This Month in Psychedelics - April 2021

April was yet another busy month in the world of psychedelics. In this recap we’re going to cover a bunch of interesting stories, including the results from a study that pitted psilocybin therapy against traditional antidepressants, a few drug policy wins, new psychedelic companies listing on the Nasdaq, why Joe Biden’s son used psychedelics several years ago, and much more.

Here is a slimmed-down video recap version that is available for those who prefer an easier-to-digest option:

There’s a lot to get through this month, so without further ado, let’s jump into the news:

Followup

We’ve got a little bit of follow-up to get through before moving onto the latest psychedelic news from this month. At the end of March, after I finished making last month’s recap but before the end of the month, New York became the 15th state to legalize the recreational use of cannabis.

There’s a lot in New York’s bill, including the legalization of possessing, growing, using, and purchasing cannabis. The legislation placed an emphasis on social and racial equity, including things like the automatic expungement of prior convictions and the reinvestment of 40 percent of tax revenue raised from cannabis into minority communities that had higher numbers of marijuana-related arrests.

Drug Policy

Wins

Northampton, Massachusetts became the third city in the state to approve a psychedelic decriminalization measure this year after its City Council unanimously voted in favor of a resolution that will deprioritize laws against the possession, use, and distribution of psychedelics. In addition, the resolution also states that no government or police funds should be used to enforce those laws.

In addition to the legalization of cannabis in New York from the end of March, two more states decided to free the weed as well this month. Virginia’s Governor Ralph Northam signed the state’s legalization bill into law, making the state the first in the South to legalize marijuana. Not only that, but the enactment date for the possession and home cultivation components of its legislation were also moved up to this July 1st. However, retail sales still aren’t slated to start until 2024.

New Mexico also legalized cannabis for adults 21 years and older after Governor Michelle Grisham signed two bills into law this month. The first bill legalizes and regulates cannabis production, sales, and possession while the the second bill will expunge prior low-level marijuana convictions. New Mexico’s legal cannabis industry will launch no later than next April and taxes are expected to raise tens of millions of dollars for the state.

A few bills made significant progress this month: Alabama’s medical marijuana legalization bill passed the Senate and is headed to the House, Montana’s cannabis legalization bill is on its way to the state’s Governor, and lawmakers in Texas approved some cannabis and psychedelic reform bills. Several bills also cleared the committee round: cannabis legalization efforts in Connecticut, Minnesota, and Louisiana, and an attempt to legalize possession of psychedelics in the progressive state of California.

Losses

However, not every drug policy reform effort was successful. North Dakota’s Senate ended an attempt to put cannabis on the 2022 ballot, Florida’s Supreme Court killed a cannabis legalization initiative, Washington state replaced a drug decriminalization bill with a revised measure to reinstate penalties (and later downgraded those penalties), and opposition in Norway torpedoed a plan to decriminalize drug use.

Upcoming Bills and Initiatives

Looking ahead, cannabis legalization at the federal level is seeming more and more likely, with a bill expected to be filed shortly and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer celebrating 420 on the Senate floor. A GOP congressman has introduced a bill that would protect marijuana consumers’ second amendment rights and a new proposal in Maine would legalize psilocybin therapy for adults with no medical diagnosis needed.

Psychedelic Industry

The psychedelic industry continued its growth as MindMed became the second psychedelic company to list on the Nasdaq (last September COMPASS Pathways was the first). And the trend isn’t stopping anytime soon, as ATAI Life Sciences is expected to IPO on the Nasdaq shortly as well. It’s becoming more and more normal to see news about above-ground psychedelic companies operating out in the open, and when it comes down to it, listing on the Nasdaq is about as public as it gets.

Research

A randomized controlled trial that compared psilocybin with a conventional SSRI antidepressant found the psychedelic option to be as effective at treating depression while producing fewer side effects. It was just a preliminary study with a small number of participants, but it shows that there may be hope for psychedelics to compete in the existing medical landscape.

In another study, microdosing psychedelics was associated with increases in conscientiousness and reductions in neuroticism, both of which are promising outcomes for something that has come under a lot of fire recently (a study last month showed that the positive effects of microdosing may come down to placebo effect).

Experienced psychonauts are no doubt familiar with the idea of using psychedelics to get more creative, and that concept was replicated in a clinical study that confirmed psilocybin mushrooms do in fact have the potential to enhance creative thinking after all.

