🫠 This Week in Psychedelics

Welcome to Tricycle Day. We’re the psychedelics newsletter that still tells left from right by making an L with our index finger and thumb. 🫣

Here’s what we got this week.

• Psychedelics activate the right brain 🧠

• The world’s oldest evidence of psychedelic ritual 🗿

• Head of FDA calls psychedelics a top priority ☝️

• A journaling and social app for altered states 📲

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MICRODOSES

🔬 Research

Snooze fest: Psychedelics can enhance REM sleep and alter dream states.
Not an oxymoron? Animal models and a human case study suggest non-hallucinogenic psychedelics may actually work.
No taper necessary: Results from Beckley Psytech’s Phase 2a study show that 5-MeO-DMT is still effective when administered alongside SSRIs.
Jesters, elves, and aliens, oh my: Two new studies characterize the micro-phenomology and brain activity of DMT entity encounters.
The third presence: Music isn’t merely “administered” in psychedelic-assisted therapy. It’s a collaborator in the room.

🏛️ Policy

Divine intervention: A psychedelic church in Washington has received the first religious exemption from the Controlled Substances Act without having to sue the DEA.
Spore wars: Florida’s governor signed the bill to outlaw psychedelic mushroom spores.
Pressure’s on: A Nevada resolution to press US Congress to reschedule psychedelics is advancing to the full Assembly.
Live free or die: New Hampshire Senators approved a bill to decriminalize psilocybin.
Suit up: US Rep. Morgan Luttrell shared his psychedelic therapy experience with the Wall Street Journal.

📈 Business

Growing pains: Regulators and facilitators weigh in on where Oregon’s psilocybin industry stands.
Early adopter tax: The first publicly traded company to operate a licensed psilocybin center in the US lost $2 million last year.
Deut diligence: Cybin has secured new patents and tapped a manufacturing partner for CYB003, its deuterated psilocin product.
PAIHKAL: PharmAla Biotech launched an AI tech stack to identify novel phenethylamines for drug development.
Pay to pray: An analysis of 298 psychedelic retreat organizations (of which only 5% were categorized as medical) found that costs ranged from $20 to $150,000.

🫠 Just for fun

Ok zoomer: A new Colorado campaign is educating Gen Z about psychedelic harm reduction.
Earth medicine: Can psychedelics heal our relationship with the natural world?
Pollan’s latest: Several religious leaders who tried psilocybin in a research study have gone on to become psychedelic evangelists.
Meme of the week: When you take the hikrodose concept a little too far…

THE PEAK EXPERIENCE

Put my brain down, flip it and reverse it

A good trip defies logic.

Not just in the “why is that tree staring at me” kinda way. Many people feel noticeably more creative, empathetic, and intuitive on psychedelics.

Well, it turns out there may be a, well, logical explanation for that. A new theory suggests that psychedelics reverse the usual power dynamic between your brain's hemispheres.

That is, your left brain takes a backseat to the typically quieter right side.

Psychiatrist Adam Levin from Ohio State calls his model HEALS—Hemispheric Annealing and Lateralization Under Psychedelics—and it might explain why mushrooms have the uncanny ability to make us stop turning every decision into a math problem.

Here's the science behind it.

• 🧠 Flipped hierarchy: In normal consciousness, your left hemisphere (analytical, detail-oriented) dominates the right (holistic, emotionally intelligent). Psychedelics temporarily switch the balance.

• 📸 Visual evidence: Neuroimaging shows increased blood flow and metabolic activity in the right hemisphere, especially in frontal areas, during psychedelic states.

• 🎵 Musical connection: Psychedelics increase right-brain responses to music, which explains why tunes sound so magical on medicine.

• 🧘 Meditation link: The right-brain shift under psychedelics mirrors what happens during deep meditation, another practice known for eliciting non-ordinary states of mindfulness and connection.

This isn’t attack on other theories about psychedelics’ mechanisms of action. Previous models have done a great job explaining how psychedelics break down mental barriers. They just haven’t really addressed why the resulting experiences follow such consistent patterns.

If psychedelics simply created neural chaos, shouldn’t our experiences be more random? So why do the right brain’s hallmarks of connection, empathy, and presence almost always creep in?

Either Dr. Levin is onto something with HEALS, or… maybe logic is a sham, and here we go again trying to make sense of the incomprehensible mystery of being. 🫠

AFTERGLOW

Step aside, Eleusis

Humans have been getting non-ordinary for a looooong time. Archaeologists just dug up what appears to be the world's oldest known psychedelic ceremony in the Peruvian Andes, dating back 3,000 years. While other ancient civilizations have left clues about their use of sacred plants and fungi, this discovery marks the first direct chemical evidence of prehistoric humans expanding their consciousness in ritual settings.

The findings come from Chavín de Huántar, where researchers analyzed 23 hollow bone tubes that had been sealed underground since around 500 BCE. Chemical testing revealed residue of both tobacco and vilca, a tree bark containing bufotenin (a molecule similar in structure to 5-MeO-DMT and psilocin). The archaeologists say the bone tubes likely served as pipes for the society's elite to commune with the divine.

But apparently, the plant mixture wasn’t meant for everyone. The tiny, restricted chambers where these artifacts were found suggest that only the upper echelons had the privilege of blasting off. According to anthropological archaeologist Daniel Contreras, these "tightly controlled rituals" probably reinforced social hierarchies and served as a form of political theater. And we thought gatekeeping psychedelics was a modern problem.

Gang’s all here

Add another name to the growing list of incoming administration officials signaling support for psychedelic medicine. Dr. Marty Makary, Trump's FDA Commissioner pick, just declared on national television that research and development of psychedelic treatments is "one of our top priorities at the FDA." That’s the spirit.

Speaking on NewsNation with Jillian Michaels, Makary didn't mince words about the current system. "When it comes to these psychedelics and plant-based therapies, I don't think we're listening to patients," he said. "I don't think the medical establishment is listening to doctors." The Johns Hopkins surgeon specifically highlighted psilocybin for mood disorders, MDMA for PTSD, and ibogaine for traumatic brain injury as promising treatments that deserve expedited review.

Makar’s stance aligns with the psychedelic-friendly positions of other Trump nominees, including HHS Secretary pick Robert F. Kennedy Jr., VA Secretary Doug Collins, and Surgeon General nominee Dr. Casey Means. If Makary makes it through confirmation, the FDA might finally deliver on its five breakthrough therapy designations for psychedelic drug candidates. Let’s just hope there are enough staffers left to push ‘em through.

CYCLISTS’ PICKS

• 📱 Mobile app: ALTERED is an AI-powered journaling and social app designed (by a Harvard undergrad, no less) to help people explore and connect over altered states of consciousness.

• 🎨 Art party: DoubleBlind is hosting free-flowing, microdosing-friendly painting workshop. BYO art supplies, and leave your perfectionism at the door.

• 🎥 Podcast: Over three eps, Psychedelics and the Texas Trip explores how the Lone Star state became the first in the US to publicly fund psychedelic research, and what’s next for the legislature.

• 🎪 Off-campus event: When PS2025 winds down, the party continues with art, music, eats, and elixirs at Psychedelic Playhouse. Take 10% off tix for evening one and two with code TRICYCLE10.

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.