Psychedelics & Empathogens
Psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, DMT/ayahuasca, mescaline, ibogaine, 5-MeO-DMT — substances that produce profound altered states.
Latest reporting
Eli Lilly Just Paid $3.8 Billion to Bet That Depression's Next Blockbuster Looks Like DMT
Eli Lilly's up-to-$3.8 billion acquisition of AtaiBeckley, weeks after FDA finalized psychedelic clinical trial guidance, signals mainstream pharma is done waiting on the sidelines of psychedelic medicine.
Stop Treating the Trip as a Side Effect
A single 25 mg psilocybin dose raised brain entropy within an hour, and that spike predicted psychological insight the next day and better well-being a month later. The FDA is now asking who should be in the room. Here is why the answer matters.
The FDA Finally Wrote Down How to Blind a Trial When the Drug Makes You Trip
The FDA finalized clinical trial design guidance for psychedelic drugs, codifying a fix for the functional-unblinding problem that doomed Lykos's MDMA therapy in 2024. A public hearing is set for September 14.
Through eight lenses
Science
5-HT2A agonism (classical psychedelics), MDMA serotonin/dopamine/NE release, ibogaine multi-receptor (anti-addiction window).
Biology
Acute autonomic effects, serotonin syndrome risk in combos, ibogaine cardiac risk (QT prolongation — real, requires screening), HPPD rare but possible.
Psychology
"mystical experience" correlating with therapeutic outcome (Griffiths et al.); challenging experiences and how they're handled in set/setting.
Stop Treating the Trip as a Side Effect
Jul 26The Ego Goes Quiet, and So Does the Pattern: What Psychedelics Actually Do to the Psychology of Addiction
Jun 16At the Clinical Threshold: MDMA Has a VA Trial, Ibogaine Has 71% Abstinence Data, and Psilocybin Has Two States. Insurance Has None of This.
Jun 6
Policy
Mostly Schedule I; Oregon Measure 109, Colorado Prop 122, FDA breakthrough designations; MDMA 2024 rejection; state-level initiatives for decrim/regulated access.
Trends
Psychedelic clinic growth (often off-label ketamine), "microdosing" research (mostly null), ayahuasca tourism.
Treatment
Psilocybin+therapy for AUD (NYU + Hopkins RCTs); ibogaine for OUD (Stanford case series, Kentucky state research); MDMA-AT for PTSD (post-2024 setback, new trials).
Harm Reduction
Set/setting, integration, contraindications (SSRIs, heart conditions, family psychosis history for classical psychedelics), test kits.