Although the gold standard for psychedelic therapy currently consists of two therapists working with one patient, a study found that working in a group setting may have potential as well. However, due to COVID-19 it’s probably best to avoid any psychedelic group work until things calm down a bit.

Miscellaneous

President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, published a memoir in which he detailed an account of how he worked with psychedelics to help him abstain from alcohol and crack cocaine. Back in 2014 Hunter went to a clinic in Tijuana where he was first given ibogaine, which presented him with a flickering “slideshow” of his life. Then he received 5-MeO-DMT therapy, which he credits with helping him stay sober for a year. So there you have it, psychedelics are so mainstream now that even the President’s son is coming out about his use.

Closing out this month’s recap is a story about researchers in Europe and the United States who are teaming up to produce a novel 5-MeO-DMT training program. Since this particular psychedelic is both relatively new and very powerful, clinicians don’t have a whole lot of experience administering it; hopefully this program will help them learn the knowledge necessary to make it a safe and effective experience for everyone involved.

That’s all for this month’s update. Remember to always test and weigh your drugs and until next time—keep thinking wilder.

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this month’s update, please consider helping out by becoming a patron, making a one-time donation, or sharing this post with a friend. Thank you for your support.

This Month in Psychedelics - March 2021

March was yet another busy month in the world of psychedelics. There was plenty of news involving drug policy, scientific research, the emerging psychedelic industry, and more. So if you’re looking to learn more about what happened this month in psychedelics then you’re in the right place!

Here is a slimmed-down video recap version that is available for those who prefer an easier-to-digest option:

There’s a lot to get through this month, so without further ado, let’s jump into the news:

Drug Policy

New Laws

Kicking things off, two new decriminalization laws took effect in the United States this month.

Washington D.C. decriminalized natural psychedelics like ayahuasca and psilocybin mushrooms and the capital city isn’t stopping there. The Plant Medicine Coalition is pushing the District Council to enact more legislation that would provide worker and child protections related to the use of plant- and fungi-based substances, among other initiatives that the group is working on.

Baltimore did something a bit surprising by decriminalizing all drugs as well as prostitution and several other low-level offenses. This move is part of an overall experiment known as The Covid Criminal Justice Policies, and it’s a unique approach to crime that was developed with public health authorities and inspired by the global pandemic. Instead of prosecuting people arrested for minor crimes, the program looks at them as public health issues and partners with organizations in the community to help find solutions rather than punish offenders.

Wins

In last month’s recap I reported that both Virginia’s House and Senate voted to legalize cannabis, but what I didn’t realize at the time was that each one of them approved a separate bill. Now Virginia’s House and Senate have both approved the same bill, which is currently on Governor Ralph Northam’s desk awaiting a signature that would make cannabis legal in the state by 2024.

However, Northam has thrown around the idea of moving up the legalization date to this July 1st and the leaders of Virginia’s House have expressed their support for this idea, so it’s possible that weed will be legal in the Old Dominion this summer.

Cannabis reform bills made advances in several other states as well: Hawaii, Wyoming, New York, Connecticut, and Illinois. And south of the border, Mexico’s lawmakers advanced a bill to legalize recreational cannabis, bringing the country one step closer to becoming one of the world’s largest marijuana markets.

Losses

Not all drug policy reform efforts were successful, however. Mississippi’s House killed the state’s medical marijuana bill, although the Senate hasn’t given up yet and is attempting a last-ditch effort to revive the bill. And Maryland’s cannabis legalization effort officially threw in the towel, so residents of the Old Line State will need to wait for either a future federal- or state-level initiative to enjoy legal marijuana from the comfort of their own homes.

New Bills and Initiatives

And there’s plenty drug policy news on the horizon as well—a New York lawmaker filed a bill to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms in the state, lawmakers in Vermont and Rhode Island proposed decriminalizing all drugs, and activists in Michigan launched a campaign to decriminalize natural psychedelics.

Psychedelic Industry

Following on the heels of last month’s news that COMPASS Pathways is attempting to patent basic, preexisting psychedelic therapy techniques like using soft furniture and holding hands, the debate about patenting various aspects involving psychedelics continued to rage on this month.

A few well-known investors and players in the psychedelic industry had something to say about patents, including Rick Doblin, Tim Ferriss, Christian Angermayer, and David Bronner. At the heart of the matter is the fact that COMPASS Pathways has submitted patent applications for so many things involving psilocybin that Psymposia put together an astounding article detailing them that’s definitely worth checking out.

