Psymposia

Last updated
Formation2014;11 years ago (2014)
FoundersBrian Normand; Brett Greene
Type Not-for-profit organization
85-0630940
Purpose Watchdog group; Psychedelic reporting
Key people
Brian Normand; Brett Greene; Russell Hausfeld; Neşe Devenot; Brian Pace; David Nickles (2020-2023); Lily Kay Ross (2020-2023)
Website psymposia.com

Psymposia is a small not-for-profit organization, media organization, and self-described "watchdog group" reporting on the psychedelic community and focusing on harm reduction. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] The group was founded in 2014 [1] and became a nonprofit in 2020. [6] They do work within a discipline that they have referred to as "critical psychedelic studies" (as in critical theory). [7] [8]

Contents

Members

Psymposia's members have included co-founders Brian Normand and Brett Greene, journalist Russell Hausfeld, academics Neşe Devenot and Brian Pace, self-described "underground researcher" and anarchist David Nickles (legal name David Maliken; not to be confused with psychedelic chemist David E. Nichols), and feminist scholar Lily Kay Ross, among others. [1] [9] [10] [5]

Nickles and Ross eventually left Psymposia and started their own group. [1] Psymposia co-founder Greene left the group to co-found the for-profit psychedelic pharmaceutical company Adelia Therapeutics, which was acquired by Cybin in 2020, and served as Cybin's Chief Innovation Officer. [11] [12] [13]

Work and views

Corporate Business Strategies in the Psychedelic Industry

Psymposia provided some of the first reporting on major patent disputes in the psychedelic industry, [14] and identified a number of early business strategies utilized by psychedelic companies (such as reverse takeovers of publicly listed mining companies). [15] [16] [17] Co-founder Brett Greene has been partially credited with coining the term "corporadelic" in 2019 to refer to corporations commodifying and profiting off of psychedelics. [18] [11] [19] Psymposia advocates for the decriminalization and legalization of psychedelics. [19] [8]

Reporting on Abuse

Psymposia has been widely credited with illuminating sexual abuse in the field of psychedelic medicine, in underground settings and clinical trials. [1] [19] In 2021 and 2022, New York Magazine published an investigative podcast series in collaboration with Psymposia called Cover Story: Power Trip. [20] [10] [9] It was co-created and co-produced by Psymposia members Ross and Nickles. [20] [21] The podcast discussed a variety of concerns about the underground psychedelic industry, as well as issues within the clinical trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy (MDMA-AT) for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) being sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) and Lykos Therapeutics. [1] [21] [9]

Cover Story: Power Trip reported on Meaghan Buisson, a MAPS trial participant who was subject to unethical behavior and inappropriate physical contact by her therapists while participating in the studies. [9] [10] The podcast also detailed allegations against underground practitioners Françoise Bourzat and Aharon Grossbard, and their school The Center for Consciousness Medicine (now Gather Well). [22] [23]

Psymposia has been a prominent critic of the nonprofit MAPS and its corporate entity Lykos Therapeutics. [4] [24] [5] Psymposia has accused MAPS and Lykos Therapeutics of being "cult-like", alongside numerous former MAPS employees. [1] [25] [26]

Although Psymposia is now highly critical of MAPS, Devenot formerly volunteered for MAPS from 2011 to 2017 [27] [8] and Normand spoke very positively about MAPS as late as 2018. [28] Devenot says that they were "bullied out of the field of psychedelic research by a MAPS employee," Dr. Biatriz Labate. [8] [29]

FDA Rejection of MDMA

Three members of Psymposia — Brian Pace, Russell Hausfeld, and Neşe Devenot — spoke at the open public hearing of the FDA advisory committee meeting for Lykos Therapeutics' MDMA-Assisted Therapy application on June 4, 2024. [30] [31] It was incorrectly reported by the New York Times that seven Psymposia representatives attended and spoke at the advisory meeting. [1] [9] [32] [2] This reporting failed to name the alleged four extra representatives. [1] [33] [32]

During the public comments period, the Psymposia representatives sharply criticized Lykos Therapeutics, including Hausfeld raising concerns about exploitation and mistreatment of veterans [34] , Devenot urging independent review of clinical trial video recordings to investigate the possibility of additional cases of therapist abuse, and Pace and Devenot accusing Lykos Therapeutics of being a "therapy cult", among other misconduct allegations. [35] [2] [27] [9] [33] [32]

The FDA panel overwhelmingly recommended rejection of MDMA-AT for PTSD, citing both major weaknesses of Lykos Therapeutics' NDA as well as mentioning Psymposia's allegations. [1] [35] The FDA followed suit and rejected the NDA of MDMA-AT for PTSD on August 9, 2024. [2] [1]

