This week we saw the psychedelic ecosystem shift from experimental to established. Seeing a historic signature in New Jersey, to a massive rebrand from market leader, and new data suggesting microdosing has gone mainstream.
Here’s this weeks deep dive on legal wins, corporate shake ups, and staggering new user data
The Legal Mumbo Jumbo
On January 20, 2026, Governor Phil Murray signed bill A3852, officially establishing a psilocybin behavioral health access and services pilot program.
Unlike the broader decriminalization measures, this is strictly a medical model. Authorizing psilocybin treatment at three designated hospitals in the state.
This makes New Jersey the fourth state to create a legal framework, but the first to anchor it so heavily to operate within existing hospitals from day one.
Mississippi committee advanced a bill authorizing clinical trials for Ibogaine. This was narrowly tailored to treat veterans with PTSD and opioid withdrawal. Love seeing steps being taken to take get the proper treatments our veterans deserve. Huge plus for those wanting to kick a serious epidemic as well, if more states take advantage of this, we can actually start getting caught up on something that has taken and destroyed many lives,
The Fungi Science
Dr. Anthony Back over at the University of Washington School of Medicine is working on a drug called PEX010.
It’s a botanical extract derived directly from Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms. Meaning it’s a standardized (every pill has the same amount of psilocybin) but it retains its natural origin making it feel like the real thing, not a synthetic.
The costs to manufacture these are also drastically less than its synthetic alternatives, meaning it can be sold more affordable.
The most innovative part of this study is the group model. Standard therapy sessions can be expensive because it requires 2 therapists for every patient. This trial flipped that model making it scalable.
Here’s how it works ⬇️
It began its Phase 2 trials this week testing patients with metastatic cancer. Dr. Back’s aiming to prove that you don’t need those expensive solo sessions, this has the potential to reduce costs by 50% or more!
Another Week
Despite this news, public hesitation remains. A new poll by Ipsos/Psychedelic Alpha released on January 20 found that 60% of Americans still feel uncomfortable with the idea of taking a psychedelic in a medical setting.
However, the tide is slowly turning: 21% of respondents said their views have become more positive over time, compared to only 10% who reported a negative shift
Not a lot of things going on this week but the things that happened definitely have a huge impact on the future!
Hope you enjoyed this weeks edition of Fungi News with Chubz 🍄
See ya next week!