The group's work has been both praised and criticized.[1][11][12] They have become increasingly controversial over time due to claims against them of false accusations, aggressive tactics, and politically motivated campaigning against approval of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.[1][11] The group is said to have been excluded from the mainstream psychedelic community and banned from conferences.[1][13][8][14]
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 chemistDavid E. Nichols), and feminist scholar Lily Kay Ross, among others.[1][15][16][5] As of February 2025, Devenot is said to be the group's most high-profile member.[1] She is a senior lecturer at the writing program at Johns Hopkins University and is described as a researcher in the area of psychedelic bioethics.[17][18] Oriana Mayorga was Psymposia's former community engagement director.[1] Nickles and Ross eventually left Psymposia and started their own group.[1] Psymposia co-founder Greene is no longer a member as well.[1] He is notable in also being the co-founder of the for-profit psychedelic pharmaceutical company Adelia Therapeutics, which was acquired by Cybin in 2020, and in then serving as Cybin's Chief Innovation Officer.[12][19][20]
Work and views
Psymposia has been widely credited with illuminating sexual abuse in the field of psychedelic medicine, particularly in underground settings.[1][13] Greene has also been partially credited with coining the term "corporadelic" in 2019 to refer to corporations commodifying and profiting off of psychedelics, which the group strongly opposes.[21][12][13] Psymposia advocates for the decriminalization and legalization of psychedelics.[13][10]
As an example, 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.[15][16]Cover Story: Power Trip and Buisson opted to publish video excerpts of one of her clinical trial sessions in March 2022, documenting that the husband-and-wife therapist team had cuddled and spooned her.[1][24][25][26] Buisson subsequently lived with the couple, Dr. Donna Dryer and Dr. Richard Yensen, on a remote Canadian island, and eventually entered a sexual relationship with Yensen, allegedly under the guise of further therapy for her PTSD.[3][27] In 2018, Buisson filed a civil suit alleging repeated sexual assault by Yensen.[1][28] The case was settled out of court.[1][28] Upon learning of the incident, MAPS cut ties with the therapists, reported the ethical violation to health authorities, issued a public statement about it, gave Buisson US$15,000 to obtain therapy while her civil case against Yensen was ongoing, and instituted a new code of ethics for the trials that explicitly prohibited sexual contact between participants and therapists.[1][25][29] However, MAPS has been criticized for missing the incident and for not viewing the video footage of her therapy session for years after it happened.[24][25] In addition, concerns have been raised that the effects of MDMA, including artificial emotional intimacy and trust, may increase the risk of boundary violations.[29][17]
Devenot and Psymposia are prominent critics of the nonprofit MAPS and its corporate entity Lykos Therapeutics generally.[4][30][5] They are said to have eventually turned against MAPS following its formation of the for-profit Lykos Therapeutics in 2014.[1] Psymposia has accused MAPS and Lykos Therapeutics of being "cult-like", of perpetuating "white supremacy, capitalism, and imperialism", and of enabling "entrapment, sexual abuse and coercive control", among other allegations.[1][10] Devenot has also expressed, about the psychedelic industry in general, that "global financial and tech elites are instrumentalizing psychedelics as one tool in a broader world-building project that justifies increasing material inequality."[1] In addition, Nickles has written of strategies for damaging psychedelic pharmaceutical companies and nonprofit organizations through persistent critical media coverage.[1][11] Although Psymposia is now highly critical of MAPS, Devenot formerly volunteered for MAPS from 2011 to 2017[17][10] and Normand spoke very positively about MAPS as late as 2018.[31] Devenot says that she was "bullied out of the field of psychedelic research by a MAPS employee".[10]
On June 4, 2024, seven Psymposia representatives attended and spoke at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s advisory hearing for Lykos Therapeutics's MDMA-AT for PTSD New Drug Application (NDA).[1][15][32][2] They included Psymposia members Brian Pace, Russell Hausfeld, and Neşe Devenot, among others.[1][33][32] During the public comments period, the Psymposia representatives sharply criticized Lykos Therapeutics, including Hausfeld raising concerns about potential exploitation and mistreatment of veterans, 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.[34][2][17][15][33][32] The panel later overwhelmingly recommended rejection of MDMA-AT for PTSD, citing both major weaknesses of Lykos Therapeutics' NDA as well as mentioning Psymposia's allegations.[1][34] The FDA followed suit and rejected the NDA of MDMA-AT for PTSD on August 9, 2024.[2][1] Despite the rejection, MAPS and Lykos Therapeutics are continuing to develop MDMA-AT for PTSD and remain optimistic of eventual approval.[35][36][37] However, they have had to court additional corporate funding sources towards this aim.[38][39][40]
