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The psychedelic space is a particularly interesting industry in my eyes because of its long history, existing stigma, and research demonstrated potential. I'll go a little more in-depth here because none of the previous behavioral health deep dives have really explored this space.

There are two types of companies in this space while some do both. Upstream companies focus on drug discovery and clinical trials, while downstream companies focus on the manufacturing of the drug and the clinical setting in which it is administered.

Resources

• Michael Pollan on Tim Ferris Show - great overview of the psychedelic experience and history from Michael Pollan whose most recent book is on Psychedelics.
• Rick Doblin on MAPS Podcast - Rick is the founder and executive director at MAPS and gives the long story short on the history of regulation on psychedelics.
• Others: Ronan Levy (Field Trip) on Stigma Podcast, Paul Stamets on Tim Ferris Show

History

Although psychedelics have been used for centuries for spiritual practices, it was only until the 1950s that they were taken seriously for their scientific potential in the western world. Here's my very brief timeline of events.

• In 1943, in the peaceful country of Switzerland during the violent World War, Albert Hoffman synthesized LSD on what is now known as Bicycle Day.
• In 1957, Life published a photo essay by Gordon Wasson, Vice President of JP Morgan Chase, who described his experience performing a Mazatec ritual in Oaxaca, Mexico involving Magic Mushrooms.
• In 1962, Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert performed the Marsh Chapel experiment at Harvard. In this double-blind experiment, almost the entire test group reported a religious experience whereas only a few in the control group did.
  • Leary later turned his scientific interests in the drug into a religious, almost cult like, one with his slogan Tune in, Turn On, Drop Out.
• In the late 60s, horror stories around the drugs halted scientific research.
• Now, the FDA and other regulatory bodies are once again recognizing the therapeutic potential of these drugs and many promising research studies have come to light.

Science

Here's some science behind how the drug works: