What's Next for Cannabis in 2022-Part 1: New Disruptors in Cannabis: The Rise of Psychedelics and New Cannabinoids. Studies of MDMA, ketamine, psilocybin mushrooms, and other psychedelics have shown tremendous potential for therapeutic applications. In May 2021, Nature Medicine published the results of the most advanced trial of psychedelic therapy to date. In our Phase 3 trial of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD, 88% of participants who received MDMA in conjunction with trauma-focused therapy experienced a clinically significant reduction in symptoms; 67% of participants no longer met the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis. Many participants reported MDMA-assisted therapy helped them address the root cause of their trauma for the first time. Using a process his lab developed in 2015, Chang Lu, the Fred W. Bull Professor of Chemical Engineering in the College of Engineering, is helping his Virginia Commonwealth University collaborators study the epigenomic effects of psychedelics. Their findings give insight into how psychedelic substances like psilocybin, mescaline, LSD, and similar drugs may relieve symptoms of addiction, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The drugs appear to work faster and last longer than current medications — all with fewer side effects.