Science
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?
The Misadventures of “Toxic Bob”
Throughout his lifetime, Robert Friedland has evolved from Steve Jobs' psychedelic guru to mining guru, leaving a trail of environmental destruction in his wake.
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.
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.
Why New Zealand’s “Smoking Ban” Is Harmful
A tobacco ban will likely reduce smoking. But focusing only on drug use masks the violence behind policy choices. A ban on tobacco is not done with a magic wand. Behind every law is state violence.
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.
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 financial incentives of datafication.
Hamilton Morris Hired by Psilocybin Startup COMPASS Pathways, Ends “Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia” On Vice
by Russell Hausfeld , David Nickles
Hamilton Morris, the creator of Vice’s “Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia,” will cease working with Vice on the show following the third season. He has joined psychedelic pharmaceutical corporation COMPASS Pathways as a chemistry consultant.
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.”
COMPASS Pathways Is Trying to Patent Psilocybin for More Mental Health Conditions Than You Can Name
by Russell Hausfeld , David Nickles
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 applications.
“Acid Revival” portrays a resurrected scientific field, notably more conservative than its historic predecessor
Through candid interviews with modern psychedelic researchers, Danielle Giffort’s "Acid Revival" presents a profession obsessed with how it is perceived by mainstream audiences and desperate not to repeat the “mistakes” of the 1960s.
After a Year of Controversy, MAPS Canada Executive Director Mark Haden Announces Resignation
During a Psymposia investigation into the alarming 5-MeO-DMT practices of Dr. Martin Ball, Mark Haden announced his resignation from MAPS Canada.
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.
An Open Letter and Call to Action for MAPS Canada
by Keeno Ahmed-Jones , Ava Daeipour
The following is an open letter by two former co-leads of the MAPS Canada Diversity Committee. It was written in response to a variety of racist and prejudicial behaviours they experienced from MAPS Canada leadership and the organization at large during their eight-month tenure as unpaid volunteers, including obstruction—by leadership—of their efforts to address long-entrenched discriminatory practices in the psychedelic research domain and to implement initiatives to combat race-based health disparities.
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.
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."
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.
Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories in Psychedelia
Conspiracy theories are nothing new when it comes to psychedelia. But in the context of coronavirus, they've become significantly more harmful.
A Response to “Early Reflections on Interviews with Palestinians and Israelis Drinking Ayahuasca Together”
As Israel prepares to annex settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley—with US support—what is the expected role of psychedelics in resolving the Palestine-Israel conflict?
Forget Plant-Based Medicine, MDMA is Now Made From Crude Oil
MAPS claims the most sustainable way to produce commercial MDMA is through the use of petrochemical feedstocks.
Science
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?
The Misadventures of “Toxic Bob”
Throughout his lifetime, Robert Friedland has evolved from Steve Jobs' psychedelic guru to mining guru, leaving a trail of environmental destruction in his wake.
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.
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.
Why New Zealand’s “Smoking Ban” Is Harmful
A tobacco ban will likely reduce smoking. But focusing only on drug use masks the violence behind policy choices. A ban on tobacco is not done with a magic wand. Behind every law is state violence.
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.
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 financial incentives of datafication.
Hamilton Morris Hired by Psilocybin Startup COMPASS Pathways, Ends “Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia” On Vice
by Russell Hausfeld , David Nickles
Hamilton Morris, the creator of Vice’s “Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia,” will cease working with Vice on the show following the third season. He has joined psychedelic pharmaceutical corporation COMPASS Pathways as a chemistry consultant.
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.”
COMPASS Pathways Is Trying to Patent Psilocybin for More Mental Health Conditions Than You Can Name
by Russell Hausfeld , David Nickles
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 applications.
“Acid Revival” portrays a resurrected scientific field, notably more conservative than its historic predecessor
Through candid interviews with modern psychedelic researchers, Danielle Giffort’s "Acid Revival" presents a profession obsessed with how it is perceived by mainstream audiences and desperate not to repeat the “mistakes” of the 1960s.
After a Year of Controversy, MAPS Canada Executive Director Mark Haden Announces Resignation
During a Psymposia investigation into the alarming 5-MeO-DMT practices of Dr. Martin Ball, Mark Haden announced his resignation from MAPS Canada.
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.
An Open Letter and Call to Action for MAPS Canada
by Keeno Ahmed-Jones , Ava Daeipour
The following is an open letter by two former co-leads of the MAPS Canada Diversity Committee. It was written in response to a variety of racist and prejudicial behaviours they experienced from MAPS Canada leadership and the organization at large during their eight-month tenure as unpaid volunteers, including obstruction—by leadership—of their efforts to address long-entrenched discriminatory practices in the psychedelic research domain and to implement initiatives to combat race-based health disparities.
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.
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."
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.
Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories in Psychedelia
Conspiracy theories are nothing new when it comes to psychedelia. But in the context of coronavirus, they've become significantly more harmful.
A Response to “Early Reflections on Interviews with Palestinians and Israelis Drinking Ayahuasca Together”
As Israel prepares to annex settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley—with US support—what is the expected role of psychedelics in resolving the Palestine-Israel conflict?
Forget Plant-Based Medicine, MDMA is Now Made From Crude Oil
MAPS claims the most sustainable way to produce commercial MDMA is through the use of petrochemical feedstocks.