A Canadian man diagnosed with terminal cancer has been waiting over a year for government permission to continue his therapy using medical psilocybin to ease his anxiety.
Thomas Hartle was initially one of four Canadians to receive a medical exemption to Canada’s Controlled Drug and Substances act, allowing them to use medical psilocybin therapy for end-of-life distress. British Columbia-based TheraPsil has helped numerous patients receive medical exceptions since the original four Hartle was a part of, with the group of four becoming the first known patients to legally use psilocybin since it became illegal in Canada in 1974.
Hartle was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2016 and said his initial experience helped reduce some of the existential anxiety he felt every day. His CDSA exemption, granted by then-Minister of Health Patty Hadju, was good for one year before expiring. Hartle said he recently reapplied in October 2021 but has yet to hear back from Health Canada. Health Canada has said the best way for patients to access medical psilocybin is through a clinical trial while also noting more research needs to be done. Health Canada recently awarded a “dealer’s license” to two professors at the University of Guleph’s Ontario Agricultural College which permits the cultivation of psilocybin mushrooms, becoming one of the first universities in Canada allowed to do so. One of the professors, Dr. Max Jones, previously received a license to study cannabis in 2018.
“I’ve had a few emails back and forth with Health Canada, but a majority of my emails have been completely ignored,” Hartle said. “It would be, I believe, less frustrating if I was able to get some kind of a response back. I’ve already answered all of the questions. I’ve already qualified. I’ve already jumped through all of the hoops.”
Canadians are able to legally access psilocybin through Canada’s Special Access Program, though the government has said that is for emergency treatment and only to be considered as an option once all conventional therapies have failed or are unsuitable or unavailable. Hartle was able to have access to medical psilocybin therapy sessions under SAP, but found the program has its fair share of issues such as needing to have a doctor submit an application for each session under SAP and having to take trips to visit his doctor rather than use the psilocybin he was allowed to grow at his own home. Hartle’s doctor said an SAP representative they were submitting too many applications and must run a clinical trial.
In addition to helping patients receive access to medical psilocybin for therapeutical reasons, TheraPsil has moved forward with a lawsuit that argues the current ways of accessing medical psilocybin are inefficient and a violation of Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees the right to life, liberty and security. Hartle is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, along with other patients who have been denied an exemption or those who have also waited for over a year without a response. The legal action is the culmination of negotiations between TheraPsil founder Dr. Bruce Tobin, who first began looking at medical psilocybin as a treatment option back in 2017, and Health Canada.
“It seems obvious that Canadians should have a medical right to Psilocybin after what happened with Cannabis. Furthermore, the patients who are fighting this fight may not have enough time to see its resolution. It is essential that the Ministers work with these patients, to fight this case would be a stain on Canada’s so-called ‘patient-centered’ healthcare system,” said Spencer Hawkswell, the CEO of TheraPsil.
