An Ohio health agency is providing a state university with a $400,000 grant to educate first responders, law enforcement, emergency departments and behavioral specialists about how to deal with potential adverse psychedelic experiences as more people use the substances for medical or recreational purposes.

Amid the expanding psychedelics reform movement, there’s been increased attention to the possible health benefits of substances like psilocybin and ibogaine. But only a handful of states allow for the regulated use of certain psychedelics, typically in medically supervised settings.

Ohio is not among those states yet, but Ohio State University (OSU) is now launching its Psychedelic Emergency, Acute, and Continuing Care Education (PEACE) initiative, with nearly half a million dollars of funding from the state Department of Behavioral Health’s (DBH) SOAR Innovation grant program.

“People have started to learn about the benefits of psychedelics while, at the same time, the federal government categorizes these as controlled substances,” Stacey Armstrong, associate director of the OSU’s Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education (CPDRE), said in a press release last week.

“With the promising outcomes of clinical trials, there has been an explosion of information, but the information has been limited in addressing adverse experiences and harm reduction,” she said.

Funding from the DBH grant will go toward in-person seminars and online training materials that will be made available to those in professions most likely to face instances where someone might need attention after using psychedelics outside of a medical regulatory framework. The seminars and educational materials will come at no cost to qualifying participants.

“We want to arm our first responder and behavioral health workforce with knowledge about how to support someone’s challenging psychedelic experience in a way that’s going to be helpful, not increase risk or harm,” Armstrong said, adding that the center created the psychedelics program “to start educating Ohio’s front-line workers and support them in facilitating quality care, psychedelic-informed crisis triage and referral guidance to health care providers with specialized training in psychedelic harm reduction.”

According to CPDRE, the PEACE initiative is intended to reach over 127,000 professionals across the state, which will also include doctors, nurses, social workers, psychiatrists and other disciplines.

“CPDRE is all about access and affordability,” Tina Romanella, CPDRE’s program coordinator, said. “Too much information in this space is inaccessible, unaffordable or inaccurate. Our job is to make it all three: accessible, affordable and accurate.”

With funding now secured for the PEACE program, the center says psychedelics educational seminars will now be held in January, March and July of next year.

“We’ve created this content, but its value depends on reaching the people who need it,” Angela Douglas, CPDRE clinical research coordinator, said. “With DBH’s network and workforce expertise, we’re confident we can get this training to every corner of the state.”

“They have extensive connections. Their workforce development and policy leads are actively recruiting and gathering information, so we’re talking to the right people to make sure this gets where it needs to go,” she said.

OSU’s efforts compliment research it’s done in the past, including one study conducted in conjunction with Johns Hopkin University in 2023 that found an association between psilocybin use and “persisting reductions” in depression, anxiety and alcohol misuse—as well as increases in emotional regulation, spiritual wellbeing and extraversion.

While Ohio voters approved adult-use marijuana legalization in 2023, there’s been little interest so far within the legislature to pass psychedelics reform. That’s despite the fact that legislatures in red and blue states alike, as well as in Congress, have seen multiple efforts to advance the issue in recent years.

Photo elements courtesy of carlosemmaskype and Apollo.

[PRESS RELEASE] – TOWSON, Md., Oct. 22, 2025 – Curio Wellness, a leading U.S. cannabis brand and vertically integrated operator, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire four high-volume retail dispensaries in Missouri operating under the Greenlight brand. The locations expand Curio’s best-in-class retail portfolio and presence in Southeast Missouri, increasing access to Curio products and experiences across the region. The transaction is expected to close following regulatory approval.

“Curio and Greenlight share a deep commitment to customer delight,” Curio Wellness CEO Michael Bronfein said. “These locations are exceptionally well operated and culturally aligned with our standards of operational excellence. Bringing them into the Curio family advances our mission to deliver trusted products, service and value – customer by customer, store by store, market by market.”