This is an important area to keep an eye on because it will impact all sorts of things, including who will be able to legally access and use psychedelics and which companies will be able to turn a profit in the emerging psychedelic industry.

Psychedelic Research

Researchers at Imperial College London published results from a groundbreaking placebo-controlled LSD microdosing trial. The study found that while participants who microdosed with active LSD ended up experiencing beneficial psychological effects, the placebos also engendered the same result. In fact, there was no statistical significance between an LSD microdose and a placebo pill.

This could mean that the benefits of microdosing come down to the placebo effect rather than an actual effect, but this study is by no means a definitive confirmation of that hypothesis. The study’s limitations include a relatively small sample size of 191 volunteers and a unique (and potentially flawed) self-blinding protocol.

More microdosing research will need to be conducted before we have a solid idea about its efficacy, but until then I’m sure microdosers will keep microdosing and getting benefits out of their practice regardless of whether those benefits come down to the psychedelic substance itself or the placebo effect.

In another study, researchers analyzed data from more than 171,000 adults who responded to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health between 2015 and 2018 and found that the use of psychedelics is associated with better physical health.

Roughly 14% of the sample reported using a classical psychedelic like LSD, mescaline, psilocybin, or DMT at least one time, and after controlling for a number of variables the results showed that those who reported ever using psychedelics tended to have better health than people who had never used a psychedelic before. Psychedelic users also had significantly lower odds of being overweight or obese.

It’s important with a study like this to remember that correlation doesn’t equal causation, but it’s interesting to know that a study with such a large sample size and variable controls found physical health to be significantly better among psychedelic users than the psychedelically-naïve.

Miscellaneous

Although many people in the psychedelic and wider drug-using communities were hopeful about President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ approach to drug policy, so far things haven’t exactly gotten off on the right foot. In addition to the fact that the drug war is still going strong, several White House staffers were asked to resign, were suspended, or are being required to work remotely after revealing past cannabis use during their background checks, even if that use occurred in states where marijuana has been legalized. This isn’t too surprising though, considering that cannabis is still illegal at the federal level, which can make it challenging for government employees to get federal security clearance.

However, what makes this extra frustrating is that several staffers had been previously told by transition officials that past cannabis use would be overlooked, only to be told later that they would need to resign. This flip-flopping is par for the course when it comes to politicians and politics in general, but it’s still aggravating to see Biden’s administration pull a bait-and-switch here.

Hopefully in the future they’ll be able to relax a bit and not exclude people on the basis of prior drug use. I know a natural remedy that might help them chill out but something tells me they won’t be interested…

Last up this month is a story about why PCP users almost exclusively live in America. The linked VICE article explores the curious reasons behind why the drug never went global like crack cocaine or LSD.

That’s all for this month’s update. Remember to always test and weigh your drugs and until next time—keep thinking wilder.

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this month’s update, please consider helping out by becoming a patron, making a one-time donation, or sharing this post with a friend. Thank you for your support.

This Month in Psychedelics - February 2021

Maybe it’s just me, but it was especially difficult to keep up with everything happening in the world of psychedelics this month. There are dozens of drug policy reforms and psychedelic research studies to keep up with, and making sure I’m covering each one and only reporting the most up-to-date news about them is extra tough when they change on a daily (and sometimes hourly) basis.

So I’ve tried my best to recap this month’s most important psychedelic news in this blog post. We’re going to cover a bunch of drug policy reforms, how patents are affecting the psychedelic industry, the latest events in psychedelic science, and much more.

Here is a slimmed-down video recap version that is available for those who prefer an easier-to-digest option:

There’s a lot to get through this month, so without further ado, let’s jump into the news:

Drug Policy

New Laws

Starting off this month’s recap with some good news and paving the way for the rest of the country, Oregon’s drug decriminalization bill went into effect. Now Oregonians will no longer face criminal charges for possessing small quantities of drugs and the state is prioritizing drug treatment over law enforcement.

Policy Reform Wins

Several other initiatives moved one step closer to becoming a reality—Cambridge, Massachusetts decriminalized psychedelics, New Jersey’s governor signed a whopping three reform bills (two separate bills that will legalize and decriminalize cannabis and a third bill that will reduce penalties for psilocybin possession), and the Democratic leaders in the U.S. Senate announced steps to federally legalize cannabis later this year.

In addition, both Virginia’s House and Senate voted to legalize cannabis, North Dakota’s House voted to legalize recreational marijuana, and Alabama’s Senate passed a bill to legalize medical marijuana.

