Ethical Concerns about Psilocybin Intellectual Property

Summary & key facts

In 1971 about 71 countries met in Vienna and agreed on the United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances. The treaty set up a global system to control drugs that change the mind. It says these drugs should only be used for medical or scientific purposes, creates rules for licences, prescriptions, record-keeping, and for import and export, and gives the World Health Organization and an international control board roles in deciding and enforcing those rules. This framework affects research, medicine, and international trade in substances like psilocybin, but how it works day to day depends on each country’s own laws and how strictly they enforce them.

Key facts:

• About 71 countries attended the 1971 conference in Vienna that adopted the Convention on Psychotropic Substances.
• The treaty requires that psychotropic drugs be limited to medical and scientific use, rather than general or recreational use.
• Governments that sign the treaty must set up licences, prescription rules, and record-keeping for controlled drugs.
• The treaty controls international trade by requiring rules on import and export of psychotropic substances.
• The World Health Organization advises on which substances should be controlled, and an international control board monitors and reports on compliance.
• Countries are allowed to apply stricter controls than the treaty requires, so national laws can be tougher than the international rules.
• How these rules affect people depends on each country’s laws and enforcement, so access for research or medical treatment can vary from place to place.

Abstract

Since a 1957 exposé in Life Magazine, chemical compounds derived from Psilocybe mushrooms have been the focus of dozens of attempted and successful patents, most recently to treat depression. Regrettably, the Mazatec indigenous communities who stewarded these traditional medicines for millenia are not party to any of these patents, despite a number of international treaties asserting indigenous rights to their intangible cultural heritage.

Topics

Chemical synthesis and alkaloids Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies Psychedelics and Drug Studies

Categories

Clinical Psychology Psychology Social Sciences

Tags

Biology Creativity Cultural heritage Ecology Environmental ethics Hallucinogen Indigenous Intangible cultural heritage Intellectual property Law Philosophy Political science Psilocybin Psychiatry Psychology Public relations Traditional knowledge

Substances

Psilocybin