I'm not a religious guy in the classical sense
Used to be atheist until some mushrooms showed me spirituality and to admire a message of love. This situation reminds me about Jesus kicking out the merchants ($$$) out of the temple (psilocybin).

Did MAPS just post on Facebook some Compass info and then take it down after getting feedback?

I personally think we should grateful that billionaires are finally using their money for something good. But no - instead its "complain complain complain - smash capitalism!"

Them not sharing infos while leeching off of non profit researches is certainly bad style but capitalism is the broader cultural framework we operate in at this time so....

What i care about is: Results. And if a for-profit venture can get us there quicker - Great! It's not like you can patent mushrooms or anything.

Seems like the worries are vastly overstated to me, but i'll try to follow this and keep an open mind about it.

Good you are sharing your perspective with MAPS, Snozzleberry.
A discussion about this is certainly needed since capitalism has many downsides as we are probably all very aware of.

My sentiments are pretty much in line with these comments.

However, be aware that compass have filed a European patent application around their psilocybin work. I can't view the details of the patent. How much of the patent application is granted will be interesting to see, given that the molecule is not patentable, and literature of it's use for various mental health conditions is already in the public domain.

This, together with the fact that treatment might entail using the substance a few times per person, in their entire life, points to a strange (risky) business venture.

I'll keep my money invested with the disgusting financial institutions of the world, thank you very much....

Perhaps this is an ancient struggle reborn. A struggle that has played out many times before.

The transition to agriculture and the broad use of money marked the decline of our connection with nature and, some argue, the decrease of our brain volume (which peaked ~ 20,000 years ago according to several researchers).

It's love and connection vs accumulation of grains and power.

This seems like another round in the ancient battle.

Will we descend into a squirmy race of struggling suffering monkeys that have wrecked their planet paving a path to extinction trough the pursuit of imaginary money, or will we reconnect with nature and each other to reach sustainability and harmony with our planet as we travel to the stars beyond our sun?

I, for one, have heard and seen which direction the mushroom encourages us to pursue.

Yeeeahhh, idk. That's the rub, man. They might not be able to patent the mushroom, but I'd wager that a good chunk of that research budget is going to some novel partitioning.

I know my dream of egalitarian, free access, distant guidance psychedelic therapeutic use is ridiculous but I'm not letting go of my magical thinking here.

You know, RD may be getting tired of having to travel and give talks for income and feel that it's time to get paid for his efforts.

I'm not down with it, and wondered about the resounding silence about this in the community for some time. Seeing big money donations is heartening, but not if it is simply to buy up influence, create new professions and place the control of the experience and the wellness of participants within a profit model. This is why i will be voting against the Oregon psilocybin measure that's supposed to come up on the ballot soon.

Expect an update in the next day or two. No major revelations, but I think you will find it difficult to argue against the logic I will be presenting

My concern with any sort of psychedelic research, and particularly funding, is ulterior motives. Is it truly benevolent? Or is the monetary backing purely out of lust for more coin?

Admittedly, a very very small part of me feels sorta possessive about psychs. A similar feel to an awesome new underground band you've been a fan of since day one, and then they get famous and everyone's into them. "But it's MY thing!". Very egocentric, i know. However, we all possess some level of egocentrism.

Also, another very small part of me wants psychedelics to remain illegal, to sift out those who truly seek with respect for the plants. Otherwise, it may become the soma of Brave New World. Just another distraction.

Am starting to think that there needs to be an element of underground for psyches to function to their max potential, maybe because it is within the mental and emotional underground, the unconscious, that they are effective.

every time I daydream about legalisation situations I end up imagining a sanitised near future scenario, where your medical entitlements include x amount of low dose psychedelic experiences in a clean white room with someone with a clipboard. where you tick off the emotions you're feeling from a list, and where everything is supposed to be okay. Where the experience is spoon-fed.

I mean ultimately I think the fear is that it's so easy to see them being used as instruments for further oppressing people under the guise of freeing them.