Lawmakers on committees in five states voted in favor of six drug policy reform bills this month. Cannabis legalization efforts passed in Hawaii, Minnesota, New Mexico, and North Dakota, lawmakers in North Dakota also advanced a cannabis decriminalization bill, and a drug decrim bill in Washington made it out of the committee round. Just earlier this week the initiatives in Minnesota and New Mexico both passed their second rounds and will definitely be heading to each state’s House for further consideration.

Hanging on by a thread, Virginia’s lawmakers are facing a Saturday deadline to reconcile two different conflicting House and Senate cannabis legalization bills and at the moment things are looking tense. Hopefully they’ll get it all worked out.

Proposed and Submitted Bills

Several more bills have been either proposed or submitted: initiatives to decriminalize psychedelics in California and Vermont; bills that would permit access to psychedelics for seriously ill patients in Iowa and Missouri; legislation that would decriminalize all drugs in Kansas, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Washington; a new medical marijuana bill was introduced in Kansas; a bill to study psychedelics in Texas and a federal cannabis research bill; and California activists announced plans to work on legalizing magic mushrooms in 2022.

Prohibitionists Resist

The dying gasps of prohibitionists around the country can be heard in several states where there are efforts to overturn the will of voters that voted in favor of cannabis reforms last November. A judge in South Dakota ruled the state’s recreational marijuana measure unconstitutional and the governor delayed the launch of the state’s medical marijuana program until 2022, and the American Medical Association is attempting to overturn the medical marijuana vote in Mississippi and the Senate passed legislation to enact an alternate medical marijuana program from the one that voters approved in November.

In a future-proofing move, Idaho’s Senate passed a measure to block cannabis legalization even if voters approve it later on. For a bunch of teetotalers, that’s quite a paranoid move.

International News

On the international stage, an attempt to legalize the medical use of MDMA and psilocybin in Australia was rejected. But don’t worry—the fight’s not over yet because Mind Medicine Australia is challenging the decision.


And to round out this month’s drug policy update on a positive note, Norway is considering decriminalizing all drugs.

Psychedelic Industry

Psychedelic patents are a big area of concern in the psychedelic industry right now. In a controversial move, COMPASS Pathways submitted a patent application attempting to lay claim to pre-existing, common psychedelic therapy techniques including the use of soft furniture and holding hands.

Although the patent has not been granted, it just goes to show how psychedelic companies plan to use patents to gain an advantage over their competitors, with some even stooping as low as trying to patent things that have been a part of psychedelic culture long before these newfangled companies were around.

At this point, we can only hope that this patent application will be rejected. But in other cases, companies are already winning psychedelic patents.

A small biotech startup known as CaaMTech Inc. won a patent that will protect any new compositions and methods that are created by combining cannabinoids and psilocybin derivatives. So even though people have been combining cannabis and magic mushrooms for basically forever, now CaaMTech will own exclusive rights to any future pharmaceutical concoctions that come from combining the two drugs.

Psychedelic patents will continue to have a huge influence over how the industry evolves over the next few years. Hopefully they won’t completely ruin it.

Psychedelic Research

New Centers

The psychedelic research field is busier than ever before. Four new psychedelic research centers launched this month: Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for Neuroscience of Psychedelics, COMPASS Pathways’ Drug Discovery Center, New York University’s Center for Psychedelic Medicine, and Aion Therapeutic’s new Aion International Center for Psychedelic Psychiatry in Jamaica.

Studies

There are several new studies to go over, including a preliminary clinical trial that found MDMA therapy to be more helpful at treating alcohol addiction than conventional treatment methods, a meta-analysis that showed MDMA therapy to be less effective for people who take antidepressants, a study that suggested that psychedelic researchers who admit to using the substances themselves are viewed as having less integrity than researchers who are psychedelically-naïve, a study that showed that people suffering from chronic suicidality were given quick relief by consuming regular oral doses of ketamine in a clinical setting, researchers found that the rapid antidepressant effects of ayahuasca are linked to changes in inflammatory biomarkers, and a neuroscience study indicated that LSD “frees” brain activity from anatomical constraints.

Although it hasn’t been published yet, one study that deserves mention is MindMed’s LSD neutralizer study, which is now underway and expected to be completed by the end of 2021.

