Gov. Up to$ 5 million in grants are being prepared for the administration of Mike Parson to investigate whether mushroom fungi can treat opioid addiction.
In a memo posted on Monday, the Missouri Department of Mental Health is asking vendors to give feedback on opioid-related research to aid the agency in developing grant applications to investigate whether mushrooms can help with the opioid crisis.
The memo notes that” this ( request ) is to allow vendors to offer us ideas, suggestions, and other pertinent information as it relates specifically to opioid-related research and its ability to treat addiction of opioids.
Actions are due , Oct. 25.
The plan comes after Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature approved spending$ 5 million of the country’s share of the national opioid arrangement for competitive grants to study institutions for opioid-related study.
Initial resources requests for$ 20 million included a study of whether mushroom mushrooms were effective mental health disorders. The , Senate , spending plan initially rejected the proposal, but last-minute agreements set the saving amount at$ 5 million.
The House pushed for the House to release a study into the healing potential of some psychedelic drugs, including those found in so-called “magic mushrooms,” in 2023, with the proposal from the department.
The bill sponsored by Rep.  , Dan Houx, R-Warrensburg, may have authorized a study between the condition and the , U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs , to ascertain whether mushroom, morphine and other alternative therapies may help treat various psychological conditions among military veterans.
The estimate was never taken up by the , Senate , at the time.
According to the office, more than 24, 500 Locals have died according to an abuse during the past 20 years. Of the 2, 180 Locals who died from an overdose in 2022, more than 70 % involved drugs.
The$ 5 million investment is a part of the more than$ 50 billion in settlement funds that pharmaceutical companies gave to thousands of state and local governments after flooding the country with addictive painkillers.
Among companies that have paid into Missouri’s arrangement funds are  , McKinsey &, Co., Mallinckrodt, CVS, Walgreens and Kroger.
State and local governments in , Missouri , could receive up to$ 900 million over the next 18 years if full settlement participation is achieved, the department said.
How research may be conducted and how much might a study project been expected to last, two questions that the office is asking are among the ones being asked.
If the federal opioid settlement executive determines that study into the use of psi is not a permitted use of the funds, it also inquires of probable research institutions whether they are able to repay their portion of the grants.
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( c ) 2024 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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