Join MAPS Canada to explore the relationship between psychedelic-assisted therapy and substance use disorders.

Treating substance use disorders is one of the most pressing issues in Canada. Every year, substance use disorders kill thousands of Canadians and cost the healthcare and criminal justice systems  billions of dollars. While conventional treatment methods remain the frontline option, psychedelic-assisted therapy has shown significant potential in treating challenging cases of substance use disorder.

This webinar will bring together an expert in drug-related harm, a psychiatric historian, a clinical researcher, a physician, and a firefighter with lived experience to provide a comprehensive discussion on the role of psychedelic-assisted therapy in the treatment of substance use disorders.  

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the burden of substance use disorders in Canada
   Understand the negative impact of substance use disorders, with a particular spotlight on alcohol and opioids, and their related social costs and harms in Canada. 
2. Explore harm reduction policies and traditional treatments
   Learn about policies and interventions that can increase or decrease substance use related harms as well as the best known traditional treatment methods.  
3. Discover the Canadian history of psychedelic-assisted therapy for alcohol use disorder
   Gain an understanding of the history of psychedelic-assisted therapy as a treatment method for alcohol use disorder in Canada.  
4. Review current Canadian clinical trials
   Discover current clinical trials in Canada that are gathering scientific evidence on the efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapy on substance use disorders. 
5. Examine an upcoming psilocybin trial at CAMH
   Gain an in-depth understanding on the research design of an upcoming clinical trial at Toronto’s CAMH on the impact of psilocybin on patients with major depressive disorder and alcohol use disorder. 
6. Understand the mechanisms of psychedelic-assisted therapy
   Explore the neurological, psychological and spiritual mechanisms by which psychedelic-assisted therapy treats substance use disorder.    
7. Navigate legal pathways and barriers to access
   Understand current legal pathways and existing barriers for access to psychedelic-assisted therapy for substance use disorders.
8. Hear from lived experience
   Find out from someone with lived experience treating their substance use disorder with psychedelic-assisted therapy how it improved their life.

Panelists:
Erika Dyck – Professor and Canada Research Chair, University of Saskatchewan
Erika Dyck is a Professor and a Canada Research Chair in the History of Health & Social Justice. Her interdisciplinary research brings social sciences and humanities perspectives to scientific and medical subjects. Her work has been published in medical, legal, economic, literary, philosophical, anthropological and historical venues. She is the author or editor of several books, including: Psychedelic Psychiatry: LSD from Clinic to Campus. She is an expert on the history of psychedelics in Canada, including clinical trials of psychedelic-assisted therapy for alcohol use disorder in the prairies in the 20th century

Timothy Stockwell – Director of Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research
Tim held the position of director of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR, formerly the Centre for Addictions Research of BC) from its inception in 2004 until 2020. He has also been a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Victoria since 2004. Tim is committed to the advancement of public policy on substance use issues, and has established CISUR as a research institute which aims to shed light on the social, cultural and psychological determinants of harmful substance use, which applies rigorous measures of patterns of use and related harms, and which advances knowledge of effective policy and practice.

Bernard Le Foll – Senior Scientist at CAMH, Chair of Addiction Psychiatry University of Toronto
Dr Bernard Le Foll, MD PhD MCFP (AM), is a clinician-scientist specialized in drug addiction. He is Senior Scientist at CAMH. He is Chair of Addiction Psychiatry and Professor at University of Toronto. He is also the Vice-President Research and Academics and Chief Scientific Officer at the Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care. His multi-disciplinary research approach seeks to develop better treatment for addiction and understand the addiction neurobiology. He obtained >100 grants and published around 400 peer-reviewed scientific articles. He has led multiple clinical trials, developed clinical guidelines and has been invited to speak at Senate and House of Commons on addiction related issues.He got the first CIHR grant awarded to test psilocybin for addiction treatment

Pamela Kryskow – Medical doctor & Medical Lead of Roots To Thrive

Dr. Pamela Kryskow is a medical doctor and the medical lead of the Non Profit Roots To Thrive Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Programs that treats people with PTSD, depression, anxiety, substance use challenges, disordered eating and people with end of life distress. She is a founding board member of the Psychedelic Association of Canada and the Medical Chair of the Vancouver Island University Post Graduate Certificate in Psychedelic Medicine assisted Therapy. Ongoing research includes Psilocybin, MDMA, Ketamine, microdosing (microdose.me), front line health care workers and first responders mental wellness. Prior to studying medicine she was a City of Coquitlam Firefighter for 8 years and provincial forestry firefighter for 4 seasons. In real life she loves hiking in the forest, ocean kayaking, growing kale and daydreaming in the hammock. Her heritage includes Polish, Ukrainian, and German. She currently resides in the traditional unceded territory of the Klahoose First Nations. Pronouns: She/her.

Darren Wayne – Firefighter and Paramedic

Darren spent 13 years as a firefighter and paramedic. He ignored the signs and symptoms of PTSD until he couldn’t any longer. He went on WCB leave and was treated for workplace injury. He spent the last 7 years trying to recover and return back to “himself”. Traditional therapy, EMDR and CBT didn’t get rid of the feelings plaguing his head and heart, and the trialing of several antidepressants didn’t make anything better and arguably just created new problems to deal with. Over the past year he has undergone several ketamine, MDMA, and psilocybin assisted therapy sessions.

Host:
Kyle Sittek-Lumsden

Kyle completed his bachelor of arts in political science and sociology at the University of Toronto, and Masters of Public Policy at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs where he wrote his Capstone Thesis on reducing the harm of licit and illicit substances through evidence-based public policy. He has volunteered in drug policy since 2015. He has an occupational background working for the Ontario Public Service at the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation, and Trade as well as previous experience working on criminological research projects and in the private education sector. Kyle became interested in the subject of treating substance use disorders with psychedelic-assisted therapy after witnessing a family member try and fail conventional treatments for alcohol use disorder.