In this study, MindMed is attempting to see if a 5-HT2A antagonist known as ketanserin is capable of safely and effectively stopping the effects of an LSD trip during LSD therapy sessions. This technique would be used if an active session got completely out of hand or simply became too uncomfortable for a client, and it’s come under a lot of scrutiny with many people arguing that it would be better for the full psychedelic trip to unfold than to halt it in its tracks.

While this study isn’t going to explore the efficacy of prematurely evacuating a psychedelic trip, at the very least we should know whether ketanserin is viable trip-killer within the year.

Announced Future Trials

Finishing up this month’s psychedelic research segment is a collection of clinical trials that will be conducted in the future. Algernon Pharmaceuticals will explore treating stroke survivors with DMT, PharmaTher wants to see if ketamine can help treat Parkinson’s disease, UC San Diego will explore using psilocybin to treat phantom limb pain for amputees, and Tryp Therapeutics will see if psilocybin can help people who suffer from over-eating disorders.

On a personal note, psilocybin helped me overcome some issues that I used to have with over-eating and so I’m interested to see how it fares in a clinical setting.

That’s a wrap on psychedelic research for this month. Even though it’s becoming increasingly tougher to keep up with it all, I’m more excited than ever before to see so much psychedelic science happening nowadays!

Denver Mushroom Dealer Avoids Prison

Next up is an update on a story from 2019 where the DEA raided a Denver man’s home because he was selling magic mushrooms in the city, which had just decriminalized psilocybin mushrooms a few months earlier. A federal judge decided against sending 29 year-old Kole Milner to prison, instead opting to sentence him to three years of probation and a fine of $5500.

This is actually a pretty encouraging turn of events, considering that just a few years ago the judge probably would’ve chosen the more punitive approach of imprisoning Miliner rather than slapping him with probation and a fine.

Just as a reminder, even though psilocybin mushrooms have been decriminalized in Denver, they haven’t been given the same sort of approval from the state of Colorado or the federal government, AND they haven’t been legalized, so while it’s ok at the municipal level to possess and use them, it’s not legal to sell them. Be smart and safe out there, y’all.

New Professional Psychedelic Associations

As psychedelics continue to become more mainstream, legal and medical professionals are banding together to create new psychedelic associations that will enable researchers and therapists to establish new standards of care and help attorneys understand the complexities of a constantly-changing drug policy landscape.

Some of the newest organizations include the Psychedelic Medicine Association; the American Society of Ketamine Physicians, Psychotherapists and Practitioners; the International Association of Psychedelic Nursing; Medicine Midwives, the Association of Entheogenic Practitioners; the Psychedelic Justice League; and the Psychedelic Bar Association.

If you’re a medical or legal professional then be sure to check out these new associations and get involved—your input could help shape the field of psychedelics for decades to come.

QAnon Shaman Turns Against Trump

This month there is a followup from January’s QAnon Shaman story, where self-described psychedelic guru Jake Angeli took part in the attempt to seize the U.S. Capitol and prevent the certification of President Joe Biden’s November election victory.

It turns out that there was at least one other psychedelic right-winger at the Capitol that day—William Watson, who was out on a $103,000 bond for LSD and cannabis trafficking charges, also took part in the insurrection.

But getting back to Angeli, although he was previously “horrendously smitten” with Trump, the QAnon Shaman eventually turned against the former President after not receiving a pardon that would have set him free. He even went as far as to offer to testify against Trump in his second impeachment trial.

It doesn’t look like Angeli got that chance though, as the trial came and went and I couldn’t find any confirmation that he was given the opportunity to air his testimony.

We may never get to hear impeachment testimony from the QAnon Shaman on how Trump duped him, Watson, and thousands of others into participating in the insurrection, but this whole saga is a great reminder that—contrary to popular belief—there are people of all political persuasions that use psychedelics, not just liberals.

Independent Investigation Finds Elijah McClain to Have Been a Victim of Police Violence

A young Black man named Elijah McClain died in August 2019 after he was stopped by Colorado police, put in a carotid hold, and injected with ketamine. The officers involved were never charged because prosecutors claimed to lack evidence that would prove the officers caused McClain’s death or that the force was unjustified.

However, an independent investigation found that the officers did not have a legal basis to stop, frisk, or restrain him. This means that McClain is no longer listed as a suspect but rather was a victim, which has brought a ton of relief to his mother, Sheneen McClain. Aurora, Colorado, which is the town where this event occurred, has announced that it will hire an independent police monitor after hearing results of the investigation. While this is only a small step toward justice, it’s still progress.

