MAPS just dropped another banger

This is Tricycle Day, the newsletter that feeds you everything you need to know about the psychedelics industry, with no spills. Consider us your sippy cup for trippy news. 🥤

Today we’re covering the latest bombshell from MAPS, every psychonaut’s favorite non-profit.

MAPS is on a tear with its research into MDMA

In the psychedelics scene, MAPS needs no introduction. But here at Tricycle Day, we never assume… because we’re okay making asses of ourselves, but never our dear readers.

MAPS, or the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that “develops medical, legal, and cultural contexts for people to benefit from the careful uses of psychedelics and marijuana.”

In other words, MAPS and its founder Rick Doblin have been grinding for over 30 years to bring psychedelics out of the shadows, without the standard profit motive of Big Pharma.

January has been a heater of a month for MAPS. Five days into the new year, they posted positive results from their Phase 3 “MAPP2” clinical trial of MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

And it's fair to say, they crushed it. 💪

The trial met all its key endpoints (pre-specified goals for safety and effectiveness), and no serious adverse events (aka side effects) were reported.

It doesn’t seem to be a fluke either. They’d already produced positive results in the MAPP1 study.

It’s been a long and windy road since the FDA granted breakthrough therapy designation to MDMA for the treatment of PTSD. Now, we’re one step closer to FDA approval.

MAPS plans to submit their new drug application to the FDA in the third quarter of 2023. If they’re successful, MDMA could be the first psychedelic-assisted therapy approved to treat a mental health condition.

Alright, now that you’re caught up, here’s the latest.

MAPS just dropped another banger.

Remember when Beyoncé released a surprise video album in 2013, all her stans flipped out, and then she immediately followed it up with another unannounced companion album?

Well, MAPS pulled a Beyoncé.

They just had yet another study published to support their case. This one is the first ever functional neuroimaging study for MDMA-assisted therapy in PTSD.

Here’s what they found:

• Participants’s PTSD became significantly less severe after MDMA-assisted therapy 😅

• You could look at brain images and actually see how the therapy turned down fear in the brain 🧠

• Functional connectivity between the amygdala and hippocampus (parts of the brain associated with fear and memory) strengthened after treatment 🔗

The participants in this imaging study were all either veterans or first responders, whose life experiences sadly put them at increased risk for trauma and its psychological effects.

But make no mistake. MAPS isn’t stopping here.

Of the 32 MAPS-led clinical trials on public record, one will be recruiting healthy volunteers. So who's in?

That's all for today! If you're picking up what we're putting down, share this newsletter with all your friends. New subscribers make us trip! 😵‍💫

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.