🫠 Psychonaut POV

Welcome to Tricycle Day. We’re the psychedelics newsletter that can’t be accused of mansplaining. See? Our mascot is a woman with a giant mushroom for a head. Immunity granted; we don’t make the rules. 🤷

April Pride dove into psychedelics after hitting it big as a cannabis entrepreneur. For all the categories' differences, April saw the same old problem rear its ugly head—the industry loves to ignore women. So she’s running it back and creating a safe space for the ladies once again.

We spoke to April about how psychedelics are fundamentally different from cannabis, why women deserve their own psychedelic community, and what’s holding up the research on psychedelics and women’s health.

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You had a successful run as a cannabis entrepreneur before pivoting to psychedelics. What prompted the transition?

Consumer protection was and is driving it. In early 2021, I noticed cannabis influencers on Instagram talking about psilocybin. As someone who'd been educating consumers on best practices for using cannabis, especially for women's health, I realized we needed to make sure all the available evidence on using psilocybin and other psychedelics was front and center. We actually had more research in the psychedelic space than in cannabis.

When I sold my business to the world's largest cannabis company, it was my first time working for a corporation. I was disappointed to see how consumer care took a backseat to quarterly earnings. As a small business, you can really focus on the consumer, but that changes in a big corporation. So yes, I'm coming at this from a harm reduction angle.

My focus has always been on women's health. We still don't have proper research on why certain cannabis strains provide relief for conditions like endometriosis, or what we need to know about terpenes and CBD to THC ratios. Women are spending up to $200 before finding the right product. It seems like a no-brainer for larger companies to invest in creating products that women really need. That's why education is so critical in emerging markets like psychedelics. People don't know what to buy or how to use it safely. You have to start by ensuring they're having safe experiences.

Plenty of people see psychedelics as “the next cannabis,” but you disagree. Why?

I see cannabis and psychedelics differently. Cannabis helps relieve symptoms we're experiencing, both physical and emotional. Psychedelics, on the other hand, really deal with the core of what may be causing those symptoms.

Cannabis was sold as a wellness product but is now being distributed like alcohol, while psychedelics will likely go through the pharma model. The problem is, therapy doesn't really fit into the pharmaceutical medication dispensing system. We have evidence showing that combining the medicine with therapy is where people have optimal outcomes. So here we go again, making promises to consumers when really all we want is for them to buy the drug.

Cannabis has become a commodity now. The products on dispensary shelves are just getting higher and higher in THC content because that's what people are buying. With psychedelics, it feels like we're once again taking something nature got perfect and recreating it so pharmaceutical companies can patent and profit from it. They're stripping out the therapy component, which is where people are really having their best outcomes. When you try to fit these substances into our capitalist system, it often ends up removing the components that make them beneficial for humans in the first place.

That's why I'm grateful the underground psychedelic sector is something people are proud to protect and invest in. They're trying to preserve best practices crafted over millennia. We need both above-ground and underground paths, or not everyone's going to get what they need from the medicine.

Your cannabis brand, Van der Pop, stood out in a crowded market by focusing on women and their experiences. Do you see a similar opportunity in the psychedelics space today?

Yes, I do. In fact, our platform recently pivoted to focus on women for that very reason. We know that female hormones impact how women experience medications, including psychedelics.

Research shows that estrogen interacts with serotonin receptors, and where a woman is in her cycle can affect her psychedelic experience. During ovulation, hormones are optimal, potentially setting you up for a more positive macrodose experience. Conversely, at other times in the cycle, hormones might not create the ideal set and setting. That’s why in some indigenous cultures, women don't take medicine during their moon time. But we're just starting to have these conversations.

Women are twice as likely to suffer from anxiety and depression—conditions for which psychedelic medicine shows promise. Yet most of the psychedelic clinical trials have involved men, not women. Meanwhile, we're seeing alarming trends in women being prescribed benzos by GPs without mental health training, and skyrocketing rates of alcohol consumption among women, especially post-pandemic.

There's still a lot of stigma around alternative ways for women to address core issues, whether related to trauma, depression, or anxiety. We need to give women permission to make unorthodox choices for their well-being. Women deserve to be educated about these factors before they engage with psychedelics. One bad experience, possibly due to poor timing with their cycle, could deter a woman from ever trying again. And that's a missed opportunity for potential healing.

Can you share your vision for SetSet? What unique value are you trying to bring to psychedelic education and integration?

Our vision for SetSet is to provide a members-only space where women can come together and share their best practices around psychedelics. We've partnered with Kendra Bloom, a licensed therapist, as our director of programming to ensure our educational content is evidence based. We're also inviting providers to join the community, educate themselves, and share insights from their patients.

The idea stems from research showing that women are more likely to speak up and engage in all-female environments. Many women exploring psychedelics for personal reasons might not feel comfortable discussing their experiences on platforms where men are present. I’ve seen first hand that while some companies prioritize women's health, they often lack women's voices in programming and messaging. Men are still driving the conversation about women's health in many cases.

I'm not passionate about psychedelics per se; I'm passionate about women's health. Psychedelics, like cannabis, can be a tool to help women feel better when used responsibly. I want to ensure this conversation doesn't get lost in the broader psychedelic discourse.

After you exited Van der Pop for an undisclosed sum, your motivations as an entrepreneur likely shifted. So what’s driving you now?

After I sold Van der Pop for a 28x return, I quickly turned around and invested a third of what I made in other women's visions, particularly in cannabis and women's health. These areas don't get a lot of funding, so I became an angel investor. It's tough, though. Even very capable CEOs making good choices face challenges due to market context.

With SetSet, my motivation is to make enough money to fund the women's research in cannabis and psychedelics that nobody else is doing. That's what I'm truly passionate about. I was shocked that, apart from a few notable exceptions, the billions created in cannabis never led to funding for women's medical research.

Our membership costs are modest. It's $50 a month for a three-month membership. The business should allow me to have a nice life, but I don't need extravagance. I’m inspired by women like Tory Burch, whose company funds her philanthropy to help young women become entrepreneurs. Whether SetSet goes public or exits to a pharmaceutical company, the end goal is to use those funds to start a nonprofit and do the research. Medical research is very expensive, so I'm aiming for something big.

There are enough researchers now who care about women's health, more than even five years ago. I see it in psychedelics, too—researchers prioritizing women's mental health, menopause, postpartum depression, etc. The missing link is always money. We need people with capital to choose to fund it, and that's the gap I want to fill.

Want more from April?

Subscribe to SetSet’s mailing list to get a free psychedelic playlist and weekly trip tips for women.

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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.