Optimi Health Supports Patient-Focused Psilocybin Advocacy by TheraPsil
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Optimi Health Corp. (CSE: OPTI) (OTC: OPTHF) (FRA: 8BN) (“Optimi” or the “Company”), a vertically integrated developer of mushroom products, is pleased to announce it has initiated corporate support as one of TheraPsil’s first Core Spore Supporters through a generous donation and ongoing advocacy to the TheraPsil Coalition (“TheraPsil”) in support of their continued national initiatives aimed at increasing patient access to psilocybin.
Based in Victoria, British Columbia and established in 2019, TheraPsil is a non-profit coalition of healthcare professionals, patients, and advocates dedicated to obtaining legal access to psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for Canadians in medical need. TheraPsil has facilitated precedent-setting and tangible progress in the fight for compassionate access to psilocybin therapy in Canada. It has helped Canadians suffering from end-of-life distress through advocacy efforts resulting in ‘section 56 exemptions’ granted directly from the Minister of Health, Patty Hadju, beginning on August 4th, 2020. These first exemptions represent a milestone event as the first instance of psilocybin being approved for patients since 1974 when it was made a controlled substance in Canada. TheraPsil has now successfully supported 31 patients in five Canadian provinces to gain access to legal, psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy.
Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy is the professionally guided use of psilocybin in combination with psychotherapy. According to TheraPsil, research and anecdotal evidence has shown that psilocybin therapy can improve the quality of life and end-of-life care for individuals experiencing anxiety, depression, and hopelessness as a result of a life-threatening diagnosis.
The primary services of TheraPsil are patient-rights advocacy, assessment, and referral – connecting patients with exemptions with therapists trained in psilocybin assisted therapy. To this end, TheraPsil recognizes the importance of developing a pool of suitably trained and trusted clinical associates for referral purposes, and subsequently has created a training curriculum as the required context in which trainees may legally use psilocybin as part of their professional training. After 100 days of advocacy, on December 1st, 19 Healthcare Practitioners were granted their section 56 exemptions by Health Canada to legally consume psilocybin in the course of training. On March 1st, 2021 TheraPsil launched the beta-version of their training program, and to date, four training cohorts across the country have been launched with five more set to launch in the next three months.
Spencer Hawkswell, CEO of TheraPsil notes, “Natural psilocybin has been used for thousands of years, and now the science and medicinal benefits of psilocybin-assisted therapy are being proven not just on the clinical side, but in real settings with patients, delivering real life-changing results. Greater access to psilocybin therapy to reduce Canadian’s suffering is needed, and we are grateful for Optimi’s support of our on-going initiatives to facilitate compassionate access to patients in medical need across the nation, alongside professional training, public education and research.”
TheraPsil is a non-profit, Canadian organization that relies on donations to continuously advocate for Canadians in medical need. Every dollar donated will help TheraPsil advocate for psilocybin regulations in Canada through public education, research, and patient advocacy. Individuals interested in supporting the legalization of psilocybin therapy in Canada can support their current online fundraiser by clicking here. Corporate donors who are interested in becoming one of TheraPsil’s Core Spore Supporters are encouraged to reach out to TheraPsil’s Development Officer, Robyn Broekhuizen at Robyn@therapsil.ca.
Optimi Health’s Chairman JJ Wilson states, “Compassionate care for patients seeking relief from end-of-life situations is an ever-growing need. Patients living with on-going anxiety, depression, and related traumas deserve timely access to both the medicine and the therapeutic support. The philosophy behind TheraPsil is certainly in line with our views of all-natural human optimization as we aim to bring consistent dosing to natural psilocybin upon receipt of our dealer’s license. We are proud to support their upcoming efforts and hope the growing number of Optimi followers will take a moment to support their cause by visiting the TheraPsil website to consider how you too might help the efforts of this excellent organization.”
On Behalf of the Board of Directors, Optimi Health Corp.
Mike Stier
President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
ABOUT OPTIMI (CSE: OPTI) (OTC: OPTHF) (FRA: 8BN)
Optimi is developing a sophisticated mushroom brand that focuses on the health and wellness markets. With a vertically integrated approach, Optimi intends to cultivate, extract, process and distribute high quality functional mushroom products at its two facilities comprising a total of 20,000 square feet nearing completion in Princeton, British Columbia. To fully investigate the science of mushrooms, the Company has received a research exemption under Health Canada Food and Drug Regulations (FDR) for the use of Psilocybin and Psilocin for scientific purposes via its wholly owned subsidiary Optimi Labs Inc. Optimi has also applied for a dealer’s license under Canada’s Narcotic Control Regulations governing possession, distribution, sale, laboratory analysis of and research and development of Psilocybin and Psilocin formulations. Optimi is committed to expert cultivation and quality production subject to and in accordance with the terms of all applicable laws and governing regulations to ensure safe, superior Canadian fungi production.
Find out more at: https://optimihealth.ca/.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Investor Relations
Email: investors@optimihealth.ca
Phone: +1 (778) 930-1321
Web: https://optimihealth.ca/
FORWARD‐LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains forward‐looking statements and forward‐looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation (collectively, “forward‐looking statements”) that relate to Optimi’s current expectations and views of future events. Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, through the use of words or phrases such as “will likely result,” “are expected to,” “expects,” “will continue,” “is anticipated,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimated,” “intends,” “plans,” “forecast,” “projection,” “strategy,” “objective,” and “outlook”) are not historical facts and may be forward‐looking statements and may involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties which could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in such forward‐looking statements. No assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward‐looking statements included in this news release should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date of this news release. In particular and without limitation, this news release contains forward‐ looking statements pertaining to the dealer’s license application, activities proposed to be conducted under the Company’s research exemption and associated business related to Psilocybin and Psilocin and Optimi’s plans, focus and objectives.
Forward‐looking statements are based on a number of assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Optimi’s control, which could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward‐looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the impact and progression of the COVID‐19 pandemic and other factors set forth under “Forward‐Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Final Prospectus dated February 12, 2021. Optimi undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward‐looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for Optimi to predict all of them or assess the impact of each such factor or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any forward‐looking statement. Any forward‐looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.
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