In this crowded field, Vancouver-based Filament Health has a unique approach: extracting drugs like psilocybin and mescaline from natural sources, including mushrooms and cacti, rather than synthesizing the ingredients in a laboratory. Filament CEO Benjamin Lightburn spoke with The Associated Press about the ethical, therapeutic and medical case for using naturally derived psychedelics. Q: What do you mean by “natural psychedelics” and how are they produced? A: The iboga plant, which contains the psychedelic ibogaine, is probably the best example of that at Filament. There is a ton of interest from different researchers all around the world to use our psychedelic drugs.

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Persons: Benjamin Lightburn, It’s Organizations: Associated Press, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Vancouver, West Africa, Gabon