Meanwhile, officer’s involved with the suffocation death of a Black PCP user named Daniel Prude will not face charges, indicating that there is still a lot of police reform work to be done in this country.

Tim Leary’s Castalia Foundation Co-Opted by Conspiracy Theorists

In an interested turn of events, Timothy Leary’s Castalia Foundation has been co-opted by conspiracy theorists who have been sharing anti-mask content, praise for Donald Trump, and discussion about elite pedophile rings. It’s a crazy tale and definitely worth checking out.

Jamaica Is Facing a Marijuana Shortage

Cannabis farmers in Jamaica are struggling as the country is currently running low on ganja. An extended drought following heavy rains, an increase in local consumption, and less marijuana farmers have caused the worst shortage that the island has ever seen. It’s gotten so bad that even tourists have noticed, posting on travel websites about difficulties finding some grass to imbibe. Hopefully this year’s crop will fare better and Jamaica can get back to being one of the best countries for cannabis.

That’s all for this month’s update. Remember to always test and weigh your drugs and until next time—keep thinking wilder.

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this month’s update, please consider helping out by becoming a patron, making a one-time donation, or sharing this post with a friend. Thank you for your support.

This Month in Psychedelics - January 2021

We’re only one month into the new year but it’s safe to say that January is already the craziest month of 2021. And judging from last year, it’s pretty likely that this trend will continue well on into the rest of the year, so we need to properly set our expectations, buckle our seat belts, and enjoy the ride as much as we possibly can.

In this month’s recap we’ll be taking a look at the biggest psychedelic news stories that took place, including a cautionary tale about magic mushrooms, the psychedelic guru who stormed the U.S. Capitol, a city in Massachusetts that decriminalized natural psychedelics, a new psilocybin church in Salt Lake City, and much more.

Here is a slimmed-down video recap version that is available for those who prefer an easier-to-digest option:

There’s a lot to get through this month, so without further ado, let’s jump into the news:

Magic Mushrooms Grew in a Man’s Veins After He Injected Psilocybin Mushroom Tea

If you’ve ever thought about injecting magic mushrooms into your veins, you might want to give up on that idea after finding out what happened to a man who did just that.

A new case report published this month shared a frightening story about an opioid user who attempted to self-medicate his depression and drug dependence by injecting homemade mushroom tea into his body. The experiment caused a life-threatening infection that prompted psilocybin to grow inside of him and resulted in a month-long hospital stay.

Fortunately he survived, but this should serve as a cautionary tale for others to avoid this route of administration for magic mushrooms. After all, simply eating them or drinking mushroom tea has already stood the test of time for psychonauts all around the world.

A Self-Proclaimed Psychedelic Guru Known as the “QAnon Shaman” Stormed the Capitol

The United States underwent a traumatic event on January 6th when a diverse group of insurrectionists stormed the Capitol in an attempt to prevent the certification of the 2020 presidential election, resulting in five deaths and the evacuation of Congress.

Among them was a self-appointed psychedelic guru who goes by the name “QAnon Shaman.”

Advocating for psychedelic shamanism to heal the world while also taking part in a violent act, Jake Angeli is a living example of the wide spectrum of psychedelic users that includes not only left-leaning hippies but also alt-right conspiracy theorists.

Angeli has a long strange history in the psychedelic community, offering courses and consultations on woo-woo topics like ascension and ESP, protesting against the Black Lives Matter movement, and supporting conspiracy theories like the idea that COVID-19 is a hoax and the far right QAnon hogwash.

If you’re interested in learning more about the mysterious symbols tattooed on Angeli’s chest, be sure to check out Psymposia’s guide explaining what each one means in context.

Somerville, Massachusetts Decriminalized Natural Psychedelics

Somerville, Massachusetts hopped on the psychedelic policy reform bandwagon by decriminalizing natural psychedelics like psilocybin mushrooms, ayahuasca, and iboga.

A coalition including Bay Staters for Natural Medicine and Decriminalize Nature Massachusetts presented the legislation to the Somerville City Council which unanimously voted 9-0 to approve the decriminalization bill.

The resolution will prompt the city’s legal department to work with community activists to finalize an ordinance and asks the local police and district attorney to deprioritize the enforcement of use and possession charges.

A Former Mormon Politician Started A Psilocybin Church Called “The Divine Assembly”

A former Latter-day Saint politician with some impressive cajones formed a psilocybin church in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dubbed “The Divine Assembly”, the church serves magic mushrooms as a sacrament that enables its members to commune with the divine.

