🫠 This Week in Psychedelics

PRESENTED BY SCHOOL OF PSYCHEDELICS 🤝

Welcome to Tricycle Day. We’re the psychedelics newsletter that’s on a perpetual shopping spree. But only in the marketplace of ideas. 💡

Here’s what we got this week.

• Maryland task force proposes commercial sales model 🛍️

• Bryan Johnson livestreams heroic dose for science 🍄

• LSD microdosing trial shows benefit for depression 📉

• Our favorite mushroom latte lately 🍵

FROM OUR SPONSORS

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MICRODOSES

🔬 Research

Set and setting: Psilocybin’s neuroplastic effects are at least partially determined by environmental context.
Estrogeneration: Hormonal changes across a woman’s lifespan likely affect sensitivity and response to psilocybin.
Proceed with caution: Two clinical trials suggest psilocybin is effective for bipolar II depression, but safety concerns loom.
Meeting God: Researchers mapped and clocked the 5-MeO-DMT experience in healthy, psychedelic-naïve adults.
Think of the children: Teenagers could benefit from psychedelic therapy, but they’ve been systematically excluded from clinical research.

🏛️ Policy

Coast to coast: The VA confirmed it’s expanding psychedelic-assisted therapy trials for veterans across nine facilities.
Docs speak up: The American Medical Association acknowledged that psilocybin use has surged, and federal law is “a major barrier” to research.
Mind the gaps: There are five types of laws facilitating access to psychedelics. Researchers argue this patchwork of policies has created four issues we need to resolve.
Where’d you get that? Colorado’s governor wants to legalize ibogaine, but there’s some conflict over responsible sourcing.
New year, new rules: Oregon Psilocybin Services posted a letter about rule changes, including protections for facilitators with other licenses, going into effect in January.

📈 Business

Two become one: AtaiBeckley completed its merger and shared new data from a Phase 2b open-label extension study of its intranasal 5-MeO-DMT product.
Flush with cash: MindMed raised $259 million through a public offering.
Island hopping: Ambio Life Sciences launched a second location in Malta, marking Europe’s first physician-led ibogaine clinic.
Think outside the mind: The next wave of psychedelic pharmaceutical companies isn’t focused on mental health.
Wake up babe: A new tech-enabled psychedelic integration platform just launched.

🫠 Just for fun

Gov’t secrets: This group claims its meditations have been used by the US military and CIA to access new planes of consciousness.
Our cup runneth over: Psychedelics Today recapped the 2025 Colorado Psychedelic Cup, from the playful prizes to the serious data.
ASMR for the soul: Listen to the most relaxing sounds in the world.
Meme of the week: How it feels to know someone is looking out for you while you’re melting into the fabric of the universe…

THE PEAK EXPERIENCE

Phased and unfazed

Ok, we’ll say the quiet part out loud.

The vast majority of psychedelic use today is non-medical. That doesn’t mean it’s necessarily irresponsible, or even that it’s not intentional.

But when policy reform ignores the reality of “recreational” use, it fails to protect the ~12 million Americans using psychedelics outside “controlled settings.”

That’s why Maryland's new psychedelics roadmap is so refreshing… it admits most people trip on their own terms.

This week, the state task force released its final report with a three-phase plan for psilocybin, DMT, and mescaline. Unlike other states, it explicitly builds toward commercial adult-use sales. Here’s the plan in broad strokes.

• ☝️ Phase 1, Infrastructure: Create an advisory board. Develop safety protocols, testing facilities, and facilitator training. Expunge possession convictions.

• ✌️ Phase 2, Medical: Launch the clinical pathway with supervised adult-use facilities. Allow personal cultivation (with a permit). Deprioritize legal repercussions.

• 👌 Phase 3, Recreational: Full send commercial sales for licensed adults. Consider expansion to other psychedelics (beyond psilocybin) based on safety data.

Let’s compare notes, shall we? In Oregon, you can sit with a licensed psilocybin facilitator, but don’t you dare grow your own. In Colorado, personal use outside healing centers is protected, but commercial sales are still a no-no. Then, New Mexico’s program (passed but not yet launched) is strictly medical.

Maryland (or maybe New York?) could be the first state to acknowledge that the therapeutic model isn’t for everyone. Plenty of people will happily pay for safe access.

Can’t imagine they’d mind the economic boost, either. The task force estimates psilocybin alone could generate $10-20 million in annual consumer spending once commercial sales launch.

Of course, Maryland lawmakers still have to pass actual legislation to implement any of this. Is it too late to add a group ceremony at the Capitol as Phase 0? 🫠

AFTERGLOW

Legends never die

Bryan Johnson (the biohacker who spends $2 million a year trying not to age) took 5 grams of psilocybin mushrooms on Sunday, while his cofounder live-posted the whole journey on X. He wrapped up his trip by announcing he's “happy to be alive,” which strikes us as a little on-the-nose for someone whose entire brand is defying mortality.

Always keen to follow the science, Johnson took his inspiration from recent research showing psilocybin extended lifespan in mice and increased cellular longevity in human fibroblasts. His n-of-1 protocol involves taking 5 grams monthly for three months while tracking 249 biomarkers, including DNA methylation, telomere length, inflammatory markers. He's even strapping on his Kernel Flow neurotech helmet to track real-time cortical activity, because why wouldn't you?

Onlookers worried that a heroic dose might bring Johnson some ego-dissolving peace with death and tank his whole “Don't Die” ethos clearly haven't been paying attention. The man has a 5-MeO-DMT molecule tattooed on his arm. He's already worked through LSD, ibogaine, and DMT, too. This isn't his first psychedelic rodeo. It's just the first time he’s turned a mushroom trip into biometric performance art.

Home-field advantage

We're so back, microdosers. After the latest splash of cold water, we just got the first clinical trial where patients microdosed LSD at home for major depressive disorder. This time, it’s hard to deny it worked. Depression symptoms dropped 60% on average, and the benefits lasted up to six months after treatment ended.

The New Zealand pilot study had 19 participants take 5-15 micrograms of LSD (about a tenth of a full dose) sublingually twice weekly for eight weeks. MADRS scores showed improvement starting at week two and stabilizing by study's end. (But wait! There’s more!) Anxiety also decreased over 50%, rumination fell 15%, and aside from one participant who withdrew due to anxiety, no serious adverse events were reported.

So far, most microdosing trials have been in supervised lab settings, which don't reflect reality. Sure, this study is limited by its small sample size and open-label design. But it was only the pilot phase for a larger, triple-blind, placebo-controlled trial that’s already recruiting. That's when we'll find out whether these micro effects are real, or if expectations are doing the macro lifting.

CYCLISTS’ PICKS

• 🍵 Mushroom mix: Clevr has quickly climbed to the top of our hot drink power rankings™️. Their instant lattes are loaded with mushrooms and superfoods for energy, focus, and gut health. Don’t sleep on the pistachio matcha.

• 🌪️ Fundraiser: Beckley Retreats is raising money to recover from the devastating impact of Hurricane Melissa. Donations are tax deductible.

• 👀 Trailer: We just got the first official sneak peek of the upcoming documentary about Dante Liberato’s 500-mile run… on psychedelics, naturally.

• 🍿 Feature film: Finally out on Netflix, In Waves and War tells the emotional story of three former Navy SEALs who find relief from PTSD through ibogaine.

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.