Introducing: The Politics of Psilocybin

A newsletter and forthcoming book by Vincent Rado

Welcome to The Politics of Psilocybin, where I’ll explore the latest political, economic, and social developments around psilocybin, in both mushroom and synthetic form.

Although I am only revealing the project now, I’ve been working on it for years. I was awarded a grant from the Psychedelic Medicine Coalition in support of the book, which will be finished and printed by the end of 2023. In the meantime, I decided to start yet another Substack to share my notes and research for the book, as well as excerpts of the finished product.

Along the way, I’ll share anything and everything of interest that I come across pertaining to psilocybin, specifically its legal/political/social aspects. I will sprinkle in bits of history, economics and political science to contextualize and strengthen our understanding of what’s happening to psilocybin. There is a lot going on right now around psilocybin and some estimate it to be merely months away from FDA approval for prescription use across the US. There is also much to be learned from history that can inform our perspective(s) on psilocybin as we move forward.

I am still composing the actual text of the book, but I would nonetheless like to share some of my research as well as the information I’ve come across more recently which I think readers will find interesting.

With that, let’s jump right in.

Some background on shrooms

We cannot truly understand what’s happening to psilocybin right now without studying history to see how we got here. So before I cover current events, it is apt that we consider the complicated history of psilocybin and its place in our society.

Indigenous populations throughout the world have used psilocybin-containing mushrooms for countless generations. But shrooms were not introduced into our consumer culture by these indigenous populations. Instead, they were popularized as a direct result of research by various military and intelligence agencies in which psilocybin and other drugs were studied for their potential use as chemical weapons.

The turning point in the popular history of psilocybin mushrooms occurred when the J. P. Morgan public relations executive R. Gordon Wasson visited Oaxaca, Mexico to scout out and obtain specimens of the legendary healing mushrooms. However, as we will explore in later posts, Wasson had been interested in the religious use of mushrooms since the 1930s. And his interest in psilocybin was itself part of a larger phenomenon in which Wall Street bankers, government officials, and oil tycoons all developed political and/or commercial interest in psilocybin, LSD, etc. in the years following World War 2.

Wasson obtained psilocybin mushrooms from a curandera named María Sabina, who has since become legendary among psilocybin enthusiasts (and rightfully so). But the nature of Wasson’s relationship with Sabina is complicated and loaded with ethical issues. To learn more about María Sabina, I recommend reading “A Nuanced Reflection of María Sabina” by Ifetayo Harvey.

I have argued elsewhere that Wasson’s tactics in obtaining psilocybin qualify as biopiracy, and I stand by that argument. We will further explore the issue of biopiracy and psilocybin in future posts.

What’s happening now?

A lot has happened since Wasson visited Mexico in the 1950s to find shrooms. Soon, I will explore the political and social history of psilocybin in depth. For now, I’ll wrap up the post by sharing some of the things that have caught my eye recently pertaining to psilocybin.

Shrooms are increasingly sold in retail fashion across the US and Canada. Check out this article by Troy Farah over at Salon to learn more about this interesting trend.

Not surprisingly, law enforcement has already started to crack down on such efforts, as they are not legal.

Colorado and Oregon are both actively exploring regulatory frameworks for the medical psilocybin markets that are emerging in their respective states. Both states have passed legislation which allows adults to use psilocybin under certain conditions. You can learn more about Oregon’s psilocybin program here, and about Colorado’s psilocybin laws (specifically, their Natural Medicine Health Act) here.

Several more states are considering legislation which would allow adults to use psilocybin in some form or fashion (primarily medical). The latest state to announce legislation which would allow some form of access to psilocybin is Virginia.

There are a lot of factors to consider as medical psilocybin markets emerge across the US and the world. I enjoyed listening to this interview of Graham Pechenik by Alaina Jaster. Pechenik is a patent lawyer who focuses on cannabis, tryptamines, and phenethylamines who is also an editor-at-large for Psychedelic Alpha. Jaster is a PhD candidate who studies tryptamines and phenethylamines and co-hosts a podcast called Your Brain on Science. Pechenik and Jaster explore the latest scientific and legal developments around tryptamines, including psilocybin. Their discussion in the last 10 minutes or so of the podcast considers what the future of a legal psilocybin market might look like. The podcast is worth checking out, especially if you like to nerd out about this stuff (which I do, and suspect many of my readers do too).

That’s all for now. I’ll be sharing much more in the coming days, as I continue my research and work on the book.

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Thanks for reading.

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