🫠 This Week in Psychedelics

Welcome to Tricycle Day. It’s almost Thanksgiving, so today we’re giving you an all-out feast of psychedelic news. (We don’t put raisins in our stuffing, either.) Grateful for you, Cyclists! 🦃

Here’s what we got this week.

• Doctors flunk the psychedelic literacy test 🥴

• Psychedelic pharma cos join forces 🤝

• Declassified: Nazi psychedelic experiments 👀

• Honor Ram Dass with tea and Trevor Hall 🎶

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MICRODOSES

🔬 Research

Bad trip insurance: This study reviewed what works (and what doesn’t) for resolving challenging psychedelic experiences.
Clinical debut: We have our first-in-human study of 3-MMC.
Thrive on the vine: Ayahuasca use is associated with better mental health, even for individuals with a history of mental illness.
Kicking butts: Psychedelics may help people quit smoking cigarettes.
Less is more? Johns Hopkins is seeking volunteers for a psilocybin microdosing study.

🏛️ Policy

Second thoughts: RFK’s nomination to lead HHS has been controversial. Some people are changing their minds.
Georgia on our minds: Georgia senators are recommending the state put $5 million toward psychedelic research.
Access denied: Virginia lawmakers killed a bill that could have helped veterans access psychedelics.
New year, new playbook: Both Colorado and Oregon finalized 2025 rules for their respective state-regulated psychedelic programs.
Green light: After a 3 year hold, the FDA finally cleared MAPS to run a Phase 2 clinical trial of smoked cannabis to treat PTSD in veterans.

📈 Business

Bold move: The Canadian psychedelic dispensary that has been raided more times than we can count has moved sales online.
Coins for a cause: PsyDAO raised $2 million for psychedelic science by selling $PSY crypto tokens.
Here we go again: Seven tons of fake, deceptively labeled psychedelic chocolate were just confiscated by authorities.
Compound claims: Lobe Sciences and Alera Pharma secured a patent for “Conjugated Psilocin.”
Press pass: UC Berkeley is granting $115,000 to journalists and social media creators this year, and applications are open.

🫠 Just for fun

What could go wrong? People are bing-eating shrooms live on social media.
Just what we needed: Austin is getting a psychedelic dream-inspired bathhouse.
Get these folks a Tony: New Jersey advocates put on a play to convince public officials to legalize psychedelic therapy.
Talk the talk: Psychedelic Science 2025 speaker submissions are open until December 13.
Meme of the week: When the mushrooms reveal who’s been holding you back…

THE PEAK EXPERIENCE

Doctors think they know psychedelics (they don't)

You know that one friend who got sucked into therapy Tik Tok and suddenly became an expert on narcissism and boundaries?

Turns out doctors might have the same issue with psychedelics. A new Johns Hopkins study reveals a massive gap between how much physicians and nurses think they know and what they actually understand. Hello, Dunning-Kruger effect.

Researchers surveyed 879 U.S. healthcare professionals anonymously. Here's what they found.

• 😏 High confidence: On average, healthcare workers rated their knowledge of psilocybin 4 out of 5 and MDMA 3 out of 5.

• 🫢 Low scores: Only 5.5% could answer three basic questions about psilocybin correctly.

• 😬 Even worse: Just 1.1% got all the MDMA questions right. 35% got all three wrong!

• 🧐 Source? Most get their info from popular media, not medical literature.

Despite this knowledge gap, enthusiasm runs high. Survey respondents rated psilocybin 4.67/5 and MDMA 4.25/5 for "therapeutic promise."

Their biggest concern? Lack of trained providers (no kidding). At least they want their education from academic centers and experienced clinicians, not pharmaceutical companies. (Only 8% trust Big Pharma for psychedelic info.)

The irony here is painful. The same professionals who admit we need better trained providers don't realize how much training they need themselves.

Maybe it’s time we all admitted we have more to learn. Even especially the experts. 🫠

AFTERGLOW

PhRMA for Psychedelics?

A new trade group has entered the chat. The Association for Prescription Psychedelics (APP) launched this week, bringing together heavy hitters like Compass Pathways, Lykos Therapeutics, and MindMed to push for integrating psychedelic medicine into mainstream healthcare. Consider this Big Psychedelic's pre-approval preparation.

The timing doesn’t seem random. With a psychedelics caucus in Congress, national defense dollars funding trials, and rumblings of support from Trump's inner circle, psychedelic pharma execs see their window opening. APP says now’s the time to fight for patient access. And their strategy? “Fostering strong collaboration between industry, academia, health care professionals, and policymakers.” Sounds like someone wants a seat at the regulatory table.

Now before you cry corporate capture, note that APP's scientific advisors include researchers from Johns Hopkins, UCSF, and Cleveland Clinic. Even B.More, the nonprofit developing psilocybin for alcohol use disorder, is in the mix. But let's be real—the capitalists fully intend to turn these promising compounds into profitable prescriptions. The revolution *will* be monetized.

Bad trip down memory lane

The U.S. government has some ‘splaining to do. A new Senate bill aims to restore benefits for thousands of Army veterans who were secretly dosed with psychedelics by Nazi scientists between 1948 and 1975. Yes, you read that right—the government literally hired Hitler's chemists to experiment on American soldiers.

At Maryland's Edgewood Arsenal, more than 7,000 service members were exposed to psychedelics, nerve agents, and mustard gas as part of classified chemical warfare testing. To add insult to injury, they were sworn to secrecy under threat of court-martial. That oath prevented many from claiming VA benefits, since they couldn't discuss their conditions until the Pentagon released them from their silence in 2006.

Senator Richard Blumenthal's OATH Act would finally make things right. It’s poetic, really. Just as the DOD begins funding legitimate psychedelic research for PTSD, Congress has to clean up the mess from the last time the military played with psychedelics. Sheesh, let’s hope this time they ask for consent.

CYCLISTS’ PICKS

UNTIL NEXT TIME

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DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. The use, possession, and distribution of psychedelic drugs are illegal in most countries and may result in criminal prosecution.