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In this edition of "Rising High," The Fly conducted an exclusive interview with Kevin Bourke, co-founder of PATOO, a Jamaican psychedelic consumer packaged goods line of psilocybin products. Here are some highlights:

PSILOCYBIN CPG: PATOO offers a line of psilocybin-infused products, which use a natural harvesting process of indigenous Jamaican psilocybin fungi curated with the utmost quality standards to ensure the medicine's integrity, consistency, and efficacy. The brand is available through over 30 retailers in Jamaica, including legal dispensaries, retailers, resorts and wellness retreats and offers 100% organically earthed Jamaican chocolate bars, handcrafted microdose honey, vegan gummies and microdose capsules. "Our strategy is to create quality, consistent products that we can deliver with clear communication to our customers for safe usage," Bourke said. "We just really take a lot of time in the processes of creating our products."

For example, PATOO's process of infusing biomass with Jamaica's chocolate is precise and unique, he said. "It makes it very special and being that Jamaica has really, really fantastic cacao, it is doing some beautiful stuff as a plant-based medicine," the co-founder said. "It does this beautiful dance with the psilocybin, our proprietary PATOO strain, and the results and the feedback has just been really fantastic."

He added the company's nature of being meticulous to detail when crafting products sets it apart from others in the space. "All of our products are tested, and co-founder Charles Lazarus and I are blessed that we have two seats at the table on Jamaica's Psilocybin Mushroom Industry Technical Committee," Bourke said. "It's not a free-for-all in Jamaica, there's a lot of the space that is growing very responsibly with contributors coming from the cultivation side, the product side and the testing. Shaping and trying to lead by example out of responsibility in this space as an industry, we're really proud of that."

FONTANA PARTNERSHIP: In July, PATOO announced its partnership with Fontana Pharmacy to sell PATOO's suite of legal and lab-tested psilocybin-infused products at seven Fontana locations across the island. "It's fantastic and it's a milestone," the co-founder said. "We have an important role as Jamaica to play in the global space of psilocybin and the progression of the medicine. We view it as natural medicine and accessibility is key to growth."

The company aims to give consumers a safe environment with clear communication and dosage to access the medicine for whatever reason they want, he said. "Fontana is a top first-class organization with seven outlets in all the major corners of Jamaica," Bourke said. "We are blessed that they see the vision, they believe in the medicine, and we are ecstatic to start that partnership."

He noted the alliance took time in the sense that PATOO had to ensure products were behind the shelf and Fontana's team was adequately trained. "We were very detailed in our training of their team, from the clerks to the pharmacists," the co-founder said. "I did online training as well as in-person training to ensure that we lead by example."

The collaboration also opens a new channel of distribution for PATOO as products are generally offered in dispensaries, health food stores, retreats and upper-end boutique hotels, he said. "A pharmacy opens up a much wider demographic to access the medicine," Bourke said. "It doesn't matter if you are in Jamaica or not, the crowd that a dispensary gets is different than the demographic of what a pharmacy gets. We have found a lot of new customers, and we have seen our base of access to the medicine grow to a wider and vaster demographic."

When asked about how the company evaluates a potential partnership, the co-founder said PATOO is very selective in its choices. "There are many different outlets that have asked to put PATOO on the shelf, but we are very choosy," he said. "We believe that the cannabis dispensaries are widening the offerings of natural medicine in that space, but there is a finite amount of those in Jamaica because of the licensing and then there is a couple of health food stores that we are in. So we are very tight with that, it's not just opening accounts to open accounts. It must fit into our view of people that are trained or can take training, have an organizational structure that is responsible, and they understand the medicine. They must be willing to walk with us on that path to educate as well as advocate for psilocybin."

JAMAICAN MARKET: As one of only a handful of countries worldwide where the cultivation, sale and consumption of psychedelic mushrooms are legal, Jamaica is a prominent region for the psilocybin industry. Bourke and Lazarus serve as inaugural advisors on JPMITC under The Bureau of Standards where they advise on the formalization of industry guidelines and regulations. "It's a legal framework so it allows us to form these wonderful relationships and that is coupled with sitting on the technical committee to help shape it," Bourke said. "We are getting a lot of feedback."

He said the company just moved to child-proof packaging, which has a cost to business, but it is imperative PATOO leads in responsibility. "We went all child-proof, and we test all of our products for heavy metals, potency and other attributes," the co-founder said. "We know the position that we are in, and we take it seriously. We really have to lead with responsibility and education. It is a process where you have to educate the market on what psilocybin is, how it affects you, what are the benefits and if it is the right choice for you in your path for healing or enlightenment."

PATOO PRODUCTS: PATOO's offerings include microdose capsules, microdose honey, premium chocolate bars and psilocybin gummies. "They all offer the same benefits, they are just different vehicles to access the medicine," Bourke said. "If you're a person that is looking for a microdose vehicle, that would be the capsules. We have 0.2g capsules in one-month packages or three-month packages. It's four days on, three days off, so a one-month supply would constitute sixteen capsules. Then we have a three-month capsule supply, that obviously gives savings, because we want to make it as affordable as possible for access in Jamaica across demographics."

He said PATOO's honey and capsules are the traditional microdose vehicles, however people do use the chocolate. "People love chocolate," the co-founder said. "People use the chocolate and the gummies for microdosing purposes. We get a lot of feedback where a consumer will purchase a bar and they would take a little piece of chocolate in the mornings or in the evenings depending on what they are taking it for. A lot of people also buy the chocolate bars to share and what is key about the products is the strains and the genetics that we use. We take a lot of time and care, and it is backed up by testing and potency."