For a year following this rejection, Psymposia was blamed for the FDA's decision. [1] However, on September 5, 2025, the FDA released its Complete Response Letter to Lykos detailing its reasons for rejection. [36] [37] The Complete Response Letter made no mention of Psymposia, instead citing numerous issues with the trial design, durability data, and failure to collect necessary data on adverse events. [36] [37]

Church of Psilomethoxin Lawsuit

In 2023, Psymposia published a four-part series investigating the Church of Psilomethoxin (now the Church of Sacred Synthesis) and its claims about its supposed sacrament psilomethoxin. [38] [39] [40] The church claims to biosynthesize psilomethoxin (a chemical cross between 5-MeO-DMT and psilocybin) in psilocybin mushrooms by enriching the substrate used to grow the mushrooms with 5-MeO-DMT. [39] The church's members sign up for the church online and the church sells and mails its sacrament to its members, which led to the church being referred to as the "mail-order mushroom church". [40] Though the church claims that its sacrament contains psilomethoxin, an independent chemical analysis in 2023 failed to detect psilomethoxin or 5-methoxypsilocybin in their mushrooms, but did detect the usual constituents of psilocybin mushrooms such as psilocybin. [38] [39] [40] [41] Psymposia has criticized the Church of Psilomethoxin as engaging in "psychedelic charlatanism". [38] In April 2024, the church sued Psymposia and others for alleged defamation. [39] The church's lawsuit against Psymposia was later dismissed in August 2024, with the cited dismissal reason being anti-SLAPP laws. [42]

Controversy

Critics have accused Psymposia of having inappropriate influence on the FDA advisory panel's decision to reject Lykos Therapeutics' MDMA-AT for PTSD. [1] [43] [35] [44] [45] However, while critics have blamed Psymposia for the rejection of Lykos' MDMA-assisted therapy application, numerous professional organizations — including the American Psychiatric Association, [46] Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in Australia, [47] [48] the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense, [49] and the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) [50] — have assessed Lykos' data and deemed it inadequate. [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] Wired also reported that it is "unknown exactly how Psymposia's criticisms factored into the FDA's final decision" and that people familiar with the FDA Complete Response Letter said that Psymposia's concerns were taken seriously, but the agency "cited issues with trial design" and "an underreporting of 'positive adverse events.'" [51] On September 5, 2025, the FDA released its Complete Response Letter to Lykos detailing its reasons for rejection. [36] [37] The Complete Response Letter made no mention of Psymposia, instead citing numerous issues with the trial design, durability data, and failure to collect necessary data on adverse events. [36] [37]

The allegations against Psymposia have been detailed in-depth by journalists Andrew Jacobs and Rachel Nuwer in a New York Times article published in February 2025 titled "How a Leftist Activist Group Helped Torpedo a Psychedelic Therapy". [43] [1] Nuwer is notable in being the author of the 2023 book I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World . [52]

Of 32 speakers at the FDA hearing of MDMA-AT for PTSD, 10 of them opposed the approval of the therapy and this New York Times article incorrectly claimed that 7 of those 10 were allegedly Psymposia representatives. [1] Three of the representatives, including Pace, Hausfeld, and Devenot, were official Psymposia members. [1] [9] [32] [2] [33] The New York Times article claims that Psymposia representatives presented themselves as experts in the field of psychedelics and did not disclose their affiliation with Psymposia. [1] In addition, critics have noted that none of the Psymposia representatives who spoke at the hearing had expertise in medicine or therapy. [1]

Slate Magazine contradicted these claims, noting that "only three of Psymposia's five members spoke during the public comment period, and none presented themselves as having expertise in medicine or therapy or suggested that expertise in psychedelics translated to expertise in medicine or therapy." [31] The article states that Devenot identified as "an expert in 'psychedelic bioethics;'" Pace identified as "a lecturer teaching psychedelic studies;" and Hausfeld identified himself as "a journalist who reports on psychedelics." [31]

Pharmacy Times also contradicted the claim made in The New York Times that 7 speakers were Psymposia representatives, stating: "At an open public hearing session during the meeting, 3 individuals from Psymposia—Neşe Devenot, PhD; Brian Pace, PhD; and Russell Hausfeld—spoke out against MDMA's approval." [53]

Former Psymposia members Ross and Nickles have responded to the New York Times article saying that it "contains numerous inaccuracies and misleading assertions which we are working to get the paper to correct." [43]

