After enjoying an explosion of popularity in the 60s, psychedelic use declined with the emerging “War on Drugs,” and research was completely halted for 20 years starting in 1972. Fast forward to today, and we’re now seeing some form of psychedelic renaissance, with growing interest in their ability to “change minds” for the average person and to potentially help people with a variety of ailments. For those of us who are keen to minimize the risk of entering another psychedelic drought, and who have experience with launching nonprofit startups, what type of nonprofit psychedelic advocacy group do you think could do the most good?
Many thanks for your important work, and for doing this AMA.
I can’t overestimate the value of public education as a way to inoculate the public against the inevitable negative stories—business collapses, sexual abuse in the treatment room, suicides, scandal. The press, having treated psychedelics so positively in the last few years, will eventually turn, as the press always does sooner or later. But the more solid information and true stories in the information ecosystem, the less of an effect this will have.
I second the points Michael made on this. Another point is that I think there is a role for nonprofits to play in monitoring and litigating the patent landscape. I support the appropriate use of IP, and when it works this incentivizes innovation that pushes advances that wouldn’t have been made otherwise. But there is a need to make sure the system is not abused, and that patents are not awarded to ideas that truly don’t meet the legal standards such as non-intuitiveness and originality.
After enjoying an explosion of popularity in the 60s, psychedelic use declined with the emerging “War on Drugs,” and research was completely halted for 20 years starting in 1972. Fast forward to today, and we’re now seeing some form of psychedelic renaissance, with growing interest in their ability to “change minds” for the average person and to potentially help people with a variety of ailments. For those of us who are keen to minimize the risk of entering another psychedelic drought, and who have experience with launching nonprofit startups, what type of nonprofit psychedelic advocacy group do you think could do the most good?
Many thanks for your important work, and for doing this AMA.
I can’t overestimate the value of public education as a way to inoculate the public against the inevitable negative stories—business collapses, sexual abuse in the treatment room, suicides, scandal. The press, having treated psychedelics so positively in the last few years, will eventually turn, as the press always does sooner or later. But the more solid information and true stories in the information ecosystem, the less of an effect this will have.
I second the points Michael made on this. Another point is that I think there is a role for nonprofits to play in monitoring and litigating the patent landscape. I support the appropriate use of IP, and when it works this incentivizes innovation that pushes advances that wouldn’t have been made otherwise. But there is a need to make sure the system is not abused, and that patents are not awarded to ideas that truly don’t meet the legal standards such as non-intuitiveness and originality.