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Church of Psilomethoxin, Part 4: The Church That Cried Capitalism
The Church of Psilomethoxin claims it’s the victim of “psychedelic capitalism,” but almost everything it claims is wrong.
David Nickles
David Nickles is an underground researcher and harm reduction advocate. He has presented social critiques and commentary on psychedelic culture and radical politics, as well as novel phytochemical data from the DMT-Nexus, at venues around the world. David’s work focuses on the social and cultural implications of psychoactive substances, utilizing critical theory and structural analysis to examine the intersections of drugs and society. He is a vocal opponent of the mainstreaming and commodification of psychedelic compounds and rituals, believing that such approaches inherently obscure the liberatory potential of psychedelic experiences.
Posts by David Nickles
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Church of Psilomethoxin, Part 3: Matters of Faith. Father, Son, and Wholly Dosed?
The Church of Psilomethoxin now admits that its claims about psilomethoxin are solely based on faith. But how strong are the religious convictions of the Church?
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The Church of Psilomethoxin Part 2: Unraveling the Sacred Chemistry
Psymposia’s investigation into the Church of Psilomethoxin (CoP) turns to the Church’s claims that it’s currently “scientifically impossible” to test for psilomethoxin. Psychedelic chemist David Nichols calls that claim “completely nonsensical and nonscientific.
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Church of Psilomethoxin, Part 1: Sacramental Skepticism. Is the Church in Denial?
This is the first article in a series investigating the Church of Psilomethoxin (CoP), exploring the recent debate about the Church’s sacrament and the people involved in promoting the Church and its claims.
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Psychedelic Media Should Stop Parroting Corporate Press Releases
When the media republishes statements from psychedelic pharmaceutical startups and their executives with little-to-no vetting, it functions as a corporate megaphone and damages the field of psychedelic science.
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We Need to Talk About MAPS Supporting The Police, The Military, and Violent White Supremacism
For decades, MAPS and other proponents of psychedelic medicalization have justified their emphasis on treating police and soldiers as a political strategy in service to mainstreaming psychedelic drugs. This strategy perpetuates the logic of white supremacism, capitalism, and imperialism.
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Bicycle Day 2020 Was Truly Historic, But Not for the Reasons You Think
Jamon A. Rahn, CEO of psychedelic pharmaceutical startup MindMed, offered a glimpse of the future of psychedelic science, including proprietary data and hints of an “LSD neutralizer.”
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Eleusis Benefit Corp: Taking the “Psychedelic” Out of Psychedelics
Shlomi Raz, CEO of Eleusis Benefit Corporation, made false claims about psychedelics. We asked multiple ethnobotanists, a medical anthropologist, and a chemist if they could help us set the record straight.
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BBC Duped into Promoting Marketing Scheme for Microdosing Psychedelics
A recent BBC story entitled “The ‘psychedelics coach’ with drug-fuelled career advice,” offers an opportunity to examine what happens when sloppy journalism and self-promotional psychedelic marketers collide.
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This is what psychedelic mainstreaming looks like…in Arizona
As psychedelic medicalization and the potential profits of a “virgin market” loom large, new organizations are increasingly looking to gain legitimacy within the field. Mainstreaming means the doors of this field are being thrown wide open.
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It’s time to debunk prohibitionist narratives and calls for monopolies within psychedelic science
As venture-capital-backed, for-profit companies barrel into psychedelic therapy, the potential for the widespread privatization of psychedelic knowledge and profits looms large. Some researchers are so enthusiastic about medicalization by “any means necessary” that they’re resorting to prohibitionis