Thank you, SnozzleBerry, for doing this research and bringing this to light. Invaluable work!!!

Considerations on the Breach of The Statement on Open Science and Open Praxis

Please note that none of the specific items I have explicitly acknowledged withholding from you all are encapsulated in this writing. I'm still unable to share those but look forward to doing so soon.



PS - Nexus fam gets it 10 minutes early

Very cleanly and clearly laid out.

I'll be interested to see how Rick et. all decide to respond to this.

Especially the ad hominem attacks.

Still all very vague arguments, mostly based on fear & Ideology.

The argument that there will be expensive monopolies on mushroom therapies is ludicrous.
The reason conventional therapies are expensive is either a) Expensive trials and drug developments need to be financed or b)demand is too low so they can charge whatever. Furthermore, these pharma monopolies form because companies hold patents.

Then there is fear of patents in the psychedelic space.
How on earth is that even possible? You can't patent mushrooms. You sure could patent some sort of mushroom extraction or growing device but we all know that you just need a handful of mushrooms that can be grown for dollars. Surely a very small cost factor in your 2k psychedelic therapies.

This letter you published is just super aggressive and feels like you are trying to force your will on people. Like you can't accept other opinions and are desperatly trying to get people "back on track".

Geez mate, do not take offence to this comment, but that piece of writing is very close to defamation.
Please be careful.

The fact that COMPASS has already acted in bad faith should sound an alarm for anyone involved with them. I think Snozz's recommendations are quite sound and couldn't be simpler. Either stop dealing with COMPASS or withdraw your signature from the statement.

Honesty is all that's being asked for.

[quote=obliguhlThen there is fear of patents in the psychedelic space.
How on earth is that even possible? You can't patent mushrooms. You sure could patent some sort of mushroom extraction or growing device but we all know that you just need a handful of mushrooms that can be grown for dollars. Surely a very small cost factor in your 2k psychedelic therapies.

[/quote]

Stay tuned obliguhl, I think you might be unpleasantly surprised in the not too distant future.

Which piece in particular?

In regards to George and Katya, I clearly stated it was my opinion, not a fact.

And with regards to Kilham, not only do I have sources to back up my claims, but he's a public figure and would therefore need to show malicious intent, of which I have none

see:




Nobody knew they'd existed...except the indigenous folks who'd been using the plant. Just because you don't have gc/ms doesn't mean you don't know compounds exist. That may be the single dumbest thing I've ever heard come out of the mouth of an ethnobotany professor.


Riiight, because that's Kilham's/Pure World's permission to grant



But, I mean, he was paying two whole dollars per kilo, which was double the going rate, so that means he's a swell guy. As I've pointed out numerous times here and elsewhere, profits require extraction/exploitation. If you're cool with that, that's "fine"...but I'm not.


Also, please understand, I have actual evidence that a number of these structural things have already taken place. It's just not the right time to share them yet. MAPS/Rick are aware that COMPASS has engaged/is engaging with some of the systemic things I've laid out in that post. That's really cool with you guys?

I mean, I guess I shouldn't be surprised obli is taking this position...imo, it fits a broader pattern. But it still feels kind of shocking, if I'm being honest.




Also, if you think you can't patent things in psychedelic space...open mouth, insert foot

Psilocybin patents by Stamets and COMPASS

LSD for alzheimers patent

Wake up. It's happening. I'm trying to tell you and you're cramming your fingers in your ears singing "Nanny nanny boo boo."

Y'all have literally known me for close to a decade. When have I ever spouted off CTs or unsupported claims? You may not like my politics, but in this case, my political analysis is literally the thing that has led me down the trail that I'm on and filled several digital folders worth of evidence and observations. Like actually. I figured out components of this in a week that folks who've been digging away over the past couple years were unaware of. It's one of the reasons I was able to develop so many sources on this so fast; people were shocked to see what I'd pieced together.

