Last week, the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School announced the launch of a first-of-its-kind psychedelics policy center in hopes that it will inform legislation and help clinicians navigate the burgeoning medical space as reform continues to advance.
The Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation (POPLAR) will be a three-year effort designed to “promote safety, innovation, and equity in psychedelics research, commerce, and therapeutics.”
Despite a longstanding prohibition on psychedelics dating back to the 1970s, scientific and public interest in these substances is growing. Clinical trials repeatedly demonstrate their promise for treating mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders.
According to a press release, the Petrie-Flom Center recognized that state and local psychedelic developments necessitate an evaluation of the policy impacts as well as the potential influence of private companies that seek to enter the market.
POPLAR is “positioned to be a global leader for research and education in this space,” it reads.
“Right now, there are a handful of psychedelic research centers at universities around the country,” Mason Marks, senior fellow at the Petrie-Flom Center and directors of POPLAR, said. “However, they are focused on clinical research. There is no systematic research being done on psychedelics law, and POPLAR will fill this gap.”
Marks also serves on an Oregon advisory board for psilocybin that was created after voters approved a therapeutic legalization initiative last year.
In an interview with Marijuana Moment, he said that the project will seek to address ethical concerns for clinicians dealing with psychedelics and work to inform the decriminalization movement without directly engaging in it. He also spoke about how federal law serves to impede research on the substances.
As activists have stepped up their push to end criminalization over entheogenic substances like psilocybin, DMT and ibogaine, there has been a surge of academic interest in the topic.
In 2017, the FDA designated MDMA as a breakthrough therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder, and in 2018, the agency recognized psilocybin as a breakthrough for treatment-resistant depression.
These designations indicate that psychedelics may be substantial improvements over existing treatments for mental illness, and in 2019, John Hopkins University launched the nation’s first center devoted exclusively to researching psychedelic drugs. The focus was on the therapeutic potential of these substances and not the policy side of the issues.
POPLAR, which is being privately funded by individuals such as philanthropist Tim Ferriss, through his Saisei Foundation, and Matt Mullenweg, who developed WordPress and is the chief executive of Automattic, will also explore the medical benefits of psychedelics in addition to its broader focus on law and ethics.
“Preliminary research suggests that psychedelics could hold major benefits for people experiencing trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder,” Harvard Law Professor Jannie Suk Gersen said. “By analyzing social, legal and political barriers to access in this context, we hope to advance the understanding of their potential impact as therapeutics.”
During the three-year efforts, the project will be focused on five key areas: Ethics in Psychedelics Research and Therapeutics, Challenges at the Intersection of Psychedelics and Intellectual Property Law, Opportunities for Federal Support of Psychedelics Research, Access to Psychedelic Therapies and Equity in Emerging Psychedelics Industries, and the Role of Psychedelics in Healing Trauma.
In addition to Marks, POPLAR will be led by the Petrie-Flom Center Faculty Director I. Glenn Cohen and Professors of Law James A. Attwood and Leslie Williams.
“The Petrie-Flom Center is excited to add POPLAR to its research portfolio,” Cohen said. “In addition to developing the field of psychedelics law and policy, this innovative work will have broad implications for drug policy, pharmaceutical development, and intellectual property law more generally.”
