Saskatchewan To: Hon. Everett Hindley Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Saskatchewan Legislature Regina SK Via Email: ministerrrhe@gov.sk.ca CC: he.minister@gov.sk.ca premier@gov.sk.ca Dear Minister Hindley, I hope you are well and having a safe summer. Thank you again for your ongoing public service and dedication to addressing the significant mental health and addiction challenges facing Saskatchewan – and the country. We applaud the leadership of both federal and provincial governments for increased investment in treatment and research earlier this year. I am writing this letter today to propose provincial funding for expanded access to safe and compassionate psilocybin treatment and research trials. The proposal is aimed at providing much-needed relief for suffering Saskatchewanians who are losing hope and running out of options. Over the past few months, there have been significant developments in other regions. For example, Australia has delisted psilocybin as a controlled substance, allowing psychiatrists to prescribe psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression. All in light of emerging research and clinical trials. Australia’s leap is just the latest evolution of safe psilocybin-assisted treatment, which started in 2020 when Canada became the first country to grant legal exemptions and recognize the potential benefit of psilocybin treatment. Since then, more than 100 have received exemptions, and thousands of healthcare professionals have lined up for training in this exciting new field. Moreover, encouraging developments have occurred within Canada. Last year, Alberta became the first Canadian jurisdiction to regulate the use of psychedelic drugs for people in therapy. The University of Calgary has established a research chair to oversee exploration into the use of psychedelics to improve mental health, with a particular focus on PTSD. In another significant step, Quebec became the first province to fund doctors for psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy after treating patients with legal access in December 2022. Even private insurers, such as Pacific Blue Cross, have started providing coverage for these treatments. The progress doesn’t stop there. Less than a year ago, the Guardian newspaper reported on the largest clinical trial yet into psilocybin and depression, where nearly a third of patients at 22 sites in the UK, Europe, and North America went into rapid remission after a 25mg dose and therapy sessions. The former chair of the UK's COVID vaccine task force described the use of psychedelics to treat depression as an area of real excitement. Additionally, New York University published research last year documenting significant reductions in alcohol dependence when subjects combined psilocybin and psychotherapy. These positive results, and many others, build on a landmark 2016 trial by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine which found increases in quality of life and decreases in death anxiety continued six months after psilocybin-assisted therapy for 41 of 51 participants. A substantial and serious trend is emerging. Why isn’t Saskatchewan leading? Janis Hughes, a stage 4 cancer patient who was forced to go underground due to the barriers to access posed by the SAP, put it this way “If I had not gone underground for treatment, I might well have exercised my right to MAiD by now”.. TheraPsil brought Janis’s case and others to the Committee on MAiD, which recommended that Health Canada review the Special Access Program (SAP) and policies to determine ways to improve access to psilocybin. One of the most significant issues we face is the cost of psilocybin access through the SAP, reaching up to $7,000, and the lack of coverage by the province. Meanwhile, individuals enrolled in Saskatchewan Health Care Insurance Plan will have full coverage for medications used in MAiD. What sort of message does this send to Saskatchewanians who are considering MAiD and seeking psilocybin as an adjunct or alternative therapy? Given the scale of the overdose crisis in Saskatchewan; given the scale of the mental health and addiction crisis facing our communities; given the issues around safeguarding MAiD, why has this safe, plant-based treatment option been dismissed? Is Saskatchewan really doing everything we can? While Cities and provinces across Canada, such as Toronto and British Columbia, request section 56 decriminalization of hard drugs, it bears the question, Why not try safe psilocybin first? In contrast to heroin and cocaine, the US National Institutes of Health considers psilocybin physiologically safe and does not lead to dependence or addiction. Recent Health Canada disclosures confirm their experts do not believe supervised psilocybin treatment presents a risk to public safety. The rise of magic mushroom dispensaries in Saskatchewan raises questions about the provincial government’s leniency. While illicit suppliers operate with impunity, the provincial government fails to prioritize legal and potentially life-saving psilocybin treatments such as the ones we propose. We ask that you take this request seriously and consider regulated options for the well-being and safety of our citizens. If the Saskatchewan government funds safe, doctor-supported SAP access to Psilocybin, perhaps people will no longer need to go to these illicit suppliers. With your government’s sincere commitment to leave no stone unturned in the battle against these concurrent public health risks, we hope you will take concrete actions that improve the quality of life for thousands of Saskatchewanians, provide a safe alternative to illicit supply and more harmful controlled substances, and re-establish Canada as a leader in this rapidly emerging wellness field. Leadership is required, and we know how deeply you care about these issues. That is why we propose your Ministry start actively collaborating with TheraPsil, other non-profit associations, patients, care providers, licensed Saskatchewan psilocybin producers, and researchers and invest in Saskatchewan's psilocybin treatment and research strategy that would include: * At least 400 eligible Saskatchewanian patients to receive psilocybin-assisted treatment over the next year. * At least 200 eligible Saskatchewanian patients to participate in applied research trials over the next 12-18 months. The combined investment required for these two elements of a Saskatchewan psilocybin strategy is estimated at $6 million over the next 12-18 months – or $10,000/patient. The budget does not account for the significant savings that can be achieved by replacing more expensive, ongoing pharmaceutical solutions with a safe, plant-based medicine that often requires just one treatment for success in many cases. And in the cases of suffering Saskatchewanians who are seeking psilocybin as an alternative or adjunct therapy to MAiD, the price of this program is negligible compared to the value of reduced suffering. These compassionate investments also represent a very small fraction of the $6.9 billion in federal funding for Saskatchewan over the next 10 years that was announced by the federal and provincial government for mental health and addiction treatment initiatives earlier this year. In the coming days, we will submit more detailed proposals to inform these requests and subsequent discussions. Among other things, these will reflect our project modelling over the past two years with researchers, doctors, care providers, and advocates. With this submission, we are asking again to meet with you and your officials this summer. Thank you in advance for your consideration and your passion for change. We hope you will find the compassion to seriously consider these options and this leadership opportunity. Your name here