Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
In southern B.C, there's a new 20,000 square foot production facility where one particular product is generating a lot of buzz.
Psilocybin — better known as magic mushrooms — are grown here legally in a high-tech lab, where cultivators are hoping to contribute to medical research that suggests these mushrooms could have huge medical benefits.
“There’s lots of clinical studies happening right now showing the potential of these mushrooms,” Todd Henderson told CTV National News.
Henderson is head cultivator for a company called Optimi Health. It's one of a handful of Canadian businesses now federally approved to produce, manufacture and export psychedelic mushrooms.
Although there’s only a few of these businesses right now, more and more companies are racing to position themselves as certified suppliers of psilocybin.
The push comes as scientists are increasingly exploring its therapeutic benefits, including for treatment of depression, substance use and end-of-life distress.
“We’re going to be able to provide that safe supply, so the researchers can actually then study deeper to see well, let’s see where this goes,” Bill Ciprick, CEO of Optimi Health, told CTV National News.
One study published in February found that psilocybin therapy was associated with relief of symptoms in adults suffering from major depressive disorder for up to a year.
Right now, there are no approved therapeutic products that contain psilocybin, in Canada or elsewhere, according to Health Canada. But in January 2022, Health Canada adjusted their Special Access Program (SAP) to allow physicians to request psilocybin for use in psychotherapy or with other treatment plans, making it easier for doctors to access the restricted drug.
And in April, the first patients in Canada were able to receive psilocybin treatment through SAP for end-of-life anxiety.
Thomas Hartle, one of those patients who received access due to his terminal colon cancer diagnosis, told CTV News in May that having access to this treatment made a huge difference in his quality of life.
"The improvement in my mental health is so night and day that it would be difficult to say all of the things that it does for me," he said.
"I still have cancer. I still have difficulty with what it physically does, but there are days when I don't even think about it. What would you do to have a day where you just feel normal?”
These consciousness-altering substances are used in a controlled, clinical setting as part of psychotherapy.
Psilocybin, which is the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, enters the body through the same receptors as serotonin, a chemical that acts as a neurotransmitter, carrying messages through the body and acts as a mood stabilizer. People with depression often have low levels of serotonin, and psychedelics such as psilocybin have been found to cause an increase in connectivity of the brain, allowing those messages to be sent more readily than before.
Some studies have shown that one or two doses of psilocybin in a therapeutic setting can make significant, long-lasting differences for those with treatment-resistant depressive disorders.
Ciprick said that magic mushrooms provide more options for doctors looking at how to treat a patient.
“What psilocybin offers is a different opportunity to physicians,” he said. “They need lots of tools in their toolbox, and this gives them another one.”
While Optimi also grows non-regulated mushrooms, its main focus is growing the psychedelic variety for medical use and research.
“Anyone who is looking to develop a medicine that is going to help people — that is who we are growing for,” Henderson said.
The company already has an agreement with the IMPACT clinical trial accelerator program within the University of Calgary to clinically test their psilocybin products and the potential health benefits.
And in late June, the company announced that they had partnered with a Calgary-based clinic group to supply them with magic mushrooms for psychedelic-assisted therapies, provided the patients are approved through SAP.
About 2,000 kilograms of dried psilocybin can be produced every month.
While the company is currently working with Canadian researchers, the goal is to eventually share their magic mushrooms globally.
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.