Have any of the doubters even bothered looking through the COMPASS board? A bunch of this stuff isn't even very well-hidden...

I hope you'll be willing to reconsider when I drop the actual evidence. This is getting pretty silly.

I was referring to the George and Katya bit.
If your knowledge of defamation in your jurisdiction is up to scratch, then I'm sure you have nothing to worry about.
I have little knowledge in defamation law and plan on keeping it that way.....
My comments were simply out of concern for you.

I'm looking forward to your further details. They sound considerable.
When do we get to hear the rest of the story?

Fair enough, i'm definatly more intrigued. In response to the patent issues...i guess what i'm doubting is, that these patents hold much value, but then if the gov. forces practicioners to follow a certain (patented) protocol, things might look different.

In general, patents seem like a dumb idea to me.

I have lived in the Bay in years past and still do business in Silicon Valley from time to time, I have sensed this wave coming for a while now.

Even doing LSD in the vicinity of these places, some ideas leak in that are quite alarming and out there...I believe from how some of these people are using psychedelics along with technology.

Brave New World is no joke......we almost there.

Simply, at the end of the day, they really live by the dollar$$$ in these places. [Atleast those in positions of power/control]

Thank you so much Snozz for pointing this out to our important community.

Hope to the omniverse that we can avoid having someone charge us with copyright infringement for eating mushrooms.....the horror....

First let me apologize if I've come off as defensive or frazzled in this thread. I've been averaging about 4-6hrs of sleep/night for the past two weeks, trying to chase down as many leads as possible before the conference. I've had psychedelic researchers essentially telling me to shut up and drop it. I find that particularly difficult as I see this stuff as more of a threat to what they're doing than to how we operate, so it's really felt like a thankless task in some ways, even with the amazing outpouring of support I've gotten here.

I'm sorry if I've taken that out on anyone here, it's not my intention, I'm just feeling kind of fried. No one asked me to take this on, that's true, it's just felt important. When I look at what psychedelics have done for me, in my life, this feels so incredibly important to stop, I can't even fully articulate the enormity of the emotion behind it.

That said, it's not an excuse for getting sloppy in my interactions with you all, and I need to apologize for the frustration. You're understandably asking clarifying questions and even if you followed the public bits I've tried to indicate, those alone will only take you so far. So, I'm sorry I've been limited on the evidence I can provide. I'm sorry for taking requests for clarification personally. I will do my best to get you all the info you've requested as soon as possible, and I will be better about understanding the skepticism until then.

Thank you for putting up with me, I know this has all been weird as hell (it sure has from my end ). I have a lot of love for you folks and I hope we'll be able to laugh about this a few months from now.




That said:


Here is something that I will say and please note there is a reason I am choosing to highlight these issues

Junk patents are problematic.

Exclusivity deals are problematic.

I agree they seem like a dumb idea. Like I said in my considerations on profits over people, they offer no humanitarian value, but have a huge potential of messing up research via obstructing other parties. But...

Just because we feel these things are dumb (and rightly so! I would contend) doesn't mean they are not viable business strategies. In fact, that was the point in my consideration, so...

How would you feel if a company engaged in such strategies?

How would you feel if the poster child organization for "psychedelic science" supported an organization using such strategies?

Would that not be significant to you?



As to when I can share more info...

I will be sharing a few tidbits, at least, at some point tomorrow.

As far as the full story, not to be a jackass, but some point within the next three months, ideally. I'm working with some folks to get the whole story with all the details/evidence we have discovered. I'm also in conversation with a reporter from a highly credible news service (no BS). I was actually shocked that this company is interested in the story, but it seems like this reporter is uniquely positioned due to embedded experience with the troops and his own lead-in via learning about MDMA for PTSD.

I'm hoping to get the full story done ahead of his ~3mos timeframe for his story, so he can point to the work of the other folks and they can get some recognition/credit for how much they've all been busting their asses.