🫠 This Week in Psychedelics

Welcome to Tricycle Day. We’re the psychedelics newsletter that’s prepared for the next global pandemic, whenever it comes. Already secured a lifetime supply of toilet paper. Hit us up if you need a roll. 🤝

Here’s what we got this week.

• Psychedelics for Long COVID 🦠

• The first clinic for difficult psychedelic experiences 🏥

• Sweeping study throws cold water on Spravato 👃

• Get your psychedelic policy q’s answered 💬

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MICRODOSES

🔬 Research

Headbangers: Data show psilocybin is effective for repetitive head injury, a condition with no approved treatments.
Only way out is through: The ability to work through shame and guilt during a psilocybin journey predicts positive outcomes.
Heart of the matter: Researchers break the cardiovascular risks of classic psychedelics into three categories.
On the frontlines: This survey reveals the practices and priorities of underground mushroom facilitators.
I don’t want no shrubs: UC Davis researchers have successfully synthesized ibogaine.
Eureka! Participate in this UCSF study on the relationship between psychedelics and creativity.

🏛️ Policy

Back again: Arizona lawmakers reintroduced a bill to regulate psilocybin therapy.
New England shuffle: A Connecticut bill would decriminalize psilocybin, while a New Hampshire bill goes as far as legalizing adult possession and use.
Control is an illusion, anyway: Rhode Island lawmakers want to remove psilocybin from the state’s controlled substances list.
Root cause: A WA bill would direct the University of Washington to run a study on ibogaine-assisted therapy for opioid use disorder.
Compass’s fingerprints: Kansas lawmakers have introduced a bill that would give crystalline polymorph psilocybin special treatment.

📈 Business

Beat the market: PSIL is the best performing ETF of 2025 so far.
Every bit counts: Algernon raised $170k from the CRO it tapped to run its DMT stroke trial.
Now we’re talking: GH Research is raising $150 million through a public offering.
Soap opera: A wrongful death lawsuit filed against Dr. Bronner’s alleges the company fostered a risky drug culture.

🫠 Just for fun

I’m a cool mom: More parents are using drugs, including psychedelics.
X-mush: A mycologist developed a mutant, cloud-like magic mushroom.
Massive ‘gaines: Ibogaine is having a moment.
All hail the emperor: Colorado lawmakers are moving to declare an official state mushroom.
Meme of the week: When you steep your mushrooms into a tea…

THE PEAK EXPERIENCE

So long, Long COVID

In December, Oxford University Press named “brain rot” its Word of the Year. Never mind that that’s two words. Sign of the times, I guess?

As entertaining as it is to see an elite institution pander to Tik Tok doomscrollers, we’re gonna focus on a related term instead: brain fog.

Not familiar? Try asking someone with Long COVID, a condition that affects 400 million people worldwide, with no obvious cure.

Now here’s the good news. Scientists think they know what causes Long COVID, and in a new paper, they say we should be looking at psychedelics as a possible treatment.

It all comes down to serotonin. While most people know serotonin as the happy brain chemical, 95% of our body's supply actually lives in our gut and blood platelets, where it helps regulate everything from immunity to inflammation. And COVID wreaks havoc on serotonin in all the places.

According to the researchers, here's how psychedelics might help fix the damage.

• 🔋 Energy boost: They could restore serotonin levels that COVID knocked out of whack, in both the brain and body systems.

• 🧠 Brain repair: They promote neuroplasticity, which could bring back cognitive function and lost sense of smell.

• 🛡 Immune reboot: Their anti-inflammatory effects might calm overactive immune responses.

• 😮‍💨 Lasting relief: Unlike other treatments, the benefits could stick around after you stop taking them.

Now, we should mention this is mostly theoretical. So far, there have only been a few case reports in medical literature. But the science makes sense, especially since SSRIs (which also work on serotonin) are already showing promise for Long COVID.

So if some sigma researchers with W rizz want to follow up with some clinical studies, that would be based. And that's not the brain rot talking. 🫠

AFTERGLOW

Rehab for bad trips

Somewhere in Topanga, there’s a dude with an oversized fedora whispering, “there are no bad trips… just challenging experiences.” Call ‘em whatever you like, but the truth is it is possible to bite off more than you (or your psyche) can chew. And in those moments, now Johns Hopkins has your back. The world's largest psychedelic research center just launched the first clinic for people struggling after difficult journeys.

Dr. Azin Bekhrad, who leads the new program, isn't stopping at the usual post-trip anxiety. She’s also tackling rarer issues like dissociation, HPPD, and even full-blown psychosis. Of course, helping patients is the priority. But the long-term vision is to gather enough data to establish standards of care, since right now most doctors are just winging it.

That’s a problem, considering psychedelic use is surging and still mostly underground. When things go sideways, too many people are misdiagnosed or given inappropriate meds by unprepared docs. So even though the Hopkins clinic operates outside insurance networks, it's still a welcome step toward legitimizing psychedelic aftercare. Now there’s a safety net when incense and integration circles won’t cut it.

Don’t hate, dissociate

Ketamine’s come under fire lately, and—trigger warning—this research may fan the flames. A new meta-analysis in the American Journal of Psychiatry looked at 87 studies of Spravato (that's J&J's blockbuster esketamine nasal spray) and found that its effects on treatment-resistant depression were, shall we say, underwhelming?

The numbers tell an awkward story. When used alongside antidepressants, esketamine was about as effective as adding an antipsychotic into the mix. In other words, meh. Even more deflating, it didn't seem to move the needle on suicidality, which is pretty much the whole reason it got fast-tracked through FDA approval in the first place.

Now before the ketamine clinics start sending us hate mail, let's be clear. This doesn't mean ketamine is useless. For instance, there’s plenty of evidence that ketamine-assisted psychotherapy provides real, lasting benefits. (We’re still holding out for a study comparing KAP vs drug alone, tho.) Even so, we could probably afford to right-size our expectations. Otherwise it’ll be hype, not data, that burns the whole thing to the ground.

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.