🫠 This Week in Psychedelics

Welcome to Tricycle Day. We're the psychedelics newsletter that thinks you should put yourself first. That’s right. Indulge in this email as a rebellious act of self-care. 😘

Here’s what we got this week.

This experience is a six-day, all-inclusive group psilocybin retreat in Oregon's Willamette Valley or near Denver, Colorado. You'll arrive to a private lodge, spend the first day preparing with your group, then move through two guided psilocybin journeys with structured reflection time between them. The second journey builds on what surfaces in the first, which is why Odyssey runs two rather than one.

Coke zero: Psilocybin therapy may be the first effective treatment for cocaine use disorder.
Shulgin would be proud: A new synthetic psychedelic called 25C-NBF reversed depression in mice within 24 hours.
Low and behold: In a small pilot trial, adults who microdosed LSD twice a week saw a 60% drop in depression severity.
Born alone, die together: An increased sense of connectedness may be what eases people’s fear of death after a psychedelic experience.
Non-specific amplifiers: Contrary to popular belief, psilocybin does not reliably change authoritarian attitudes.

You’re fired: Trump reportedly signed off on a plan to oust FDA Commissioner Marty Makary.
Per our last email: 30 bipartisan U.S. House members cosigned a letter to the FDA requesting clarity on its response to the psychedelics executive order.
Sooner than you think: The Oklahoma Senate passed an ibogaine bill that would allow the state to collaborate on research with drug developers and other states.
No notes: Louisiana’s psychedelic therapy bill also passed both chambers unanimously. All that’s left is for the governor to sign.
Busy week for governors: Connecticut’s bill to expand the state’s psychedelic therapy research program is also headed to the governor’s desk.

KPIs for the soul: Althea CEO Niko Skievaski argues psychedelics are a leadership tool for founders.
This time it’s personal: A Denver psilocybin co-op is fighting state closure orders, arguing harm reduction doesn’t require a facilitation license.
Ring that bell: Psychedelics manufacturer Optimi Health launched a $15M IPO.
The Illuminati: MAPS added two new members to its board of directors.
New syllabus just dropped: The University of Exeter opened a psychedelic research center focused on big, interdisciplinary questions.

Something in the water: If psilocybin can make fish less aggressive, imagine what it could do for you.
Spore lore: Anthropologists confirmed the first known case of traditional psilocybin use outside the Americas.
Ackshually: With all due respect to the trauma gurus, these scientists say the brain’s predictive models keep the score.
Meme of the week: People will take mushrooms once, find out psilocybin facilitators exist, and be like…

The awkward fumbling. Do I keep my eyes open or closed? And who could forget that corny playlist… *face palm*

Get your mind outta the gutter, Cyclists. We’re not talking about that first time.

We’re talking about your first psychedelic trip, which might be even more impactful than we realized.

A new study gave 28 people their first-ever psilocybin experience and found that the intensity of the trip predicted measurable brain and well-being changes a month later.

The researchers used three types of neuroimaging—EEG, DTI, and fMRI—to measure everything from brain entropy to cognition. (And you thought your first time was hot.)

Here’s what showed up.

Now, this study was small and used a fixed-order design (meaning everyone got a 1 mg placebo before the 25 mg active dose). So some of the observed changes may reflect practice effects rather than the psilocybin itself.

Even so, it seems pretty clear that the altered-ness of the experience matters here. (Sorry, neuroplastogen maxis.)

So if you’re still clutching your psychedelic V-card, just be warned this might be even stranger than prom night. 🫠

Minnesota's House just voted 114-15 to legalize psilocybin therapy. That’s a certified blowout. Republicans and Democrats were practically tripping over each other (sorry) to get on board. Now if the Senate and Gov. Tim Walz sign off, Minnesota will become the fourth state to legalize supervised psychedelics, after Oregon, Colorado, and New Mexico.

Maybe a reason the bill was so popular is that it’s fairly conservative. It creates a pilot program with enrollment capped at 1,000 patients for the first three years and licenses for only 20 to 50 facilitators. It also hands oversight to the state’s cannabis admins, rather than creating a whole new office. Participants need a qualifying condition like PTSD, chronic pain, or depression. (Although a separate proposal to decriminalize personal use has been making the rounds, too.)

Then there’s Trump’s executive order, which certainly sweetened the deal. Several sponsors pitched the bill as a way to secure the bag claim MN’s share of the $50 million in federal funding that the EO unlocked. The session ends May 18, so the clock is ticking. But with bipartisan support this strong (and competition for those research dollars this fierce), that deadline might be the biggest hurdle.

You'd think a psychedelic church would avoid courtrooms like the plague. But the Church of the Sacred Synthesis can’t seem to stay away. The Austin-based community just filed a new lawsuit claiming, among other things, its sacrament is backed by a $500 million investor valuation. This after losing all 16 counts in its first defamation case and getting stuck with defendants' legal fees.

The group, formerly known as the Church of Psilomethoxin, once landed national coverage for distributing an alleged fusion of 5-MeO-DMT and psilocybin to 1,500+ members. Then a 2023 paper found no psilomethoxin in the product, and the church admitted it had never tested for it. Members rage-quit en masse, monthly revenue dropped 80%, and the church apparently still owes laid-off staff nearly $500k.

One teeny tiny detail. That critical paper was written by two researchers at Usona Institute, a nonprofit deep in its own psilocybin research. The new lawsuit pivots from defamation to trade secret claims, alleging Usona used a knowingly false study to undermine its competitor. The church says independent chemists can now prove the compound exists. Usona hasn’t commented. (And since we’d rather not be sued, neither will we.)

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

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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.