He added the company uses strains that are not highly visual but are lighter and more euphoric. "It is a little bit more of a responsible posture when you're putting more psilocybin content in certain products," Bourke said. "We are conscious of that, and we are trying to educate other people in the space that this is the way to move forward. A mushroom isn't a mushroom isn't a mushroom and a psilocybin mushroom isn't a psilocybin mushroom isn't a psilocybin mushroom. They all have different personalities, different potencies and they treat people differently. That's the beauty of this, we are just getting into what is beyond the psilocin, the psilocybin, the baeocystin, and we're finding more and more on what they can help people with. We are excited to help participate in that research."

As delivery systems for psilocybin evolve, the co-founder said he expects certain categories to be more popular than others like any other consumer product. "Gummies are very popular as a vehicle for vitamins and supplements as you can see on the shelves," he said. "Gummies are tricky though, they aren't easy to make. To keep the medicine inside stable, it is quite a process and we are blessed that we perfected that. Gummies are definitely growing though, and we will also be looking at beverage for microdose in 2025."

Bourke said he also expects chocolate to remain a popular category for psilocybin-infused products. "Who doesn't love chocolate?" he said. "We're blessed with really, really stellar cacao in Jamaica and chocolate is a very popular vehicle."

REGULATION: In August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the denial of Lykos Therapeutics' new drug application for midomafetamine-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. The FDA said it could not approve the treatment based on data submitted to date. "I am very close to some of those people who are fighting the good fight and that is specifically through the veterans," the co-founder said. "PATOO has our sister organization, which is ONERetreats. We do retreats for veterans, so I'm blessed to be very close to that space and this question picks a heart chord with me in the sense that it is just a process. Everybody knew it wasn't going to be easy."

He noted Rick Doblin, founder of Lykos, has been in the process for 40 plus years. "It's just now getting to where the proverbial genie is out of the bottle," Bourke said. "This third wave is the science, the research is there and there are brilliant scientists all over the globe that are coming out with more and more data. So it's just a rung in the ladder and it is going to happen. It's just a little bit of a setback, but what it has done is gelled the whole community together to get this over the finish line and get people healed by these psychedelic medicines."

Several psychedelics are listed as Schedule I drugs under the Controlled Substances Act including MDMA and psilocybin, but the co-founder said he believes they should not be scheduled there. "A Schedule 1 drug has two criteria," he said. "One, that it's addictive and two, that it does not have any health benefits. Both of those are false when you are talking about MDMA or psilocybin. With the data coming out, it's unfortunate that it falls into that category. I think with all the great work that researchers are doing, in the veteran space and beyond, we will soon be out of that Schedule 1 bucket. We're playing a role in that through responsible communication and education of the market."

CHALLENGES: When asked about the largest hurdles facing the psychedelic space, Bourke pointed to the negative perception surrounding the industry. "There was a negative campaign in the sixties right up to the War on Drugs, so I think it is dispelling the myths that this is not just a fly-by-night irresponsible drug," he said. "It's something that has benefits and its proven, the data and the research is being done and it has come to a point where it cannot be denied anymore. Dispelling the previous narrative with anecdotal evidence, data and research is the way forward to get beyond those challenges."

OPPORTUNITIES: As the psychedelic sector develops, the co-founder said he sees the biggest opportunities in the opening of the world to the benefits of the medicine. "We have so many beautiful things coming our way," he said. "We are getting contacts from nations like Brazil and Australia and all sorts of places where the walls are falling down. We're blessed to have licenses in Oregon and we are navigating through that space. Colorado is opening up as well and we are seeing and watching how it unfolds. We are focused on navigating above the board with integrity at our base. We are a Jamaican product with Jamaican psilocybin genetics and we are waving that flag proud. We would love to offer these products in legal areas globally as the laws permit."

CANNABIS/PSYCHEDELIC STOCKS: Publicly-traded companies in the space include Acreage (ACRHF), Ascend Wellness (AAWH), Atai Life Sciences (ATAI), Aurora Cannabis (ACB), Ayr Wellness (AYRWF), Avant Brands (AVTBF), BZAM (BZAMF), Cannabist Company (CBSTF), Cannara Biotech (LOVFF), Canopy Growth (CGC), Chicago Atlantic (REFI), Clearmind (CMND), Clever Leaves (CLVR), Compass Pathways (CMPS), CordovaCann (LVRLF), Cresco Labs (CRLBF), Cronos Group (CRON), Curaleaf (CURLF), CURE Pharmaceutical (CURR), CV Sciences (CVSI), Cybin (CYBN), Delta 9 (DLTNF), Entourage Health (ETRGF), Enveric Biosciences (ENVB), Fire & Flower (FFLWF), Flora Growth (FLGC), Trees Corporation (CANN), Greenlane (GNLN), Green Thumb (GTBIF), GrowGeneration (GRWG), Hemp (HEMP), Heritage Cannabis (HERTF), High Tide (HITI), IGC Pharma (IGC), IM Cannabis (IMCC), Indiva (NDVAF), Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR), InterCure (INCR), Lotus Ventures (LTTSF), Lowell Farms (LOWLF), Lucy Scientific Discovery (LSDI), MediPharm (MEDIF), MedMen (MMNFF), MindMed (MNMD), NewLake Capital (NLCP), Numinus (NUMIF), Optimi Health (OPTHF), Organigram (OGI), Planet 13 (PLNHF), Red White & Bloom (RWBYF), Relmada Therapeutics (RLMD), Reunion Neuroscience (REUN), Revitalist (RVLWF), RIV Capital (CNPOF), RYAH Group (RYAHF), Safe Harbor Financial (SHFS), 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), Vireo Health (VREOF), Zynerba (ZYNE) and 4Front Ventures (FFNTF).