Our work centers around cultivation, research, & advocacy
Whole Plant medicines can reduce suffering.
We believe that patients have the right to a diversity of safe and legal treatment options, but a stagnation in research delays progress. By creating pathways to research psychoactive plants as treatments for addiction disorder, PTSD, and other illnesses, we seek to broaden social, legal, and medical understanding on the applications of natural medicines.
AReas of research
Cannabis
Scottsdale Research Institute has been licensed to grow its own real-world medical-grade cannabis. This ensures the cannabis study participants receive is comparable to what they are actively using in the real world. Cannabis has been reported by countless users to reduce symptoms of pain, and PTSD, especially in veterans with chronic, treatment-resistant PTSD. Scottsdale Research Institute/F2H will begin a new FDA Phase 2 trial with Vets that report severe pain & PTSD in 2024.
Psilocybin
Scottsdale Research Institute has been licensed to grow psychedelic mushrooms for the purpose of studying the effects of psilocybin-assisted therapy on pain, end-of-life distress, and PTSD. Psychedelic mushrooms can be made into chocolates, tea, and other foods for easy consumption and near-precision dosing for upcoming FDA Phase 1/2 trials.
LSD
Scottsdale Research Institute has been licensed to make Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, or LSD for the purposed of studying its effects on terminally ill patients with end-of-life demoralization. A study conducted by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) showed that LSD-assisted therapy helped to permanently reduce existential anxiety in those suffering from terminal illnesses.
MDMA
MDMA or methylenedioxy-methamphetamine has been shown to cause psychopharmacological effects, including “Decreased feelings of fear and defensiveness, Increased feelings of well-being, Increased sociability and extroversion, Increased interpersonal trust, An alert state of consciousness,” according to Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). Because of these pharmacological effects, SRI has been licensed to conduct future studies for the treatment of PTSD with MDMA-assisted therapy.
cultivation: quality medicine is key to quality research
Photo courtesy of Amy Donahue
Early into her exploration into plant and fungal medicines, Dr. Sue recognized the potency and quality of the medicine grown for research did not reflect what her patients could illicitly access.
Realizing that understanding the anecdotal outcomes patients described with the medicine required using plants cultivated at the same high-quality as the plant patients claimed had healed them, Dr. Sue appealed and was rewarded a DEA license to begin cultivating whole plant & fruiting body medicines.
SRI Foundation holds eight licenses from the DEA to cultivate, research, test & import/export controlled substances.
Advocacy: creating access
SRI Foundation has led the crusade to ease the prohibition on medicinal plant research for over a decade, including earning the right to study PTSD in veterans and successfully ending a 50-year monopoly on governmentally-approved cannabis cultivation. Alongside several legal victories, SRI Foundation research also led to a better understanding of the veteran suicide epidemic, opening doors for more compassion and treatment options for members of the armed forces.
Join the movement for quality research: donate to SRI Foundation and further groundbreaking science on natural plant/fungal therapies.