Corporadelic

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

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.

Third Wave staff quits, writes open letter, over work environment created by founder Paul Austin

Eight staff have quit The Third Wave and issued an open statement.

An open letter to the newly founded Center for Psychedelic Research at Johns Hopkins

With the recent creation of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, we must remember that, while industrialized medicine has never attempted to serve all people, institutional histories vary from one organization to the next.

What the heck happened to Reality Sandwich?

Reality Sandwich was sold to a group called Delic Corp. Now there’s a lawsuit.

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.

Could wearable microdosing technology be a thing one day?

Could a liquid-delivery system meant to help maintain a personalized “scent bubble” quietly usher in the creation of wearable psychedelic microdosing technology? A U.S. patent for this system is just one among an increasing list of psychedelic-inspired intellectual properties.

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.

Never Forget: Before There Was A Mush Rush, There Was A Plea For Decency

Many predicted an ethical storm brewing in the lead-up to the explosion of for-profit interest in psychedelic pharmaceuticals. But, were their efforts to mitigate the damage enough to make a difference?

Psychedelic Trade Secrets and Get-Rich-Quick Schemes —a Benefit to Investors, a Harm to Progress

“Play the field right and there’s money to be made even off some of the shit companies purely based on the wave.”

“Making psychedelics boring again”— Unless you’re a privileged psychedelic executive, of course

The new leaders of the psychedelic medicalization industry seem to see themselves as above their own self-proposed rules.

Christian Angermayer’s ATAI Life Sciences is positioned to take the psychedelic throne from MAPS

After decades of psychedelic nonprofits paving regulatory pathways and priming wealthy investors, for-profits are moving in to reap the rewards.

Talking Psychedelic Capitalism in a WeWork Ballroom

Psychedelic capitalists justify their decision to go for-profit in the ballroom of America’s most recent for-profit flop.

Calm Down. What’s the Worst Thing That the Wellness Industry Could Do to Psychedelics?

As technology and psychedelics turn to mental health, we’ll likely see a future where we are treated based on our digital biomarkers, and sold mental health services based on the personal data we surrender.

Dear Psychedelic Researchers

The coronavirus has made it clear that psychedelic medicalization will not revolutionize mental healthcare without systemic socioeconomic change.

“Flattening The Curve is Complete BS”: Pandemic Advice From Psychedelic Investor Christian Angermayer

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Christian Angermayer—the world’s largest psychedelic pharmaceutical investor and founder of ATAI Life Sciences—dismisses medical experts in his desperation to reboot the economy.

Amidst Pandemic, Psychedelic Investor Christian Angermayer Can’t Imagine Life Beyond Capitalism

As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, Christian Angermayer, the world’s largest psychedelic pharmaceutical investor and founder of ATAI Life Sciences, calls to sacrifice public health for the sake of “the economy.”

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.”

Field Trip Announces “World’s First” Virtual Psychedelic Therapy, But Forgets To Mention They Aren’t the First and No Psychedelics Are Involved

Field Trip Ventures leads the charge to use “psychedelic” as a marketing buzzword for any kind of niche therapy.

MindMed’s CEO Jamon “JR” Rahn Wants Nothing To Do With Those Psychedelic Decrim People

“I want nothing to do with those kinds of folks who want to decriminalize psychedelics,” Rahn told Forbes.”

DARE to Resist White Supremacy and The Police

American policing is a white supremacist institution that has repeatedly demonstrated the degree to which it values property over human life. Our struggles against the police are inseparably entwined with similar struggles around the world, and they cannot be disconnected from larger struggles for h

As COMPASS Pathways continues its attempts to build a psychedelic monopoly, Usona Institute keeps publishing open research

Since COMPASS Pathways filed for a controversial psilocybin patent in 2018, Usona Institute has consistently placed its research findings in the public domain.