Freelance journalist Katie MacBride wrote that Jacobs' and Nuwer's reporting about Psymposia in the New York Times "was largely divorced from the events as I witnessed them, misleading in crucial ways, and journalistically bewildering. But what the story lacks in fully recounting why Lykos' application tanked, it makes up for in fostering outrage, scapegoating a fringe group, and establishing a useful narrative should the new HHS secretary want to reverse the FDA's decision." [31]

Jamie Brownlee and Kevin Walby — the co-authors of Psychedelic Capitalism — described Nuwer's and Jacobs' New York Times reporting on Psymposia as a "hit piece" published during the backlash to the FDA's rejection of MDMA-AT, elaborating: "In our view, the interventions by Psymposia and others represented a principled stance. They were concerned about the direction of the field and potential harms to vulnerable populations. Likewise, the FDA decision reflects some serious concerns in the area of psychedelic medicine, such as methodological challenges in how the research is conducted, the underreporting of adverse events, research bias, and issues with the psychotherapeutic components of psychedelic therapy, among others. The decision was not so much a rejection of MDMA or MDMA-assisted therapy as it was a statement on the quality of the research and the application." [30]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Jacobs, Andrew; Nuwer, Rachel (4 February 2025). "How a Leftist Activist Group Helped Torpedo a Psychedelic Therapy". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 February 2025. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Jarow, Oshan (9 August 2024). "MDMA therapy didn't get FDA approval. Now what?". Vox. Retrieved 3 February 2025. Beyond the concerns with study design, three members of Psymposia, a non-profit research and media organization that focuses on psychedelic science and harm reduction, went so far as to accuse Lykos of being a "therapy cult" bent on furthering mystical and utopian goals. Ultimately, the advisory committee voted almost unanimously that there was insufficient evidence to support the treatment, and that the benefits do not outweigh the risks.
  3. ↑ Worthington, Elise; Taylor, Kyle; King, Tynan (25 July 2022). "Meaghan thought psychedelic therapy could help her PTSD. Instead it was the start of a nightmare". ABC News. Retrieved 3 February 2025. Dr Ross, who along with Mr Nickles also help run a not-for-profit psychedelic watchdog organisation called Psymposia, says MAPS's reaction to the disclosure is astounding. [...] In the months after the trial finished, Ms Buisson moved to the remote Canadian island of Cortes, where Dr Dryer and Yensen lived, for further treatment. "It was in that period that Richard Yensen began making sexual advances on Meaghan, which he told her were exposure therapy, because she had experienced sexual harm before and had been in the clinical trial to try to address some of that," Dr Ross says. [...] [Yensen] has previously alleged through his lawyer that the relationship was consensual.
  4. 1 2 Gorsline, Jack (9 September 2024). "Psychedelic Advocates Air FDA Frustrations at Reagan-Udall Foundation Meeting". Filter. Retrieved 3 February 2025. Dr. Devenot, a board member for the Psymposia psychedelic research and education nonprofit, has been a prominent critic of Lykos and the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), the nonprofit from which the company spun off. Chief among Psymposia's criticisms are allegations of substantial omissions of adverse events and additional research misconduct during Lykos's Phase 2 trials. [...] Lubecky is a former participant in a MAPS clinical trial of MDMA-assisted therapy, and a prominent critic of Psymposia's conduct. He described to the meeting how he had benefited from his trial participation, stating that "[my] VA medical record as well as my demonstrated actions show that my PTSD is in full remission following the three-month protocol."
  5. 1 2 3 Sinclair, Sarah (13 June 2024). "Why FDA Panel Rejected MDMA Therapy—And What's Next For Psychedelic Medicine". Forbes. Retrieved 3 February 2025. Russell Hausfeld is a journalist at the psychedelic research nonprofit and media outlet Psymposia, which has spent years investigating the conduct of MAPS and now Lykos. The organisation was the focus of Psymposia's Power Trip podcast, co-produced with New York Magazine. In an interview over Zoom, he said that the site has been contacted by a number of whistleblowers and former employees expressing concerns about the company's conduct.
  6. ↑ "Corrections: Feb. 8, 2025". The New York Times. 8 February 2025. Retrieved 8 February 2025. An article on Tuesday about the use of MDMA-assisted treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder misstated the year that Psymposia became a nonprofit. It registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2020, not when it was founded in 2014.
