RALEIGH, N.C. — Psychedelic drugs are generally thought of as illegal, recreational drugs, but physicians and scientists across the country are exploring their medical benefits.
New studies are underway at UNC Chapel Hill and now legislation in the North Carolina General Assembly is exploring the possibility of using psychedelic treatments for mental health across the state.
The process is already seeing results for patients in Charlotte.
“Everything around me was falling apart,” said David Contorno of Charlotte. “My family, my business, it was just really difficult.”
He said his life was on a downward spiral.
“I was seeking out answers everywhere I could find them and wasn’t getting better,” Contorno said. “As a matter of fact, I was getting worse. Both physical health and mental health.”
It’s a story Dr. Jonathan Leake has heard before.
“These are people who have really had treatment resistant problems,” said Leake, medical director at Derive Health in Charlotte. “Maybe they’ve suffered with depression for years and years. Maybe they’ve suffered from PSTD which can be really hard to treat. They’ve tried multiple medications, maybe they’ve tried talk therapy, but they just can’t quite get better.”
Leake began his career in emergency medicine, but 8 years ago he became intrigued by research on the use of psychedelic drugs to treat mental health, namely ketamine.
“We’re actually seeing how the brain was changing and transforming with this therapy,” Leake said.
Ketamine was FDA approved for use as an anesthetic drug in 1970 and is used in hospitals across the country.
Leake began administering the drug for its psychedelic properties several years ago after receiving a certification in the therapy.
He said studies have shown it has the power to repair the mind.
“They all work on different neurotransmitters, but they all kind of turn on this neuroplasticity, which is allowing the brain to kind of rewire and heal in many different way,” Leake said.
Leake opened Derive Health in Charlotte in 2023 to focus on ketamine therapy, setting his clinic up like a spa, inviting relaxation and mental clarity.
It’s where Contorno has received more than a dozen IV infusions of ketamine, always under the supervision of medical professionals.
It’s "almost like when you start to drink wine and you can kind of feel the little tendrils coming in,” Contorno said.
Patients often experience the three-hour-long sessions with a therapist in the room, helping them explore and reflect during the healing journey.
Contorno said he felt he was on the brink of a seismic shift after a single infusion.
“I was standing on top of earth, and I was looking up and my finger was pointed like this and on the other side of my finger was me with my finger down and my feet up, floating, and we were touching fingers. It was just a mirror image of me. I remember it felt like something big was about to happen,” Contorno recalled.
Some lawmakers believe psychedelics could offer something big for the state.
“We are seeing alarming rates of mental health challenges right now,” said Democratic State Sen. Sophia Chitlik of Durham County.
Chitlik introduced bipartisan legislation this session which would establish a task force to examine the feasibility of using psychedelics to treat mental health in North Carolina.
“We see this as a first step. It brings stakeholders to the table to say, how can we do this? How can we do it legally?” Chitlik said. “How can we do it safely? What’s next and what’s possible?”
“Psychedelics were actually used with therapists in the 50s and 60s, which is not as commonly known,” said Gina Giorgio, founder of the North Carolina Psychedelic Policy Coalition.
Giorgio said 25 states have passed or are considering legislation to expand the medical use of psychedelics.
“We’re not creating a legal or recreation market, what we’re doing is creating a taskforce of experts and interdisciplinary individuals who can look at how these innovative treatments can be integrated into the North Carolina mental health care system,” Giorgio said.
The therapy isn’t cheap, often hundreds of dollars per session, and it’s not covered by most insurance providers. That’s something Giorgio said the task force would hope to address.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services estimate almost 1.5 million North Carolinians live with a mental health disorder, according to data from 2021.
In his practice, Leake said ketamine treatment is effective for 70% to 80% of patients, offering a lasting solution to an ever-growing problem.
“We’re seeing these breakthroughs with psychedelic therapy where really it can be transformative and you can heal these people so they can go on and live beautiful, happy lives,” Leake said. “Their symptoms are reduced by 50% or sometimes they no longer meet criteria for those diseases at all.”
Contorno said the treatment has helped him deal with unresolved trauma from his childhood and set his life on a better path.
“It allowed me to either create, view or review situations in my life that I’ve been terrified to confront,” he recalled. “I think it substantially sped up the time with which my life that seemed to be spiraling down sort of reached the bottom and has started to come back up.”
The proposed legislation on psychedelics was not passed before the all-important crossover week in the General Assembly, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be movement on the bi-partisan measure.
Advocates of the bill are expected to head to Raleigh in June to encourage lawmakers consider the move this session.