ATAI Life Sciences Company, EmpathBio, Dives Into MDMA Derivatives, Calls MAPS’ Approach “MDMA 1.0”

Through EmpathBio, ATAI Life Sciences says it will develop “safer” MDMA derivatives for patients with PTSD and calls the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies’ (MAPS) approach “MDMA 1.0.” MAPS’ executive director, Rick Doblin, says that if that’s the case, ATAI is “MDMA 0.5.”

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.

As Psychedelics Enter the Mainstream, Mining Companies Look to Dig Up Profits

Canadian mining and exploration company AIS has had a number of executives move on to found psychedelic pharmaceutical businesses. Why? Because psychedelics are where the money’s at.

Will Extractive Industry Bring Its Disregard for Indigenous People Into The Psychedelic Industry?

A mining firm’s conflict with Argentinian communities illustrates extractive industry’s practices and values, and raises questions about how these corporate approaches will translate into the psychedelic pharmaceutical industry.

Why are so many extractive industry executives speculating on psychedelics?

Extractive industry is highly speculative by nature and firms are risk tolerant—they either “strike gold” or they don’t. When their gambles fail, psychedelic startups can take over their corporate shells to quickly go public with minimal regulatory scrutiny.

The Big & Dandy List of Psychedelic-Mining-Extractive-Industry Ties

This list is by no means exhaustive, but it spotlights a number of psychedelic pharmaceutical companies and executives with ties to extractive industry.

Thea Riofrancos on the Implications of Global Energy Transition and the Impacts of Lithium Extraction

Thea Riofrancos is a political scientist whose research has focused on political conflict related to extraction, energy, and infrastructure in a rapidly warming and politically unstable world. She also serves on the steering committee for Democratic Socialists of America for a Green New Deal.

Livestream #2: Team trip reports and experiential typewriters

Weeoo weeoo livestream alert for Thursday, December 17th at 8PM ET!!. Last time we popped bottles and jammed in the comments – come hang out with us again for some reflections on 2020.

Turn Off Your Mind, Relax—and Float Right-Wing?

On January 6th, 2021 at least two psychedelic heads stormed the United States Capitol. Strange as it may seem, those adhering to right-wing politics haven’t just established a beachhead in the psychedelic renaissance—they’re maneuvering to own it.

COMPASS Pathways Is Trying to Patent Psilocybin for More Mental Health Conditions Than You Can Name

News that COMPASS Pathways is attempting to patent psychedelic therapy room specifications and therapist behaviors started an online firestorm about the company’s “monopolistic and shady behaviors,” but so far the debates have missed the biggest threats lurking in COMPASS’s international patent appl

The Third Wave’s Paul Austin Has Been Accused of Stealing Information For His Psychedelic Provider Directory

The Third Wave copied information from Psychedelic.Support and MAPS Integration List without permission to use for its own directory.

COMPASS Pathways’ Psilocybin Patent Questioned By UK Patent Examiner

While COMPASS has issued a response defending the validity of its patents, one of the co-inventors says the patent examiner’s opinion is probably “a valid one.”

DoubleBlind Claims Its Ad Was the ‘First-Ever’ U.S. Psychedelic Destigmatization Campaign — It Wasn’t

DoubleBlind claims its recently-unveiled New York City billboard is a lot of things, except what it actually is: a giant advertisement.

MAPS Canada’s Data Breach Foreshadows Corporadelic Future

As the psychedelic pharmaceutical industry increasingly prioritizes personal data extraction through mobile apps, wearables, and so-called “targeted” medicine, a recent data breach by former MAPS Canada Executive Director Mark Haden provides a warning about some of the possible consequences to the f

The Masters of Bad Trips

As proponents of psychedelics begin to grapple with legacies of abuse, it’s time to learn from victims themselves. Psymposia is co-producing an investigative podcast series, Power Trip, with New York Magazine.

Open Letter to MAPS Canada, MAPS, and MAPS PBC on Data Privacy and Doxxing

Open Letter to MAPS Canada, MAPS, and MAPS PBC on Data Privacy and Doxxing. We believe that an organization responsible for private data, in such close proximity to criminalized subcultures, must take matters of privacy and security seriously.

