Rising High: Exclusive talk with psilocybin producer Rose Hill

In this edition of “Rising High,” The Fly conducted an exclusive interview with the management team of Rose Hill, a Jamaica-based psychedelic company focused on the cultivation and supply of psilocybin products.

PSILOCYBIN CULTIVATION: Rose Hill aims to exceed industry standards through sustainable and ethical cultivation processes and provide customers with safe, high-quality products. Since 2015, the company has been cultivating and breeding multiple varieties of psychedelic mushrooms. To date, the company is the largest psilocybin producer in Jamaica and the first legal exporter in the world. “Before there was this great demand and everyone was talking mushrooms, we were fortunate enough to select or be given certain strains to work with,” said Chief Cultivation and Production Officer Charles Lazarus.  “We could identify the personality of those various strains. Just like in cannabis or in all plants, you can break down specific benefits from the different protein bodies.”

The personality of a mushroom can also be enhanced based on what the mushroom is fed in the growing process, he noted. “We’ve been exploring this as we go with anecdotal data and feedback from people and their experiences,” he said. “Because we are in Jamaica, we are growing and we have access to psychedelic retreats, we’ve been able to get feedback at a far greater level.” Lazarus said Rose Hill is in consistent contact with retreat practitioners, who will sit with roughly 600 people this year. “They’re using our medicine because they are familiar with it,” he said. “Then we can get feedback about the medicine itself and make changes to it, to tailor it in a direction towards what a person would like for their retreat. We have also leveraged that data with our products.”

The company offers PATOO, a psychedelic CPG line of legal and lab-tested psilocybin products, which includes dried mushrooms, premium chocolate bars, handcrafted microdose honey, and psilocybin gummies. The products are available in over 30 retailers in Jamaica. “Across the whole palette, we feel we hit all the high-level use cases for consumers out in Jamaica,” Lazarus said. “We’re just trying to take all that knowledge and that headstart that we’re having in Jamaica and bring that stateside.”

When asked about the rising competition in the psychedelic space, he pointed to Rose Hill’s operations in Jamaica as a key differentiator. “We’ve been at it for some time,” he said. “And outside of all the data, because we’re in Jamaica, we’re legal. We’re selling in boutique hotels, health food stores and cannabis dispensaries. Coming into stateside we have all that experience in the legal framework.”

GUMMY LAUNCH: In July, PATOO launched their vegan psilocybin gummies, made with extract, and earthed from the same organic psilocybin biomass and ingredients found in their other products. “People love gummies,” Lazarus said. “It’s just a delivery system people really like and we can dial back on things like sugar that would be in chocolate bars. The gummies are a very different and very accessible offering.”

ONE RETREATS: In June, Rose Hill launched ONE Retreats, an experiential psilocybin retreat centered around wellness and healing, in West End Negril. Sessions with ONE Retreats are overseen by trained psilocybin therapists and medical professionals who ensure the safety of each guest. “Being able to have our own retreats and to harvest a lot more data allows the cultivation to dig in very deep because we have very specific goals there,” Lazarus said. Chief Marketing and Branding Officer Kevin Bourke added the launch came naturally to Rose Hill due to the company’s consumer brands and Jamaica’s potential to heal retreat participants. “Psychedelic experience is always gaged around your set and setting,” he said. “When discussing the setting, there’s no better backdrop than Jamaica with its turquoise waters, natural attributes and the sun and the sea.”

The location where the company operates its retreats is seaside and nestled in nature, creating “a magical place” for healing, Bourke said. “The medicine is obviously integral to why people are coming to these retreats, but the setting plays a big role in taking people out of their environment,” he said. “Jamaica is just a beautiful, healing beacon to the world and fits right in for hosting people for medicine.” The company understands retreat participants may have different goals, Bourke said, noting Rose Hill recently hosted a group of veterans seeking an alternative form of mental health treatment. “We’re building deep into ONE Retreats,” he said. “We’re actually doing two in October and we’re really excited. Charles and I both sit on the technical committee for psilocybin in Jamaica with the Bureau of Standards and are shaping this industry for the retreat model as well as the consumer item model. Jamaica is taking very serious measures in leading because of our legal standpoint globally.”

