🫠 This Week in Psychedelics

Welcome to Tricycle Day. Think of our psychedelics newsletter as your personal internet forager. Every week, we sniff out all the truffles, toss the toxic decoys, and present you with a basket of magical goodies. 💎

Here’s what we got this week.

• Results from a study of 10k ayahuasca ceremonies 🍵

• VA Sec goes public on psychedelics 🇺🇸

• The first ketamine company to land major insurers 💰

• A natural sleep aid made from mushrooms 🍄

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MICRODOSES

🔬 Research

Everything everywhere all at once: 5-MeO-DMT offers a model for deconstructed consciousness—i.e., what’s left when the self dissolves.
Sacred motivations: Why are spiritual health practitioners (aka health care chaplains) entering the psychedelic field?
Light bulb moment: Insights catalyzed by psychedelics may contribute to therapeutic outcomes.
Down the hatch: Oral esketamine is safe and effective in improving symptoms of treatment-resistant depression.
Shape the future: The Global Psychedelic Survey 2025, the largest project to capture real-world experiences to date, is live until May 16.

🏛️ Policy

Shroom for improvement: A bill to revamp Oregon Psilocybin Services was unanimously approved in the House. OPS is also hosting two virtual public listening sessions in June.
Nothing to hide: The Colorado bill that, if passed, would let the governor to pardon psilocybin convictions is mostly about public data collection.
Test flight: Another California committee has approved a bill to create a psilocybin pilot program for military vets and first responders.
Fast track: Texas lawmakers advanced two bills that would accelerate access to psychedelic therapies upon federal approval.
So close yet so far: Hawaii’s bill to create a special fund for psychedelic therapies is dead for the session, despite passing the Senate and the House.

📈 Business

Military alliance: Heroic Hearts Project and Healing Breakthrough are merging.
No one left behind: Compass Pathways is partnering with HealthPort to bring COMP360, its psilocybin drug, to underserved communities.
I’ve got you under my skin: Silo Pharma saw positive results from a preclinical study of its extended-release ketamine implant for fibromyalgia.
Border crossing: Optimi Health is now authorized by the FDA to supply pharmaceutical-grade MDMA and psilocybin to entities in the US.
Fashion forward: A veteran-owned apparel brand is partnering with Beond to fund ibogaine treatment for vets and first responders.

🫠 Just for fun

The other big bang: Scientists think they’ve found the origins of consciousness.
Mythbusters: Has the popular narrative of ancient peoples using psychedelics been exaggerated?
Microdshredding: Colorado skiiers and snowboarders are hitting the slopes on mushrooms.
The ineffable: Language itself may be a filter blocking psychedelics’ deeper truths.
Meme of the week: My two personalities watching as I set my intention for the next journey…

THE PEAK EXPERIENCE

The aya of the beholder

You’ve heard the stories about life-changing transformation, 10 years of therapy, etc. from a single night with ayahuasca. We’ve shared plenty of ‘em in this newsletter.

But maybe you’ve also heard horror stories about folks getting “one-shotted” by the potent psychedelic brew.

So what gives? Why do some people get destabilized by ayahuasca, while others emerge from ceremony with a whole upgraded operating system?

After analyzing data from more than 10,000 ayahuasca experiences, a new study from ICEERS may have cracked the code. Here’s what the researchers found.

• 🌳 Context shapes outcomes: Participants in traditional settings (Indigenous ceremonies and established churches) reported fewer adverse effects than those in non-traditional settings.

• 🧠 Mental health history matters: People who suffered from depression or anxiety in the past were more vulnerable to similar challenges post-ceremony.

• 👹 Fear is a mind-killer: Experiencing extreme fear during ceremonies was the strongest predictor of all adverse mental states.

• 🙏 Spirituality protects: Participants who found spiritual significance in their experiences (comfortable or not) reported better mental health outcomes.

Predictive factors aside, the study raises some prickly questions about what we label as “adverse effects” (AEs) in the first place. For example, feeling spiritually or energetically attacked did correlate with worse mental health outcomes, but experiencing visual distortions (often tagged an AE) was actually linked to improved psychological wellbeing.

Anyway, to the 4 million people drinking ayahuasca worldwide, here’s the key takeaway. What happens to (/for?) you will likely depend less on the brew than on who's holding space.

That’s right, TikTok shamans. The jig is up. Please pass the talking stick to someone who knows what they're doing. 🫠

AFTERGLOW

POTUS gets an earful

Did you see that? In a televised Cabinet meeting that we can only assume will be clipped into a Netflix doc some day, VA Secretary Doug Collins casually dropped the P-word to President Trump. When asked about the veteran suicide crisis, Collins mentioned "opening up the possibility of psychedelic treatment." Alas, Trump didn't respond to the psychedelic bit. Selective hearing?

Collins, a former GOP congressman with a history of opposing medical cannabis, has apparently had an "eye-opening" conversation with incoming HHS Secretary RFK Jr. about psychedelic medicine. (Remember, the VA is already putting its money where its mouth is: $1.5 million for MDMA research, plus nearly $10 million from the Pentagon for studies in active-duty military.) Collins even suggested the government might issue vouchers for vets to access psychedelic therapy outside the VA system.

With at least 17 veterans dying by suicide daily, we all know psychedelics could be the (literal) life saver the VA desperately needs. But as much we love a prime-time media moment, turning lip service into actual access will require congressional action. Hey, at least someone in the administration is thinking outside the pill box.

Ketamine for the people

While most ketamine therapy startups are busy selling mystical healing, Denver-based Noma Therapy just raised $4.25 million to do something much less sexy: make ketamine therapy affordable. And they’re well on their way. The virtual platform is already the first national ketamine provider to secure in-network agreements with major insurers like BCBS, UnitedHealthcare, and even Medicare and Medicaid.

Instead of waging war for (or with) therapists in an already stretched market, the company is partnering with existing platforms and hospitals. Noma also offers psychotherapy alongside their ketamine tablets and deliberately downplays the "trip" aspects that other providers lean into for marketing.

Still, critics of the ketamine telehealth trend have concerns about the drug’s abuse potential. But Noma’s 4.5-month structured program, which includes mandatory therapy and strict medical oversight, seems to be focused on getting people better—not keeping them on ketamine forever. So far, 85% of Noma’s patients report reduced depression symptoms. Couldn’t hurt that they didn’t have to sell their car to foot the bill.

CYCLISTS’ PICKS

• 🍄 Natural remedy: Psyched Wellness’s safe and natural Amanita muscaria tincture helps us sleep like babies. Take 10% off with code TRICYCLE10.

• 🧑‍🔬 Event: Drop in with Sasha Shulgin’s protégé, Paul Daley, and learn how to separate, purify, and analyze psychoactive substances.

• 👩‍🏫 Free webinar: Sunny Strasburg (a fan-favorite Psychonaut POV guest) is teaching therapists and coaches the Theradelic Approach, her framework for integrating psychedelics into clinical practice.

• 📙 Book: Quieting the Storm Within is a fun, comic-style introduction to Internal Family Systems (IFS), a method of parts work beloved by psychonauts.

UNTIL NEXT TIME

That’s all for today, Cyclists! Whenever you’re ready, here’s how we can help.

ONE CYCLIST’S REVIEW

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DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. The use, possession, and distribution of psychedelic drugs are illegal in most countries and may result in criminal prosecution.