30 June 11th - June 17th, 2026 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Shroom for Improvement Researcher Sue Sisley talks about her psilocybin mushroom trial. BY MORGAN FISCHER T he Scottsdale Research Institute is in the midst of a clinical trial of whole psilo- cybin mushrooms, thought to be the first of its kind in the nation. Test subjects have ingested the psilo- cybin-infused chocolate hearts, and the first round of the study will wrap up in August, principal investigator Dr. Sue Sisley told Phoenix New Times. The trial, which is partially funded with $5 million in taxpayer money allocated by the Arizona Legislature and Gov. Katie Hobbs in 2023, places Arizona at the fore- front of psychedelic research amid a federal change in attitude regarding psychedelic research and use. The study dosed test subjects earlier this year and will test the therapeutic efficacy and safety of whole mushrooms for patients with PTSD. Each participant took 30 milli- grams of psilocybin in the form of about 4.5 grams of whole mushrooms, which are also grown at the lab’s own facilities under a Drug Enforcement Administration license. Each individual chocolate contains 10 milli- grams of psilocybin. Friday morning, Sisley spoke with New Times for a phone interview, which has been edited for clarity and brevity. What was the process of getting this study off the ground? The hurdles are massive. It’s taken us five years to get the study underway. The clock started when we first applied for our psilo- cybin mushroom manufacturing license (in 2021). We’re the only entity in the county — that I’m aware of — growing federally legal mushrooms for Food and Drug Administration clinical trials. The process of negotiating with the DEA and getting the license was a massive amount of work, and then once we finally got the license, we were starting to grow all these different strains. We had to teach ourselves how to do this. We brought in experts to help us refine our techniques. I think at one point we had 14 different strains of psilocybin that we were cultivating at the lab, just testing small amounts to see which one grew the best, which one was the hardiest, the most able to avoid contamination and grow to its full expression. We were trying to figure out which shrooms grew the best in our labs at the shortest incubation periods. We inter- viewed a lot of people in the underground who were using these different strains, trying to figure out which ones worked the best for them. We interviewed a lot of mili- tary veterans and patients who were using it anyway. We settled in on this strain, “Jedi Mind Fuck,” which has been a good choice for us because they’re easier to grow. What did you make of President Donald Trump’s April executive order to expedite research on psilocybin and other psyche- delics for treating mental illness? Funding remains to be seen. Was this just a very joyful announcement without any real-world implications? That’s the big question. I have seen a lot of executive orders over my lifetime from the president, and most look like political theater to me. There’s a press release, all the media coverage, and then I don’t see anything meaningful materialize after that. The funding hasn’t materialized yet. There’s no evidence that the DEA is going to cooperate with the Right to Try law, which was a big part of the executive order. We helped write that. Does the Right to Try law impact your current work? In August, we will be finishing the study and when you finish phase one and apply for phase two, you are legitimately qualified under the Right to Try law. That was in the executive order. The DEA was going to create regulations to make Right to Try law functional for psychedelics. But we got a letter from the DEA in February saying that they refused to allow us to participate in Right To Try. We can’t do anything that the DEA doesn’t approve. Now, we’re asking the DEA for a pilot program by letting us treat 20 patients with life-threatening illnesses under Right to Try with our federally legal mushrooms, but so far no response. It’s been five weeks now and we haven’t gotten any communication back from them. We’re going to reach back out to Joe Rogan, who was at the signing ceremony. He told folks there that if there was any evidence that the administration wasn’t moving forward on its promise to imple- ment Right to Try for psychedelics, he would step in and let the president know that there’s some foot-dragging. The president hopefully would respond because he clearly wants Joe Rogan’s audience in his camp. I think they prob- ably genuinely like each other. Why is it so important to get Right to Try practically implemented for psychedelics? We’re giving them an opportunity for a real victory here, for the DEA to embrace this pilot project and show the public that they are a benevolent agency that cares about the public. If they don’t allow sick people who are dying to have access to an investigational drug, that speaks volumes to the public that the DEA doesn’t care about them. It’s common sense that sick people should have access to investiga- tional drugs. It’s their choice. It’s a matter of personal liberty. If somebody who’s sick wants to eat a mushroom, why is the government criminalizing that behavior? | CANNABIS | 198 Non-Profit 810 Mind, Body, Spirit
