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This Year in Psychedelics - 2021

Before we get into this recap of the biggest psychedelic news stories from 2021, I’d like to address the fact that this blog post is coming out a month late. Normally I strive to publish my yearly recaps on New Year’s Eve, but things have been really hectic on my end lately and I’ve been barely keeping up with putting out the weekly link roundups, much less creating monthly and yearly recaps or other types of content.

So I apologize for not getting this out into the world sooner. I’ve started to realize that I bit off way more than I can chew over the last year and fell behind on things here at Think Wilder. Here’s hoping 2022 will be a little more focused so I can meet my deadlines and get my work out in a timely manner for y’all to enjoy!

Just like last month’s recap, there is no video recap of this year’s psychedelic news recap up on YouTube. I’ll have another update about some changes coming to my YouTube channel that should hopefully be out later this week on my channel, so make sure you subscribe there if you’d like to be informed about things on that front.

Moving on to the main show, there was a ton of huge news in 2021. Without further ado, let’s jump into the news.

Policy

Wins

Nine U.S. cities decriminalized psychedelics:

When it comes to cannabis policies there were several successes at the state level, even though attempts to change things at the federal level were unsuccessful. Four states legalized weed:

In addition, Alabama legalized medical marijuana and New Jersey and Louisiana decriminalized cannabis.

Taking things a bit further, Baltimore, MD and Scotland decriminalized the use of all drugs.

The governors of Connecticut and Texas signed legislation that will enable the states to study the therapeutic potential of psychedelics. And New Zealand legalized drug checking, becoming the world’s first country to do so.

Industry

One of the biggest stories in the psychedelic industry involved the fight over patenting various aspects involving psychedelics. The one that probably stirred up the most discontent was when COMPASS Pathways submitted a patent application that attempted to claim the right to common, preexisting psychedelic therapy techniques. This prompted a discussion about patents in psychedelia, with many people wondering if companies should own the future of the field. COMPASS Pathways has five U.S. patents and a total of ten worldwide, so they are quickly claiming rights to a lot of intellectual property in the space. But not without a fight—last month a non-profit known as Freedom to Operate submitted a new legal filing that argues against COMPASS Pathways’ patent on its form of synthetic psilocybin based on the idea that it is not a novel invention. The results from this case will set a precedent for not just COMPASS Pathways but for other psychedelic companies as well.

Psychedelic companies started making waves on the stock markets around the world, with five companies joining the Nasdaq (Mindmed, atai Life Sciences, Field Trip Health, Enveric Biosciences, and Bright Minds Biosciences) and Cybin joining the New York Stock Exchange.

Psychedelic companies secured a historic amount of funding, estimated at a cool $2 billion.

A few other interesting stories in the realm of psychedelic industry from 2021:

Research

Published Studies

Several studies came out:

Future Studies

Looking ahead:

  • A study looking to treat tobacco addiction with psilocybin will receive federal funding

  • The NIH granted Yale nearly $200k to fund the studying of psilocybin for depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder

  • The Australian government earmarked $15 million for psychedelic research

  • The DEA has proposed a dramatic increase in the production of cannabis and psychedelics for research in 2022

Research Centers

A record-breaking number of psychedelic research centers were announced or opened:

In addition to these new psychedelic research centers, Harvard Law School’s Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation will contribute to the effort to create evidence-based laws and policies involving psychedelics.

Harm Reduction

The FDA and CDC issued warnings to consumers about potential risks involving delta-8 THC, a relatively new psychoactive cannabinoid that has grown in popularity due to its widespread legality but remains essentially unregulated at this time. Apparently there has been a significant increase in reported adverse health effects from people using this drug.

However, before you go ahead and toss any of these products you may already own out of the window, it may be helpful to know that it’s not like people are getting poisoned. In fact, it’s far more likely that they are unintentionally getting high after using delta-8 THC because of misunderstandings, bad labeling, and a lack of experience.