The acquisition aligns with Curio’s disciplined approach to capital allocation and national expansion. By integrating four high-performing dispensaries into its Missouri platform, Curio adds immediate scale, strengthens retail capabilities, and creates a broader stage for its innovative products. The transaction is expected to be accretive and deliver shareholder value through operational synergies, supply-chain efficiencies and increased brand adoption in a large and growing market.

“This acquisition represents an intentional step in our national strategy, building on market entries, franchise development, and brand partnerships designed for predictable results and sustainable growth,” Bronfein said.

“Working with Curio Wellness is a decision we make with confidence,” Greenlight CEO John Mueller said. “Curio’s commitment to people, product quality and community aligns with our values. We’re proud these locations will continue to thrive.”

Curio expects continued momentum in Q4 2025, including the launch of its branded products in New York through a licensing partnership with Vireo Health and the opening of a franchise location in New Jersey, enabled by Curio’s Private Equity Fund for Social Equity operators.

“As we integrate these Missouri locations and execute on our Q4 initiatives in New York and New Jersey, our focus remains clear,” Bronfein said. “We’re here to bring innovation, access and value to customers and stakeholders nationwide – responsibly, consistently and at scale.”

SSC Advisors acted as financial advisers on this transaction.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro opened a controversial new front line by proposing to U.S. President Donald Trump more than just a trade adjustment: he asked that “the export of cannabis be legalized like any other good, given its exclusion from the UN list of dangerous substances,” through a post on X.

Las guerras que Colombia vive desde hace 5 décadas, primero urbana hasta 1993, después rural, se deben al consumo de cocaína en EEUU; aunque han habido aportes de gobiernos estadounidenses a la paz de Colombia, han sigo exigüos y nulos en los últimos años.

Se ha construido una… https://t.co/R2SGZEnDfU

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) October 20, 2025

The idea is not limited to marijuana as an agricultural product, but rather, Petro ties it to a broader plan to transform Colombia’s rural economy: eliminating tariffs, opening long-term contracts for farmers in crop substitution areas, and attracting agro-industrial investments that will help farmers relocate “to fertile lands near cities and not adopt the jungle as a form of survival.”

For advocates of cannabis reform, the situation paints an intriguing picture: the proposal to bring a marginalized crop out of the underground, carve out a legitimate place for it in international trade and empower growers. But is it viable? What risks does it entail?

‘Colombia Provides the Money and the Deaths, the US Provides the Consumption’

The proposal comes in a context of diplomatic rift with the US. Trump accused Petro of being an “illegal drug leader” and announced, in a threatening tone, the suspension of aid and tariffs for Colombia — a country he repeatedly misnamed ‘Columbia.’

In response, Petro not only proposes the legalization of cannabis, but also shifts blame for Colombia’s conflict onto foreign consumption: “Colombia puts up the money and the deaths, and the US provides the consumption.”

This shift flips the traditional narrative—no longer ‘Colombia produces, the US consumes’—instead demanding the opening of legal markets to replace illicit ones, and make regulation part of the plan. He also called to “scientifically study whether prohibition is truly necessary, or whether instead a model of responsible, state-regulated consumption would be more effective.”

For cannabis reform advocates, this proposal can be seen as a historic demand: rural workers as protagonists, legal exports as an option, and public health as the focus. But the path is fraught with diplomatic, commercial, and regulatory hurdles.

Petro’s proposal has two powerful facets: on the one hand, it opens the door to viewing cannabis not as a stigma but as an economic, social, and political opportunity. On the other hand, it plunges headlong into a fierce battle: that of agricultural sovereignty, that of trade treaties, and the US role in the international War on Drugs.

Ultimately, if successful, it could pave the way for a new Latin American model for agro-industrial regulation: the countryside as the driving force, trade with the US as the platform, and cannabis as a legitimate product. If it fails, it could trigger harsher authoritarian drug-war crackdowns, strain alliances, and deepen global stigma.