How To Open Your Wallet: The Hyped and Distorted Claims of Online Psychedelic Marketing

From cultural appropriation to “Shroom Boom,” psychedelic online marketing gaffes and misrepresentations are becoming more and more prevalent from major psychedelic organizations.

A Channel for Magic: Ralph Hood’s Mysticism Scale and the Occult Roots of the Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Research Program

Psychologist Ralph Hood’s study of serpent handling and mysticism helped legitimize the study of psychedelics. So why doesn’t he want them approved for medical use?

Psychedelic Training Provider Fluence Files Trademark for Common Phrase, Walks Back After Criticism

Fluence will no longer seek a trademark for the phrase “Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Integration.”

An open letter in response to John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight episode on Psychedelic Assisted Therapy

Last Week Tonight joined a long and growing list of media outlets that have added fuel to the hype of psychedelic medicalization. By omitting the potential risks and actual harms associated with psychedelic-assisted therapy, this messaging increases the risk to the public by presenting unrealistic e

A Resource for Journalists Covering Sexual Assault in Psychedelic Therapy

Language used by mainstream media affects the way we think about and respond to sexual violence, and no language is neutral. When journalists repeat the misrepresentations of abusers without qualification, they retraumatize victims and perpetuate ongoing misogynistic views about sexual violence.

Rick Doblin Is No Longer MAPS’ Executive Director. We Didn’t Notice — Did You?

The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) quietly replaced founder Rick Doblin as Executive Director with Kris Lotlikar.

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.

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.

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?

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.

Psychedelic Science 2023 Contract Muzzles Speakers: Two Clauses Dictate What Presenters Can and Can’t Say

In order to present at Psychedelic Science 2023, speakers must agree to two out-of-the-ordinary requests about content exclusivity and MAPS’ reputation.

Every Disclosed Conflict of Interest at Psychedelic Science 2023

All the financial conflict disclosures from Psychedelics Science 2023 speakers, in one handy list.

Psymposia’s Response to Heroic Hearts’ Pharma-Backed Press Conference

Veterans deserve the highest quality treatment for PTSD. It’s unacceptable and dangerous to use veterans as guinea pigs for a big pharma profit grab without resolving safety and efficacy concerns.

Correcting the Record: What The New York Times Got Wrong

In response to The New York Times February 4 article, “How a Leftist Activist Group Helped Torpedo a Psychedelic Therapy,” Psymposia requested corrections to numerous errors and false accusations.

Correcting the Record: Addressing The New York Times’ Deceptive Coverage of Psymposia

Rather than unpacking the actual causes of Lykos Therapeutics’ disastrous Phase 3 trials and FDA rejection, The New York Times produced a work of fictitious propaganda that prioritizes corporate interests over public health.

The Psychedelic Syndicate: Part 1

Part 1 of The Psychedelic Syndicate reveals how the Psychedelic Science Funders Collaborative (PSFC) — a wealthy network of Silicon Valley elites and Burning Man devotees — systematically captured the psychedelic movement by influencing MAPS, funding its subsidiary Lykos’ MDMA clinical trials, and p

The Psychedelic Syndicate: Part 2

Part 2 of The Psychedelic Syndicate exposes the compromised foundation of PSFC’s influence network — from the abuse scandals that undermined their preferred therapy model, to undisclosed ties with the sole FDA advisory committee member who voted unequivocally for MDMA approval.

The Psychedelic Syndicate: Part 3

Part 3 of The Psychedelic Syndicate exposes how Silicon Valley’s “move fast and break things” mentality infected psychedelic therapy, creating a culture where leaders rationalized patient harm as unavoidable for progress and ultimately embraced Trump administration officials who promised regulatory

The Psychedelic Syndicate: Part 4

Part 4 of The Psychedelic Syndicate reveals PSFC’s strategy to manufacture spiritual and moral authority through academic capture — even as some members align with far-right ideologies that deepen the very crises psychedelics are meant to heal.