Project Solace:
Provincial Funding Plan for Psilocybin
Dear TheraPsil members and supporters.
I am inviting you to join in a crucial endeavour that aims to transform lives across Canada. TheraPsil is embarking on a Canada-wide lobbying campaign and our mission is to secure provincial funding for Project Solace, which will bring psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy to countless individuals in need through the Special Access Program.
Current Situation:
In Canada, our healthcare system has long championed equal access to a wide range of treatments and medications, from SSRIs to life-saving surgeries and even medical assistance in dying (MAiD). However, a major problem persists: at present there is little to no coverage for psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy. This life-saving therapy can cost up to $10,000 and lacks the support of provincial health insurance. This leaves patients to grapple with significant financial burden as they pay out of pocket.
The Urgent Need for Care
Over the past 2 years, the SAP has primarily aided individuals facing terminal illnesses and end-of-life distress, treatment-resistant depression, and addiction. In all cases, conventional treatments have faltered and psilocybin represents a last chance at recovery. However, under the current SAP scheme, many are forced to navigate a convoluted bureaucratic maze, often with insurmountable financial strains.
Inequities in Healthcare
It’s disheartening to note that while MAiD is regulated and funded, psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy remains unsupported. For terminally ill patients, this has been an especially difficult situation to grapple with. As of March 2024, non-terminally ill patients with treatment-resistant mental illnesses as their sole underlying condition will also have regulated access to MAiD, yet they will continue to struggle to access psilocybin.
This raises serious ethical concerns: is it not morally wrong and unethical to regulate and cover the cost of medically assisted death and not psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy?
A Call for Change
Access to life saving medicine is a constitutional right, and so psilocybin, just like other life-saving treatments, should be insured for patients in need. The extensive research on psilocybin, which spans over 60 years since it was synthesized in 1958, coupled with its traditional & cultural use, emphasizes the urgency of finding a solution to this inequity. Canadians should never be forced into invasive treatments, harmful & ineffective pharmaceuticals or MAiD because they cannot afford psilocybin. The Special Access Program seems to be designed for “special” Canadians who have the funds and support to navigate the program, which we label as unequal and immoral.
Our Proposal
To bridge this gap, we appeal to the provincial governments to support clinical trials or SAP access, starting with 400 Canadian patients in each province. With our goal to make this funding available to any trained healthcare provider accessing psilocybin through the SAP, this funding will not only improve lives, but also drive applied research on effective treatment strategies.
Join Project Solace
We invite you to be a part of Project Solace, an initiative that seeks to ensure provincial funding for all. This is a call to action for all concerned citizens:
- There is no charge to join the project.
- Members of Project Solace commit to sending a letter to their;
- Provincial Minister of Health,
- Provincial Minister of Mental Health and Addictions,
- Provincial Premier,
- and their Local Member of the Legislative assembly.
- Members who are healthcare professionals or organizations providing psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy will also be invited to take part in coordinating treatments for patients in their province should funding be granted.
With the support of organizations and individuals such as yourself, we can create a more equitable healthcare system, one that offers every Canadian access to the treatments they need and deserve. Join us in advocating for change and help us stand up for the right to effective and compassionate treatment.
If you would like to take part in our campaign, please fill out the Google form here: Click here to join Project Solace
In addition, please refer to the links below for versions of the letters we have sent to the Ministers of Health in each province. Please use these letters as a guide to writing your own letter. Alternatively, you may resend our letter with any edits you deem necessary.
Letter to Prince Edward Island
Letter to Newfoundland and Labrador
Spencer Hawkswell
TheraPsil President & CEO