JAMAICA OPERATIONS: As one of the seven countries worldwide where cultivation and consumption of psychedelic mushrooms are legal, Jamaica is a prominent region for the psilocybin industry. “There are no laws against psilocybin,” Lazarus said. “When I grow mushrooms, it is the same as growing grass on my lawn. It’s an agricultural product that happens to have a compound piece that’s a psychedelic.”

The legal framework in Jamaica allows Rose Hill to cultivate, create brands and interact with customers as a company would with any product, he said. “For the cannabis industry, you just have impractical measures that would be applied at a regulatory level,” Lazarus said. “We do not get hindered like that and because we are on the technical committee with all the other stakeholders of the industry, the government of Jamaica has asked us to guide them.” He added being in Jamaica puts Rose Hill in the center of the focus on psilocybin. “Right now, it’s retreats,” he said. “We’re allowing people from all over the world to come to Jamaica and the Jamaican government is saying, ‘Come, we’re cool with it.’ They’re not doing anything against us, they are just watching us to see how it goes.”

EXPANSION PLANS: Rose Hill is pursuing expansion opportunities in the U.S. and Canada and is currently in the process of applying for a manufacturing and services license in Oregon. “That process requires you to find your site, do your architectural drawing, get landlord approval, get your local municipality approval and then submit it,” said Managing Partner of Operations Domenic Suppa. “We are just waiting on the municipality approval and then we are submitting the application. The timeline for that is anywhere from 60 to 120 days to get to a provisional and start building out, then there’s the matter of construction and getting commenced operations from the municipality. We are probably six to nine months away from planting our first harvest in Oregon.”

The company is still under exploration for partnerships with legal institutions in Canada, he said. “We want to have the ability to export and do full data analytics and research on our genetics,” Suppa said. “We’re still in the discovery process and we haven’t executed anything yet, but we are pretty close. In contract review, we’ve done site visits and we’re going for another one this month. Hopefully by 1Q24, that will be in play, completely executed and operational.” Rose Hill also has its sights on the next states to legalize like Colorado, he said. “The assumption is in Q4 of this year, they will have their regulations released,” Suppa said. “Sometime in Q1/Q2 next year, they’ll be taking applications.”

SCHEDULING: Several psychedelics are listed as Schedule I drugs under the Controlled Substances Act in the U.S., including psilocybin, and Suppa said he sees it as a barrier on many fronts. “It’s a barrier from awareness to expansion to acceptance from communities,” he said. “There are many hurdles that you need to go through, including a state-to-state differentiating regulatory structure and those are always changing as well.” He noted Oregon, which has already set up regulation, has already changed it twice this year. “The expectation is it will change very often until they feel they get it right,” Suppa said. “Those challenges that we are facing are regulatory and financial, but I think like with cannabis now being almost in its tenth year with states being recreational, it’s opened up. I think psychedelics are going to follow the same path and we’re going to see expedited growth and acceptance as cannabis has paved the way.”

Lazarus added Rose Hill has seen increased interest in psychedelics from the public over the last couple of years. “There’s this need right now,” he said. “I don’t know if it comes out of the pandemic or from a population that is tired of various pharmaceutical options that almost work. As we’re seeing with psilocybin, it works for some mental health issues like anxiety and depression in ways that SSRIs do not work for everyone. When you’re really suffering your mind gets open to alternative options that maybe previously you would have been against.”

The public opinion on psychedelics has changed, Lazarus said, and even non-psychedelic mushrooms have been trending in the mainstream.  “Maybe we’re in a bubble, but I do feel that public acceptance is going to move very fast,” he said.

CHALLENGES: When asked about the largest challenges facing the psychedelic space, Suppa pointed to the stigma surrounding the industry as well as regulations and access. “Those are some of the main hurdles that we have seen and still see,” he said. “But what I’ve seen just here in the U.S., is that the acceptance, even in the local municipalities and towns, is increasing. I do see it accelerating and the acceptance becoming widespread, especially now that you have a couple of states that are on docket to legalize.”