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.[41][42][43] 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.[42] 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".[43] 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.[41][42][43][44] Psymposia has criticized the Church of Psilomethoxin as engaging in "psychedelic charlatanism".[41] In April 2024, the church sued Psymposia and others for alleged defamation.[42] The church's lawsuit against Psymposia was later dismissed in August 2024, with the cited dismissal reason being anti-SLAPP laws.[45]
Controversy
Critics have accused Psymposia of false and exaggerated accusations, bias, reactivity, aggressive tactics, and of having had an outsized and inappropriate influence on the FDA advisory panel's decision to reject Lykos Therapeutics' MDMA-AT for PTSD.[1][11][34][46][47]
Psymposia has been said to have a "take-no-prisoners approach" in terms of how it conducts itself.[1]
Members of the psychedelic medicine community have reportedly been targeted by Psymposia, and more than four dozen people in the field have anonymously expressed fear of the group.[1] It has been accused of making false accusations and of damaging reputations and careers, such as those of psychedelic professionals Beatriz Labate and Veronika Gold, among others.[1] In addition, the group has been said to have attacked veterans' groups that supported Lykos Therapeutics' MDMA-AT for PTSD application.[1] Former Psymposia member Nickles has written critically about veterans as well as the police generally.[1] Psymposia has also been reported to have targeted one of its own former members, Mayorga, due to her criticizing one of their social media posts.[1] This included mailing a 28-page letter to the university she was attending that accused her of "discrimination, bullying and intimidation".[1] Former members Nickles and Ross have left Psymposia alleging "undisclosed unethical behavior" by other members.[1] Psymposia has said themselves that they have been excluded from the mainstream psychedelic movement[1][10] and the group has been banned from multiple psychedelic conferences.[13][8][14]
Of 32speakers at the FDA hearing of MDMA-AT for PTSD, 10 of them opposed the approval of the therapy and 7 of those 10 were Psymposia representatives.[1] Three of the representatives, including Pace, Hausfeld, and Devenot, were official Psymposia members.[1][15][32][2][33] The 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] The hearing panelists repeatedly asked Psymposia speakers about their allegations, expressed concern about them, and a majority of the panelists mentioned the allegations in their decisions to reject the therapy.[1] Devenot claimed credit for the rejection on social media, stating "Yesterday, beyond my wildest expectations, we made international news in a David and Goliath-scale, ‘dark horse’ victory".[1] It has been noted however that the role of Psymposia in the rejection is unclear and Lykos Therapeutics' NDA also had considerable flaws.[1][48][34] Following the FDA hearing, Psymposia has enlisted a public relations firm to amplify their attacks against Lykos Therapeutics.[1] They have declined to disclose who is funding their work.[1] At the same time, multiple public relations firms, including one hired by Lykos Therapeutics, have started advocating for approval of MDMA-AT for PTSD following the hearing.[49]
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".[11][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.[50] 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."[11]
^ abcdeJarow, 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.
^ abWorthington, 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.
^ abGorsline, 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."
^ abcSinclair, 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.
^"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.
^Love, Shayla (1 November 2024). "The Horseshoe Theory of Psychedelics". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 5 November 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2025. Before the FDA rejected MDMA-assisted therapy as a treatment for PTSD this summer, members of Psymposia, a nonprofit that describes itself as offering "leftist perspectives on drugs," raised concerns about the approval.
^ abcLeft Voice (15 January 2023). "Anticapitalist Psychedelic Activists Banned: An Interview". Left Voice. Retrieved 5 February 2025. Recently a leaked blacklist showed the banning of prominent anti-capitalist activists from psychedelic conferences. [...] My name is Yarelix. [...] I'm also on the advisory board of the psychedelic media group Psymposia. [...] Psymposia is a great media outlet that does work around anti-capitalism in the psychedelic field. It also works to try to expose "corporadelics", as they call it. [...] Being anti-capitalist in the psychedelic space is very difficult because there are a lot of people trying to make profit off of this. I hope that we create more space for talking about psychedelic use from an anti-capitalist and revolutionary perspective. There definitely is a lot of work to do in that realm.
^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.
