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What happens when people searching for relief through psilocybin face legal, regulatory, and financial barriers to accessing it?

In Episode 109 of the Broken Brains Podcast, Bruce Parkman sits down with psilocybin advocate Spencer Hawkswell to explore psychedelic medicine, mental health, end-of-life care, brain health, and the fight to expand legal access to psilocybin in Canada.

Spencer shares the personal story that led him into advocacy and explains how patients and advocates have challenged Canada's psychedelic drug policies through medical exemptions, the Special Access Program, public advocacy, and continued pressure for reform.

Bruce and Spencer also discuss the psychedelic therapeutic process, including preparation, the psychedelic experience, and integration; barriers to clinical research; veteran mental health; trauma; neuroplasticity; and emerging questions about whether psychedelics could eventually have applications in traumatic brain injury and repetitive brain trauma.

The conversation examines both the potential and the unanswered questions surrounding psychedelic medicine while exploring what safe, legal, medically supervised access could look like in the future.

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Chapters

00:00 Meet Spencer Hawkswell
01:10 The Personal Story Behind Spencer’s Psilocybin Advocacy
02:23 Psychedelic Policy & Legal Access in Canada
03:44 Medical Exemptions & Canada’s Special Access Program
06:24 How Public Advocacy Changed the Conversation
07:51 Accessing Psilocybin in Canada
10:11 Government Policy & the Fight for Reform
12:20 Legal Access, Underground Use & Safety
14:21 Preparation, Psychedelic Therapy & Integration
17:30 Psilocybin for Mental Health & Vulnerable Populations
20:42 Psilocybin, TBI & Neuroplasticity
24:42 Psychedelic Research, Funding & Clinical Trials
28:32 Patient Experiences, Evidence & the Right to Access
33:34 Why Psychedelic Research Needs Policy Reform
36:02 Veterans, PTSD & Psilocybin Research
38:08 Athletes, Brain Trauma & Psychedelic Medicine
41:20 Advocacy, Social Media & Changing Public Opinion
42:38 Training Clinicians & the Future of Psychedelic Medicine
44:00 Final Thoughts & How to Get Involved

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Broken Brains with Bruce Parkman is sponsored by the Mac Parkman Foundation.

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