook pulled out of the season for personal reasons, after Delhi Capitals had secured him for about $720,000 at the auction.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India, which runs the IPL, says any player withdrawing for reasons other than an injury, or lack of playing approval from their respective boards, could be banned for the entire three-season IPL cycle. Brook could be barred from the IPL until 2027, only being allowed to re-enter the auction for 2028.

“It is not harsh,” former England allrounder Moeen Ali, who now plays for KKR, said on a cricket podcast. “I kind of agree with it.”

Ali said many players had withdrawn late in the past and then re-entered the IPL and “end up getting a better financial package.”

“It kind of messes a lot of things up at the same time — his team now has to rejig everything.”

IPL basics

Twenty20, or T20, is cricket’s shortest format. It’s fast-paced, TV friendly, and is over and done with in about 3 1/2 hours. After India won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, India cricket officials decided to launch a domestic T20 league in 2008. IPL teams are based on states or cities.

Held annually, the IPL auction draws many of the sport’s brightest stars from all over the world. Close to 1,600 players entered for 2025, and that list was reduced to 577 for the chance to be one of the 204 players selected.

Each team has a $14.3 million budget to pick 18 players, and a maximum of 25; only eight are allowed to come from overseas, the other 17 must be from India. In the playing XI on the field, teams are restricted to four overseas players.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Chetan Narula, The Associated Press

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One person was taken to hospital after a report of an incident involving “an edged weapon” Thursday night, the Fredericton Police Force reports, and officers arrested a male suspect.

The city police force issued an advisory on social media Thursday night about a violent incident.

“On Thursday, March 20,, at approximately [8 p.m.], the Fredericton Police Force responded to a call for service on Fredericton's south side for a report of an individual armed with an edged weapon,” the force posted on social media at 10:35 p.m.

“One male is currently in custody. An individual has been transported to the [Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital] with non-life-threatening injuries.”

The force didn’t indicate the ages of the suspect or injured party, or in what specific location the incident occurred.

It said officers remained at the scene as the investigation continues.

“There is no risk to public safety at this time,” the advisory said.

There was no indication if the suspect would face charges, what the nature of those charges might be or if the detained individual would make a court appearance in custody Friday.

The Fredericton Independent can be reached at [email protected].

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Bonavista, N.L., mayor John Norman recounts the moment his bright, remote community was transformed into an eerie, run-down Lumon factory town for the hit Apple TV+ series Severance.

For five weeks, a food bank in Nanaimo, B.C. says it saw a jump in the amount of American produce being donated through a food recovery program. But now, that surplus has dwindled.