  7. ↑ Firman, Sam (29 October 2024). "Losing their religion". This Magazine. Retrieved 9 February 2025. The "psychiatric paradigm" sees government institutions and psychedelic companies administering psychedelics in tightly regulated medical settings to alleviate specific mental-health symptoms. Critical psychedelics podcast "Psymposia" dubs this corporadelia: psychedelics as commercial service and psychological adaptation.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Agresta, Michael (15 October 2024). "Cult or Cure?". ARC: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera. Retrieved 9 February 2025. [...] The accusations that have slowed (or perhaps thwarted) MDMA's approval were levied by a small group of advocates who actually have backgrounds in the push to legalize psychedelics. On June 11, 2024, Neșe Devenot, who teaches in the Johns Hopkins University writing program, published an essay online called "MAPS Is an MDMA Therapy Cult." From 2011 to 2017, Devenot was herself a volunteer with MAPS, a non-profit based in California that advocates for and sponsors psychedelic and marijuana research. But Devenot told me she was bullied out of the field of psychedelic research by a MAPS employee; she now pursues what she calls "critical psychedelic studies," through a nonprofit advocacy group called Psymposia. [...]
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lighthouse, Charles (14 June 2024). "Lykos Responds to Opposition by FDA Advisors to MDMA-Assisted Therapy". Lucid News - Psychedelics, Consciousness Technology, and the Future of Wellness. Retrieved 3 February 2025. New York Magazine published an investigative podcast together with Psymposia in 2021 which reported allegations made by trial participant Meaghan Buisson in 2018. According to The New York Times, Buisson told a meeting of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) that she experienced significant trauma. "The severe PTSD that brought me into this clinical trial went unaddressed and unresolved," Buisson told a meeting of ICER advisors on May 30. "All they did was pour a concrete foundation of new traumas over the top." [...] Three representatives from Psymposia criticized Lykos during the comments period. Journalist Russell Hausfeld highlighted concerns regarding the treatment of veterans' treatment by MAPS PBC and its successor, Lykos Therapeutics. Neşe Devenot, Ph.D, a senior lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, urged independent review of surveillance from Lykos clinical trials to investigate whether there are other unreported instances of therapist abuse. Brian Pace, a lecturer at Ohio State University, accused Lykos of being a "therapy cult."
  10. 1 2 3 Stone, Will (13 May 2024). "Transformation or trouble? Research into MDMA plagued with allegations of misconduct". NPR. Retrieved 3 February 2025. The podcast, produced by New York Magazine and the nonprofit media organization Psymposia, brought to light claims by a participant named Meaghan Buisson, who appeared in a video of two therapists, a married couple, engaged in what Buisson described as inappropriate physical contact while she was under the influence of MDMA at a Phase 2 trial site in Canada. [...] Neşe Devenot and Brian Pace, another author of the petition, are affiliated with Psymposia, the media organization that produced the podcast, but Devenot says they were not involved in the podcast and are unpaid board members.
  11. 1 2 Noorani, Tehseen (15 September 2021). "Digital Psychedelia: Hidden Experience and the Challenge of Paranoia". Somatosphere. Retrieved 6 February 2025. One vocal skeptic of psychedelic mainstreaming is David Nickles, once an administrator of the underground psychedelic website 'The DMT Nexus' and now a core member of Psymposia, an anti-capitalist media outlet in the psychedelic space. Tracking developments in the mainstreaming of psychedelics by corporate entities they dryly call 'corporadelics,'[1] Psymposia has been at the leading edge of an enduring current of countercultural Anglo-American psychedelia that focuses on political economic critique. Nickles himself is perceived within the broader psychedelic ecology differently depending on who you ask – from 'speaking truth to power', to being a 'shock-jock,' to being a much-needed 'system disruptor'. [...] [1]Psymposia explain the term in the following way: "cor-por-ra-del-ic (adj): manifesting corporate structures, ethos, or logic within the context of the psychedelic landscape. cor-por-ra-de-lia (n.): the world of people, phenomena, or items associated with corporadelic entities. The term "corporadelic" was initially coined independently and simultaneously by Dr. Katherine MacLean (a former lead researcher and session guide for psilocybin research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) and Brett Greene (co-founder emeritus of Psymposia and founder of psychedelic pharmaceutical company, Adelia Therapeutics) in 2019. Dr. MacLean defined the term as, "manifesting corporations to commodify psychedelic experiences.""
