Psilocybin shows promise over nicotine patches for tobacco quitting, plus new African mushroom species and US state policy updates

Psilocybin shows promise as a tobacco-cessation treatment, with a randomized pilot trial reporting higher quit rates than nicotine patch therapy. In the study, 82 tobacco smokers at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center received either 30 mg psilocybin or weeks of nicotine patches, and both groups also received 13 weeks of cognitive behavioral therapy. After six months, the psilocybin group was reported to be more than six times as likely to remain abstinent, with about 40% quitting versus about 10% in the patch group. The newsletter also highlights scientific and policy developments, including the discovery of a new African psychedelic mushroom species (Psilocybe ochraceocentrata) and state-level US legislative movement toward regulated psilocybin access (Minnesota) and ibogaine clinical trials (Mississippi), plus a commentary on combining psychedelics and exercise for major depressive disorder.