^ abcdefAgresta, 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. [...]
^ abcNoorani, 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.""
^ abcdeBrownlee, 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.
^ abKent, James (8 November 2022). "Wonderland Miami Exposes Growing Rift in Psychedelic Community". Psychedelic Spotlight. Retrieved 6 February 2025. Wonderland Miami is billed as the world's largest psychedelic conference, drawing fans, media, and corporate executives to witness the latest breakthroughs in the field of psychedelic research and commerce. [...] The biggest news from Wonderland this year was the discovery of a list purporting to ban a number of journalists, academics, and industry players from entering the event. [...] The banned list featured all of the journalists associated with the Psymposia blog and podcast, [...]
^ abcdefgLighthouse, 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."
^ abcStone, 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.
^ abcdSamuel, 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."
^Green, Hannah Harris (25 November 2024). "RFK Jr will cut prescription drugs and increase weed and psychedelics access". the Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2025. Neşe Devenot, a bioethics researcher affiliated with Johns Hopkins University and the psychedelic harm reduction non-profit Psymposia, organized opposition to Lykos's treatment.
^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. ISSN2694-3034.
^ abCanavan, 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.
^ abLove, 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.
^ abLindsay, Bethany (18 March 2021). "As psychedelic therapy goes mainstream, former patient warns of danger of sexual abuse". CBC. Retrieved 6 February 2025. In a civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court in 2018, Buisson alleges she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Yensen, with Dryer's knowledge, while in treatment with the couple. [...] The civil claim has since been settled out of court on undisclosed terms, but MAPS has acknowledged that Yensen carried on an "unethical" sexual relationship with Buisson and said Dryer knew but failed to report it to any authorities. The organization has cut ties with both Yensen and Dryer.
^ abGoldhill, Olivia (3 March 2020). "Psychedelic therapy has a sexual abuse problem". Quartz. Retrieved 6 February 2025. Shortly before publishing its statement, MAPS created a Code of Ethics to explicitly prohibit sexual contact between participants enrolled in the study and the professionals providing their care.
^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.
^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, [...]
^ abcd"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."
^ abcKunzmann, 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."
^ abcdEnders, Caty (23 August 2024). "How the Psychedelics Medicine Bubble Burst". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 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."
^ abcBusby, 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."
^ abcdHu, 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.
^ abcStoddard, Brad (31 July 2024). The Production of Entheogenic Communities in the United States. Cambridge University Press. pp. 36–37. doi:10.1017/9781009429412. ISBN978-1-009-42941-2. [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).
^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."
^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.
^Psychedelic Alpha (7 February 2025). "Pα+ Psychedelic Bulletin #187: NYT Article Reignites MDMA Rejection Blame Game; FDA "Wanted to Approve" MDMA, MindMed Exec Says; GH's Data and RFK Jr. Confirmation Send Psychedelics Stocks Soaring". Psychedelic Alpha. Retrieved 8 February 2025. Many others in the psychedelics field have embraced the article [...] But, in spite of its victory lapping, it remains unclear what influence the 'informal collective's' campaigning had on the FDA [...] While Psymposia's loud opposition to Lykos' NDA surely had an impact on public deliberations by the likes of ICER and the [FDA's] AdComm, and thus presumably seeped into the agency's review, it also seems difficult to overlook other issues with Lykos' [New Drug Application (NDA)] and instead have its failure boil down to the FDA being swayed by a loose coalition of individuals and ultimately scuppering a nine-figure development program in the process. [...] While Lykos is currently expected to have a third-party review footage of its Phase 3 sessions, many people close to the company are hoping that RFK Jr. and co. might provide a fast-track to approval for MDMA [...] But courting a right-wing administration while amping up tensions around its 'radical leftist' critics represents an awkward moment for Lykos and, perhaps even more so, MAPS.
^Goldhill, Olivia (28 June 2024). "Don't write off MDMA yet: How the FDA got on board with psychedelics". STAT. Retrieved 10 February 2025. Since the public meeting, several veteran groups have come out in full force in favor of MDMA, with Heroic Hearts Project, a nonprofit advocating for psychedelic therapy for veterans, publishing a letter that condemned criticisms of MDMA as pharma-funded bias. Crisis PR firms, including one hired by Lykos, are working frantically to help advocate for approval, according to writer Jules Evans. Lykos said its communications efforts are focused on creating "an informed dialogue based on science.
^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.