The Fireside Project has been helping people process psychedelic experiences via its free peer support phone line since it launched last April, but the organization took things to the next level by releasing a psychedelic peer support app. Now psychonauts in need of support can find help on either the phone or via chat, which may be helpful for people who prefer one form of communication over another.

Drug checking is an essential practice for any responsible psychonaut, and new technologies are coming out that will ensure more innovative and accurate results than ever before. The popular harm reduction organization known as DanceSafe released a new ketamine test kit (called the Morris reagent) that was engineered to identify the difference between ketamine and common analogues like DCK and 2FDCK. And a startup called Miraculix took things one step further by creating rapid at-home test kits that can assess the potency of various psychoactive drugs, including MDMA, LSD, and psilocybin.

Harm reductionists have yet another tool that can be used to help psychonauts use drugs as safely as possible; a new app called Pill-iD lets users scan pills to see what they contain.

However, it’s not a perfect option because rather than find out what’s actually inside a pill, the app instead uses machine learning to cross-check the user’s image against a large database of scanned pills to provide details about what drug is actually contained within, the risk level from taking it, and any potential side effects.

So while it’s not advisable to rely solely on this new app to find out what’s inside your pill, it could help inform naïve users that there is a possibility they might have bought an adulterated drug. As I’ve tried to hammer home over and over again, it’s always advisable to use a reagent test kit to further rule out the possibility that your pills contain unwanted drugs and to properly weigh your substances before you take them.

Miscellaneous

What a year! Tons of new psychedelic research studies, a streak of drug policy reform wins, the growing psychedelic industry, and several important developments in psychedelic culture… last year was certainly a lot to take in.

Now that you’ve read my recap of the biggest psychedelic news from 2021, I’d like to recommend the following highlights from other publications that you might enjoy:

And lastly, I will leave you with the links to the annual psychedelic news recaps I’ve published over the last six years. I hope you have a wonderful 2022 and make sure you subscribe to my monthly newsletter to keep up-to-date with all the latest psychedelic news.

Previous Years in Psychedelics

That’s all for this year’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 year’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 - June 2021

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June was another busy month for the world of psychedelics. In this post we’re going to cover a bunch of interesting stuff, including an LSD shop operating legally in Berlin, an update on an ayahuasca church’s attempt to get a religious exemption to use the psychedelic drug in America, an app that lets users scan their pills to see what they contain, 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

Wins

There were a few more drug policy reform wins this month. Perhaps most impressively, after several years, Mexico’s Supreme Court finally struck down marijuana prohibition in the country after its lawmakers failed to do so. This means that possessing and using cannabis in Mexico will be legal, but establishing a regulated market will take some time.

In the United States, New Mexico’s cannabis legalization law went into effect, making limited possession and cultivation of marijuana legal for adults 21 and over.

Connecticut’s governor signed two bills: one that will prompt the state to study the therapeutic potential of psilocybin mushrooms and another that will enable Connecticut to become the 18th state to legalize cannabis for adults.

Texas’ governor let a bill go through (without signing it) that will require the state to study the therapeutic potential of psychedelics for military veterans.

California’s Senate approved a bill that would decriminalize psychedelics by removing criminal penalties for possessing or sharing this class of drugs, although it still has a few more steps to go before it can be enacted into law.

Rounding out this month’s drug policy wins, Nevada’s governor signed a bill into law that regulates cannabis consumption lounges and Louisiana’s governor signed a marijuana decriminalization bill into law.

Losses

Not everything went smoothly, however. After a four-year wait, the DEA has finally denied a request for religious exemption that was submitted back in 2017 by an ayahuasca church known as Soul Quest. The church has been offering ayahuasca ceremonies in the United States for many years even though it had not previously been given a religious exemption to do so. The DEA’s investigation uncovered concerns about Soul Quest’s safety and security protocols and procedures and the church’s sincerity of religious belief was also questioned.