Since The Divine Assembly provides an illicit substance to its congregation, the church’s faith may eventually be tested in court to see if its members have a “sincerely-held religious belief” as required by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act if they want to continue using psychedelics as a religious group.

Until then, the church plans to continue serving its psilocybin sacrament without the federal government’s blessing.

Will Marijuana Be Legalized This Year?

Now that there is a Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate, stoners all over the country are asking whether we’ll see weed get legalized this year. Combined with Joe Biden’s recent presidential victory, the new Congress means that federal cannabis reform might finally be a possibility within the next two years.

When it comes to statewide reforms, several states have the potential to legalize cannabis this year: Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Wisconsin. And to sweeten the pot, Alabama, Kentucky, and South Carolina might legalize medical marijuana.

It’s too early to tell how many of these reform efforts will succeed, but one thing’s for sure—it’s shaping up to be a progressive year for cannabis policy.

New Psychedelic Reform Group Sets Its Sights on Federal Decriminalization

A new psychedelic reform group known as the Plant Medicine Coalition has set its sights on lobbying Congress to federally decriminalize natural psychedelic medicines. The group is a women-led, non-profit, grassroots advocacy organization, showing that women are leading the charge in this area of drug policy reform.

The Plant Medicine Coalition’s leader also founded the campaign that got psychedelic decriminalization passed in Washington, D.C. during last November’s election, so they are certainly experienced enough to make significant waves toward decriminalizing natural psychedelics across the United States.

Florida and Hawaii Could Legalize Psilocybin Therapy

A lawmaker in Florida is planning to introduce a psilocybin therapy legalization bill that could put the state on the map as the first in the Southeast—and the first red state—to approve a non-cannabis-related psychedelic reform bill. The legislation is modeled after the recently-approved voter initiative that passed in Oregon during last November’s election, so it would not allow recreational users to possess or consume magic mushrooms but would instead set up a legal framework for psilocybin therapy.

Hawaii's Senate is one step ahead of Florida because it already filed a new bill that would establish designated treatment centers and deschedule the psychedelic from the state's list of Schedule I controlled substances.

Meanwhile, recreational users in Colorado might have the option to trip on shrooms from the comfort of their own home in the near future. Kevin Matthews, who led Decriminalize Denver’s successful 2019 campaign to decriminalize psilocybin in the city, is beginning work on an effort to decriminalize magic mushrooms all across Colorado.

The Third (and Likely Final) Season of Hamilton's Pharmacopeia Is Out

Fans of the show Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia, where host Hamilton Morris explores the history, chemistry, and social impact of psychoactive substances, have a reason to rejoice because the third season of the popular docuseries is out now.

The new season’s reception has been favorable, with the first four episodes that have been released so far focusing on 5-MeO-DMT, methamphetamine, Xenon, and the extraordinary alkaloids of Africa. This is likely to be the show’s final season, so be sure to soak it all up while you can.

Mount Sinai Launched a New Center for Psychedelic Research

There still aren’t a whole lot of centers that are dedicated to researching psychedelics in the world, but a new one opened up this month. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai launched a new center that is going to explore using psychedelics for PTSD, depression, anxiety, and other stress-related conditions.

And Mount Sinai isn’t wasting any time—they’ve already published a study that found that repeated IV injections of ketamine significantly reduced the severity of symptoms in people with chronic PTSD.

Hopefully we’ll eventually get to a point where there are such a plethora of psychedelic research centers that it’s not big news when a new one opens, but until that happens I’m going to keep highlighting new ones in these updates.

Additional Top Stories

• Iceland is considering decriminalizing all drugs.

• UFC and Johns Hopkins to study using psychedelics to help fighters’ brains heal.

• Lawmakers and medical organizations in South Dakota, Montana, and Mississippi are trying to overturn voter-approved cannabis policy reforms.

• A new method capable of analyzing drug residue found in tooth tartar could uncover the drug habits of ancient people.

• The mayor of Amsterdam is trying to ban tourists from the city’s famous coffeeshops.

• A new study found that classical music may not be as superior for psychedelic therapy as was once thought.

• Activists in Washington, D.C. and a Michigan dispensary are giving out free cannabis to encourage people to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

That’s all for this month’s update. Remember to always test and weigh your drugs and until next time—keep thinking wilder.