  12. ↑ Cybin Inc. (14 December 2020). "CYBIN Closes Acquisition of Adelia Therapeutics; Bolsters Scientific Team and Grows IP Portfolio to 7 Patent Filings". GlobeNewswire News Room (Press release). Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  13. ↑ "EMulate Therapeutics Announces Brett Greene, Veteran in the Psychedelic and Cannabinoid Biotechnology Industry, as a Company Advisor". Business Wire. 18 July 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2025. After Adelia Therapeutics was acquired by Cybin (CYBN), Brett served as Cybin's Chief Innovation Officer for 3 years.
  14. ↑ Love, Shayla (2021-02-09). "Can a Company Patent the Basic Components of Psychedelic Therapy?". VICE. Retrieved 2025-03-31.
  15. ↑ Cormier, Zoe (2022-03-21). "The Brave New World of Legalized Psychedelics Is Already Here". ISSN   0027-8378 . Retrieved 2025-03-31.
  16. ↑ Andrews, Timothy; Wright, Katie (2022). "The frontiers of new psychedelic therapies: A survey of sociological themes and issues". Sociology Compass. 16 (2) e12959. doi:10.1111/soc4.12959. ISSN   1751-9020.
  17. ↑ "Psymposia - New Series: From Mining to Mushrooms". Cannabis Law Report. 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2025-03-31.
  18. ↑ Hartogsohn, Ido (1 October 2023). "The Corporadelic Set and Setting: On the Consequences of Psychedelic Commodification". History of Pharmacy and Pharmaceuticals. 65 (1): 131–140. doi:10.3368/hopp.65.1.131. ISSN   2694-3034.
  19. 1 2 3 Brownlee, Jamie; Walby, Kevin (6 July 2023). "Buzzkill". briarpatchmagazine.com. Retrieved 6 February 2025. Psymposia is a non-profit research and media organization focusing on the politics and pitfalls in "corporadelic" culture, which they argue is manifesting corporate structures and logic within the psychedelic landscape and commodifying the psychedelic experience. The group also draws attention to issues of fraud and abuse in psychedelic science/therapy while serving as an advocate for decriminalization. In 2022, Psymposia members were banned from attending a large psychedelics conference in Miami by conference organizers, suggesting little tolerance within mainstream psychedelia for views that fall outside the dominant corporate-medical paradigm.
  20. 1 2 Canavan, Claudia (14 August 2024). "Is psychedelic therapy the next-gen treatment we think?". Women's Health. Retrieved 6 February 2025. One of the most infamous cases of recent years is that of Meaghan Buisson, who was among a number of women to speak to researchers Lily Kay Ross and David Nickles for New York Magazine's 2022 podcast series Cover Story: Power Trip.
  21. 1 2 Love, Shayla (3 March 2022). "It's Time to Start Studying the Downside of Psychedelics". VICE. Retrieved 6 February 2025. Co-producers and co-creators of Power Trip, Lily Kay Ross and David Nickles, told Motherboard that they have concerns about history repeating itself in Oregon, where psychedelic services will be first available legally in the U.S.
  22. ↑ Cut, the (2022-01-05). "House Full of Shit". The Cut. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  23. ↑ Tribe, Modern (2024-03-01). "Bioethics, Psychedelic Therapy Abuse, and the Risk of Ethics Washing - Petrie-Flom Center". petrieflom.law.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  24. ↑ Robertson, Rachael (28 August 2024). "Psychedelic Probe Expands; Why Therapists Leave Networks; Fizzling Pandemic Program". MedPage Today. Retrieved 3 February 2025. After rejecting Lykos Therapeutics' psychedelic therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) earlier this month, the FDA is deepening its investigation into key trials, according to the Wall Street Journal. According to sources familiar with the matter, the FDA's Office of Regulatory Affairs has spoken with four people who have knowledge of the trial. One of those people was Nese Devenot, PhD, a writing professor at Johns Hopkins University and a board member of Psymposia, a nonprofit critical of Lykos. Another was a person treated by Lykos therapists, WSJ reported. One of the sources "shared information on the conduct of the trials, including the suicidal thinking of a study subject that didn't get reported," the article stated. A source also spoke with FDA's Biomedical Research Monitoring Program.
  25. ↑ Silman, Anna. "MDMA therapy could be legal by summer. Why are so many advocates sounding the alarm?". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
  26. ↑ Goldhill, Olivia (2024-06-09). "The inside story of how Lykos' MDMA research went awry". STAT. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
  27. 1 2 Samuel, Sigal (19 June 2024). "The biggest unknown in psychedelic therapy is not the psychedelics". Vox. Retrieved 3 February 2025. I submit that Lykos is a therapy cult that uses the application under review to further mystical and utopian goals," Brian Pace, who teaches psychedelic studies at The Ohio State University, told the FDA advisory committee. "This lens explains the mounting allegations against them regarding research misconduct and clinical trial participant harms." Devenot, the Johns Hopkins bioethicist, uses the same term — "therapy cult" — to describe Lykos, saying, "therapy cults transform therapeutic and personality theories into totalizing ideologies that promise reductive solutions for diverse causes of psychological distress.