But the fight isn’t over yet, as there is still a chance that the matter could still be resolved in court. This particular case will be important for the future because it will set a precedent for other churches and religions to use other psychedelics as well, so it’s worth keeping your eyes on this one.

Meanwhile, Delaware’s attempt to legalize cannabis in the state has died for this session, following disagreements regarding social equity initiatives involving the bill.

Future

Looking to the future, a federal drug decriminalization measure was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. Although it’s unlikely to pass at this time, it’s a sign that our society has come quite a long way when it comes to loosening up its approach to drug policy.

Industry

This next one is quite a doozy. It turns out that Berlin now has an above-ground LSD shop run by one of Donald Trump’s relatives, thanks to a loophole in the law.

Well, kind of… technically the store is selling an LSD analogue known as 1CP-LSD, and owner Carl Trump claims to share a distant relative with former U.S. President Donald Trump, but that relationship has not been officially verified. At any rate, Berliners have had access to legally purchase the psychedelic drug but they better act quickly because Germany has announced plans to make it illegal soon.

In other industry news, the company known as Atai Life Sciences went public on the Nasdaq, raising more than $200 million during its initial public offering. Now Atai is the largest publicly-traded psychedelic company in the world.

After three big IPOs from the top juggernauts in the psychedelic industry (COMPASS Pathways, Field Trip, and now Atai) over the last year, it looks like psychedelics have officially secured their position in mainstream by joining the second-largest stock exchange in the world.

Research

There were a handful of interesting psychedelic research studies that caught my eye this month. First up is a small phase II clinical trial of using nitrous oxide to treat depression where 85 percent of patients saw improvements.

Next up, a study found that psilocybin may be capable of reducing suicidal thoughts in terminally ill patients. It may not come a surprise to the readers of this blog that magic mushrooms have the potential to provide a real sense of hope to a group of people who are in dire need of it. Hopefully psychedelic medicine will be available to them soon.

And some new research on drugged driving was published, this time specifically about operating a motor vehicle after ingesting cannabis. One study found that driving stoned is actually far safer than getting behind the wheel after taking prescription drugs, which really makes me think about how scary it is to be on the road with people who are on medications recommended to them by their doctor that negatively impact their ability to drive. Meanwhile, a separate (federally-funded) study found that testing people for impairment based on their levels of THC is not reliable.

Miscellaneous

Harm reductionists have yet another tool that can be used to help psychonauts use drugs as safely as possible; a new app called Pill-iD lets users scan pills to see what they contain.

However, it’s not a perfect option because rather than find out what’s actually inside a pill, the app instead uses machine learning to cross-check the user’s image against a large database of scanned pills to provide details about what drug is actually contained within, the risk level from taking it, and any potential side effects.

So while it’s not advisable to rely solely on this new app to find out what’s inside your pill, it could help inform naïve users that there is a possibility they might have bought an adulterated drug. As I’ve tried to hammer home over and over again, it’s always advisable to use a reagent test kit to further rule out the possibility that your pills contain unwanted drugs and to properly weigh your substances before you take them.

June brought two new psychedelic holidays that you might consider celebrating next year. The first, on June 12th, could possibly be named “Tram Day” (it doesn’t appear to have an official name yet), celebrates the day when Albert Hofmann’s assistant, Susi Ramstein, became the first woman ever to take LSD.

And the second holiday, on June 20th, was the first annual World Psychedelics Day, which was intended to “recognize a new age of informed perspectives on the beneficial properties of both modern psychedelic compounds and ancient plant medicines and practices.”

Although this year’s celebrations have already passed, you can put both of these new psychedelic holidays on your 2022 calendar so you can celebrate them next year.

Wrapping up this month’s recap is a story about a revolution in drug checking: at-home psilocybin test kits that can test the potency of magic mushrooms. Until now it’s been difficult to determine with any level of accuracy the amount of psilocybin in a batch of shrooms but this new technology will give anyone the ability to find that out for themselves.

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.