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this month’s update, please consider helping out by becoming a patron, making a one-time donation, or sharing this post with a friend. Thank you for your support.

This Month in Psychedelics - December 2020

In this month’s recap we’ll go over the latest psychedelic news from December 2020. There are updates on psychedelic policy reform, research, therapy, activism, and more.

Here is a slimmed-down video recap version that is available for those who prefer an easier-to-digest option:

There’s a lot to get through this month, so without further ado, let’s jump into the news:

U.S. House of Representatives Voted to Federally Legalize Marijuana

American cannabis lovers were handed a huge reason to celebrate this month when the House of Representatives approved a federal marijuana legalization bill. However, while this bill passed in the House, it is not expected to pass in the Senate, so it’ll probably be a little while longer before we can use cannabis without facing any legal penalties at the federal level. A few days after the House approved the legalization bill, it also passed a marijuana research bill, which was then approved one week later by the Senate.

In other drug policy reform news, the United Nations reclassified cannabis as a less dangerous drug (which could clear the way for an expansion of marijuana research and medical use), Mexico’s Supreme Court once again extended the deadline to legalize cannabis, Ireland unexpectedly decriminalized cannabis, and a new bill to decriminalize MDMA and other drugs was introduced in Australia.

New Hampshire Supreme Court ApproveD Religious Use of Magic Mushrooms

Following up on a court case from 2018, the New Hampshire Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of establishing a religious freedom to use psilocybin mushrooms in the state.


While this decision only applies to one specific case where a man in the Oklevueha Native American Church was charged with possession, it does set a legal precedent that could be used in other cases involving the religious use of psychedelics.

Pilot Trial for MDMA-Assisted Couples Therapy

A first-of-its-kind psychedelic research study took a look at the safety and efficacy of a new form of MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of PTSD.

Unlike previous studies that only focused on treating individuals suffering from PTSD, this study explored the potential of using MDMA couples therapy where one of the partners has a pre-existing PTSD diagnosis. The results were far from conclusive, as this was just a preliminary study, but the findings were encouraging. The psychedelic-assisted treatment option was found to be as effective or better than traditional psychotherapy alone.

Psychedelic Activist Sheri Eckert Passed Away

Unfortunately the psychedelic community lost one of its most beloved members as activist Sheri Eckert unexpectedly passed away.

Sheri was one of the founders of the Oregon Psilocybin Society, which helped pass legislation in November that legalized psilocybin therapy under Oregon state law. In addition to fighting for legal psilocybin therapy, she was also a practicing therapist herself.

Her husband is requesting that those who would like to show their condolences can donate to the charity that they co-founded together.

United Kingdom Will Trial DMT for Depression

When you think about the mind-blowing psychedelic drug dimethyltriptamine, you probably don’t think of it as a form of therapy but rather as a complete visual and experiential mindfuck. However, regulators in the United Kingdom approved a clinical trial that will explore using DMT to treat depression. The company behind the study, Small Pharma, is hoping to get started in January and the treatment model will be similar the the ones used in previous psilocybin therapy studies.

The theory is that since ayahuasca, which contains DMT, has been found to be effective at treating depression, that perhaps straight-up DMT will be even better because it wouldn’t require as much time to conduct the active sessions.

I have doubts about DMT being more effective at treating mental health issues like depression than psychedelics with a longer duration, like psilocybin mushrooms and ayahuasca, but it will be interesting nonetheless to see what comes of this study.

U.S. Marines Started Random LSD Testing

LSD was added to the list of drugs that are randomly tested for at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune because of an increase in marines and sailors that have been using the drug.

Before now, marines were only screened for LSD use if there was probable cause, but after a series of drug-related incidents involving military personnel over the last few years, the second marine division at Camp Lejeune will now start including LSD in its random drug testing protocol.

Additional Top Stories

• A new non-psychedelic compound related to ibogaine may be effective at treating addiction and depression.

• Mexico reclaimed its sovereignty from the United States DEA.

• President Trump is reportedly considering granting clemency to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the dark web marketplace known as Silk Road.

• America’s longest-serving cannabis prisoner was freed after being behind bars for 31 years.

• The NBA announced that it will not test its players for marijuana use next season.

That’s all for this month’s update. Remember to always test and weigh your drugs and until next time—keep thinking wilder.

Think Wilder is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this month’s update, please consider helping out by becoming a patron, making a one-time donation, or sharing this post with a friend. Thank you for your support.