  28. ↑ Thoricatha, Wesley (26 January 2018). "Cryptocurrency and The War on Drugs: Interview with Brian Normand of Psymposia". Psychedelic Times. Retrieved 7 February 2025. I think what MAPS is doing is fascinating by developing a nonprofit pharmaceutical company, [...] I think it's amazing. MAPS is relying on private donations to do something that is pretty historic, [...]
  29. ↑ Psymposia (2025-03-07). "Correcting the Record: What The New York Times Got Wrong". Psymposia. Retrieved 2025-09-18.
  30. 1 2 Press, Columbia University (2025-07-01). "Jamie Brownlee and Kevin Walby on Psychedelic Capitalism - Columbia University Press Blog" . Retrieved 2025-07-08.
  31. 1 2 3 4 MacBride, Katie (2025-03-07). "An NYT Story Blamed Leftists for Obstructing Psychedelic Therapy. The Truth Is Much More Infuriating". Slate. ISSN   1091-2339 . Retrieved 2025-03-11.
  32. 1 2 3 4 "Reminder Re Deadline Submitting Comments for the Psychopharmacological Drugs Advisory Committee". Cannabis Law Report. 30 May 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2025. Members of Psymposia are scheduled to speak for three minutes each during the open hearing portion of the advisory committee meeting. [...] The general public (including Psymposia members) submitted comments to FDA expressing both support for and concerns over Lykos' MDMA-AT. [...] Though most comments were supportive of MDMA approval, others — including three from Psymposia members — expressed concern over Lykos' methods and the many accounts of abuse and misconduct against them. [...] The three comments from Psymposia members highlight a variety of concerns with MAPS/Lykos' approach to MDMA-AT. Dr. Neşe Devenot's comment focuses on the power MAPS/Lykos wields in silencing victims' voices and indoctrinating therapists, patients, and uncritical supporters into cult-like dynamics: "I have uncovered substantial evidence that the sponsor organization qualifies as a therapy cult that operates on a principle of indoctrinating its therapists and participants into an ideological system of 'true beliefs.' The prospect of a therapy cult guiding a suggestibility-enhancing pharmaceutical through clinical trials highlights unique risks for public health, the implications of which have never been publicly discussed." Dr. Brian Pace's comment discusses MAPS/Lykos' consistent refrain that FDA approval of MDMA is just a step towards a "spiritualized humanity," and questions the research quality of Lykos' New Drug Application (NDA): "This NDA is unprecedented because leadership of the applicant has been explicit for decades about using the drug under review for the larger purpose of a global spiritual conversion. Falling short of this goal—they have been equally explicit—will have disastrous global consequences. I contend that this pattern of rhetorically framing the NDA under review as a key advancement towards fulfillment of deeply held spiritual beliefs among leadership is crucial to understanding the serious allegations of research misconduct against MAPS/Lykos." Russell Hausfeld's comment reviewed his extensive reporting on MAPS's instrumentalization of veterans, and he emphasizes accounts from veterans who felt exploited by MAPS: "Considering how heavily Lykos/MAPS has relied on the positive endorsements of veterans to spread its message to the general public and gain political support, I think it is important for the record to reflect the concerns of veterans who have been harmed by the organization and lessons to be learned from their experiences."
  33. 1 2 3 Kunzmann, Kevin (4 June 2024). "FDA Psychopharmacologic Advisory Committee Votes Against Supporting Effectiveness of MDMA for PTSD". HCP Live. Retrieved 11 February 2025. Brian Pace, PhD, a lecturer in psychedelic studies in the department of plant pathology at The Ohio State University and coauthor of a citizens petition raising concerns with Lykos' NDA, echoed comments criticizing the conduct of the clinical trials and "dubious, grandiose" claims of the ultimate benefit of applied psychedelic therapy. [...] Russell Hausfeld, a journalist with Psymposia, raised concerns regarding potential exploitation and mistreatment of veteran patients involved in clinical trials with the company. [...] Nese Devenot, PhD, senior lecturer at Johns Hopkins University and coauthor of a citizens petition to extend the open public hearing, said she believes Lykos "obscured its actual intervention" in the FDA submission, calling for an independent review of all relevant clinical trial video recordings observing the dosed patient-clinician interaction. [...] Kayla Greenstein, a PhD candidate from the University of Sydney, expressed concern with the theoretical underpinnings and the "use of touch" in psychedelic therapy sessions. Greenstein additionally called Lykos' statement that MDMA facilitates memory recollection a "highly controversial idea."
