Imtiaz Popat certified psychedelic facilitator
In April, the the US FDA put psilocybin on a priority review track, and it could be approved as early as January 2027.
But approval won’t mean access. The first psilocybin treatment headed for approval is set to be given only on-site at authorized clinics. It’s reportedly priced around $20,000 per dose. And there’s no talk therapy built in.
We’ve already seen what happens next. Since Oregon’s 2020 ballot measures, up to 90,000 more people a year use psilocybin. The state’s legal program served fewer than 6,000 clients last year.
Even Matt Zorn, often called the federal government’s “psychedelics czar,” said it at a conference this month. The greatest risk, in his words, is “use outside the medical channels that results in adverse events, driven by FDA approval.”
Approval decides who can give psilocybin. It doesn’t decide who will take it. People will look for support wherever they take it: someone to help them prepare, and someone to help them make sense of what comes up after. That’s the work of trained practitioners, and there aren’t nearly enough of us yet.
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