Lazarus noted he and Suppa attended the Psychedelic Science Conference in Denver and his takeaway was that the space is taking a very science-based approach to development. “It’s all very smart people that really want this to happen this time around and have dedicated their lives to it,” he said. “They’re approaching it as best they can, so that public opinion and working with government bodies is shaped in the right way. It feels really positive.”

OPPORTUNITIES: As the psychedelic industry develops and matures, Bourke said he sees opportunities in Rose Hill’s genetics library, which includes over 50 genetics and two unique proprietary strains. “We’re getting the research and looking at what these different strains can do and where they can be applied,” he said. “We’re looking to concentrate on specific areas such as autism and PTSD. We’re learning how each of the genetics can help and apply because they all have different personalities. We’re very excited about that and we’re very excited about representing Jamaica on the global platform.”

Lazarus said the opportunities are incredibly broad as the space is in its early days. “For us, we are organically growing to fill the space in our little container and pushing a little bit more and a little bit more,” he said. “Fortunately, we do have Jamaica as our backyard to operate in for consumer products, which is pretty massive. And of course, we use that data and science and adjust our products.” He stated Rose Hill has also been able to converse with psychedelic experts, who have been open to sharing their views.  “The industry is not so cluttered right now that everyone isn’t sharing information on what they’re into and what they’re doing,” he said. “Very soon, I don’t think that a psychedelic company will have access to these people because it is going to be inundated.”

At the end of day, Rose Hill’s main objective is to really help people heal, Lazarus said.  “It feels really good to do something that is purpose-driven,” he said. “We have all been impacted by the power of psychedelics in our own way with our own various traumas, because everyone has that. For us, it’s a mission, we’re just going to keep going forward as smartly as we can and keep focused on what feels good for us. I don’t know where it is we are going to land in the end, but so far it has been very rewarding.”

CANNABIS/PSYCHEDELIC STOCKS: Publicly-traded companies in the space include Aleafia Health (ALEAF), Acreage (ACRHF), Atai Life Science (ATAI), Audacious (AUSAF), Aurora Cannabis (ACB), Avant Brands (AVTBF), Awakn Life Sciences (AWKNF), Ayr Wellness (AYRWF), Body and Mind (BMMJ), BZAM (BZAMF), Cannara Biotech (LOVFF), Canopy Growth (CGC), Chicago Atlantic (REFI), Clearmind (CMND), Clever Leaves (CLVR), CordovaCann (LVRLF), Cresco Labs (CRLBF), Cronos Group (CRON), Columbia Care (CCHWF), Compass Pathways (COMP), Curaleaf (CURLF), CURE Pharmaceutical (CURR), CV Sciences (CVSI), Cybin (CYBN), Delic Holdings (DELCF), Delta 9 (DLTNF), Entourage Health (ETRGF), Enveric Biosciences (ENVB), Fire & Flower (FFLWF), Flora Growth (FLGC), General Cannabis (CANN), Greenlane (GNLN), Green Thumb (GTBIF), GrowGeneration (GRWG), Goodness Growth (GDNSF), Hemp (HEMP), HEXO (HEXO), High Tide (HITI), India Globalization Capital (IGC), Indiva (NDVAF), Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR), InterCure (INCR), IM Cannabis (IMCC), Wellbeing Digital (KONEF), Khiron Life Sciences (KHRNF), Lowell Farms (LOWLF), Lotus Ventures (LTTSF), MediPharm Labs (MEDIF), MedMen (MMNFF), MindMed (MNMD), NewLake Capital (NLCP), Numinus Wellness (NUMIF), Organigram (OGI), Planet 13 (PLNHF), Reunion Neuroscience (REUN), Revitalist (RVLWF), RIV Capital (CNPOF), Relmada (RLMD), RYAH Group (RYAHF), Safe Harbor (SHFS), Small Pharma (DMTTF), SNDL (SNDL), Sproutly (SRUTF), Skye Biosciences (SKYE), Stem Holdings (STMH), Sunniva (SNNVF), TerrAscend (TRSSF), Tetra Bio-Pharma (TBPMF), Tilray (TLRY), Trulieve (TCNNF), Tryp Therapeutics (TRYPF), Verano (VRNOF), Village Farms (VFF), Wesana Health (WSNAF), Zynerba (ZYNE) and 4Front Ventures (FFNTF).