  34. ↑ Hausfeld, Russell (2023-03-23). "Part II: Who's Researching the Researchers?". Truthdig. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  35. 1 2 3 Enders, Caty (23 August 2024). "How the Psychedelics Medicine Bubble Burst". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 August 2024. Retrieved 3 February 2025. Dr. Devenot helped organize a formal petition to the F.D.A., released in April, calling for a slowdown in F.D.A. approval of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD, signed by several dozen psychedelic scientists and clinicians from major research institutions. A co-author of the petition was Brian Pace, who teaches psychedelic studies at the Ohio State University and testified to the F.D.A. advisory committee that "Lykos is a therapy cult that uses the application under review to further mystical and utopian goals. This lens explains the mounting allegations against them regarding research misconduct and clinical trial participant harms." Dr. Doblin calls the allegations of cultlike behavior ridiculous. "Where are all my Rolls-Royces? Where's all my stock options? Where's everybody that agrees with me on everything?" he asked rhetorically over the phone. "That's absurd. But it's part of this idea of just making whatever wild allegations you can."
  36. 1 2 3 4 "BREAKING: FDA Publishes Lykos Therapeutics' MDMA Complete Response Letter (CRL)". Psychedelic Alpha. 2025-09-04. Retrieved 2025-09-18.
  37. 1 2 3 4 "FDA Releases Complete Response Letter on Declining MDMA-Assisted Therapy for PTSD". Psychiatric Times. 2025-09-05. Retrieved 2025-09-18.
  38. 1 2 3 Busby, Mattha (8 June 2023). "This New Church Wants to Get You High on Synthetic Toad Venom". VICE. Retrieved 9 February 2025. Psychedelic chemist David Nichols has dismissed the idea that psilomethoxin could not be identified. "The church has a completely nonsensical and nonscientific position," he told nonprofit media organisation Psymposia. "The [Usona] paper uses proper analytical methodology to show that there is nothing in their 'psilomethoxin' sample with the properties of the claimed compound." The church has been lambasted by Psymposia and others, including neuroscience PhD student Zeus Tipado and chemical pharmacologist Andrew Gallimore, for its response to the Usona preprint. "The statement, riddled with errors and self-contradictory claims," Psymposia managing editor David Nickles writes, "offers a case study in psychedelic charlatanism."
  39. 1 2 3 4 Hu, Jane C. (12 April 2024). "DEA announces hearing on obscure hallucinogenic compounds; Petitioning the FDA for a public meeting on Lykos and MDMA; Psychedelic church sues for defamation". The Microdose. Substack. Retrieved 9 February 2025. 'Psychedelic' Church sues detractors for defamation: The Church of Sacred Synthesis, formerly known as the Church of Psilomethoxin, is suing its critics for defamation, libel and slander in a Texas district court, according to a new piece published in DoubleBlind. The church formerly claimed that its "sacrament", a supposedly novel psychedelic drug called psilomethoxin, was created by feeding 5-MeO-DMT to psilocybin-producing fungi. In April 2023, two chemists working at the non-profit medical research organization Usona Institute, tested a sample they claim came from an anonymous member of the church and concluded that there was no evidence it was psilomethoxin. Shortly after, the psychedelics publication Psymposia published a four-part series investigating the church and its claims. Journalist Mattha Busby reports in DoubleBlind that the civil suit names Usona, the Promega Corporation, whose founder Bill Linton also co-founded Usona, Psymposia, and a user on the social media site X.
  40. 1 2 3 Stoddard, Brad (31 July 2024). The Production of Entheogenic Communities in the United States. Cambridge University Press. pp. 36–37. doi:10.1017/9781009429412. ISBN   978-1-009-42941-2. [Greg Lake] and [Ian Benouis] also started their own entheogenic church, the Church of Psilomethoxin, later renamed the Church of the Sacred Synthesis, a community that consumes psychoactive mushrooms.27 [...] Lake and Benouis formed this church in 2022 and it was quickly embroiled in controversy. They claimed that the church's sacrament was a novel tryptamine, or a new psychedelic. As scholars Samuel Williamson and Alexander Sherwood described the church, "The Church of Psilomethoxin claims to produce a novel tryptamine by adding 5-MeO-DMT to the substrate of cultivated Psilocybe mushrooms, which is then biosynthesized into psilomethoxin, the church's sacrament" (Williamson & Sherwood 2003, unnumbered page). People across the country joined the church by submitting an online application and were granted access to the church's sacrament, which they received via mail. The so-called "mail-order mushroom church" attracted a lot of attention; but the church received even more scrutiny and condemnation after Williamson and Sherwood conducted tests on the church's sacrament and were not able to find evidence of psilomethoxin. They did, however, find psilocybin, baeocystin, and psilocin, suggesting the church was distributing and consuming "normal" psychedelic mushrooms. They published their results in April 2023 and subsequently amended their findings in June 2023. The findings were quite damning, putting Lake and Benouis on the defensive and ultimately prompting them to change the church's name to Church of the Sacred Synthesis. Lake himself responded publicly to the controversy on the Plus Three podcast in May 2023 (Lake 2023).
  41. ↑ Busby, Mattha (4 October 2023). "This Veteran-Founded Church Wants to Sell Psychedelics At Your Local Drug Store". DoubleBlind Mag. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  42. ↑ Busby, Mattha (15 August 2024). "Texas Judge Dismisses Church of Sacred Synthesis's Defamation Case". DoubleBlind Mag. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  43. 1 2 3 Tani, Max (9 February 2025). "New York Magazine partnered with anti-psychedelics activists on MDMA series". Semafor. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  44. ↑ Psychedelic Alpha (5 July 2024). "Pα+ Psychedelic Bulletin #166: Crenshaw and Musk Weigh In on MDMA; Drug Devs Clarify Trial Design In Wake of AdComm; Mini Interview: Joshua Ismin, Psylo". Psychedelic Alpha. Retrieved 3 February 2025. In a ~2 minute video-assisted tweet, Crenshaw railed against both ICER and Psymposia, arguing that the former "influenced" the FDA Advisory Committee that voted against the intervention. "These technocrats think they know better than scientists", he wrote, adding that "Their job is to say NO and support the status quo that makes Big Healthcare plenty of money". "But there's hope", Crenshaw's tweet continued. "These groups aren't the FDA", he said, adding that "We must support the science and push past these activist groups."
  45. ↑ Psychedelic Alpha (12 July 2024). "Pα+ Psychedelic Bulletin #167: Lykos Insiders, Affiliates Respond to Critics; FDA-Affiliated Workshop Discusses Ketamine; EMA Associates Publish Recap of Psychedelics Workshop". Psychedelic Alpha. Retrieved 3 February 2025. Psymposia did have a big effect on ICER and the FDA AdComm, according to some I spoke with. In my commentary, I said: "If your drug development process has been entirely derailed by a small, poorly funded group of individuals, you really have to ask yourself whether that's the truth or whether you're looking for a scapegoat." However, I have since heard from several individuals who believe I missed the mark, here, and argue that Psymposia and its team members' critiques had a wrecking effect on these deliberations.
  46. 1 2 "APA Releases Official Positions on Issues Affecting Mental Health in America". www.psychiatry.org. Retrieved 2025-02-25.
  47. 1 2 Kisely, Steve (2023-07-01). "The down-scheduling of MDMA and psilocybin(e): Too fast and too soon". Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 57 (7): 933–934. doi:10.1177/00048674231174171. ISSN   0004-8674. PMC   10291367 . PMID   37161273.
  48. 1 2 Kisely, Steve; Connor, Mark; Somogyi, Andrew A; Siskind, Dan (2023-03-01). "A systematic literature review and meta-analysis of the effect of psilocybin and methylenedioxymethamphetamine on mental, behavioural or developmental disorders" . Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 57 (3): 362–378. doi:10.1177/00048674221083868. ISSN   0004-8674.
  49. 1 2 "VA.gov | Veterans Affairs". www.healthquality.va.gov. Retrieved 2025-02-25.
  50. 1 2 "Institute for Clinical and Economic Review Publishes Final Evidence Report on Treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder". ICER. Retrieved 2025-02-25.
  51. ↑ Semley, John. "Psychedelic Therapy Crashed and Burned. MAHA Might Bring It Back". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 2025-07-29.
  52. ↑ Perelmuter, Federico (10 August 2023). "Psychotropics help us map our minds. They might also bring us together". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2025. Meanwhile, in "I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World," science journalist Rachel Nuwer examines groundbreaking new research that demonstrates that MDMA (and to a lesser extent other psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD) may allow those suffering from PTSD, addiction and anxiety to reconnect to a social world from which their ailments have separated them. This reverses what Derrida suggested was society's primary grudge against drug users, but it is further complicated by the sheer intensity of backlash against MDMA, which Nuwer documents with infuriating detail.
  53. ↑ Halpern, Luke; Hippensteele, Alana (March 2025). "MDMA Rejected: The Story of a Study Participant Entrenched in Ethical Violations". Pharmacy Times. Vol. 14, no. 2.
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