may 2022 – goodnews editorial

the future of psychedelics

Psychedelics are the talk of the town; their healing potential has been recognized; their sell-out is ongoing. In 2021 alone, 1.8 billion US dollars were pumped into the development and production of psychedelics related to psilocybin, ayahuasca, LSD, MDMA and ketamine; by the end of 2024, this figure is expected to double. Not since Bitcoins has there been a bigger hype. The first companies are already out of the race, other players are experiencing ups and downs in the stock market. No one knows exactly where the journey will lead, but it is clear to everyone that psychedelic have enormous financial potential, alimented by millions of people worldwide who suffer from depression and other mental disorders that are difficult to treat. Not everyone is taking the same approach. Some companies largely follow nature and want to compensate the Indigenous societies whose knowledge they adopt, but in general one is always one molecule away from a new patent, except for MDMA, where MAPS, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, has been doing good work with an old patent for years now. Especially in the case of depression, the temptation might be to create a remedy that corresponds to the chemism of psychedelics but can be taken for years. No wonder many would like to extract the trip out of tripping. Without catharsis, no cure? It doesn’t matter, the climax is too uncertain, not replicable. In treatment everything should be clinically measurable, set and setting constant. Always the same furniture and the same flowerpot! Therapeutic companions (trip sitters) proceed according to script. Patients are carefully selected, only the fewest admitted. God forbid someone shows initiative or seems ‘difficult’. It’s all about permits! And where might the rejected patients go? At best, they are left to traditional healers and independently acting psychedelic therapists. But all of us who take or have taken psychedelics have a responsibility. We must show courage and humility and be there for others when they need us. The psychedelic community must fight to make psychedelics legally available to healthy people, as well as to all people who need help. Stay tuned!

Susanne G. Seiler

P.S. We enjoyed Bicycle Day & our First Psychedelic Salon very much. From now on our lounge is always open from 14 – 18 h on Thursdays, with progressively more evening programs attached. Welcome!


saying goodbye

Now you´re giving wine to the horse!
Why did I ever ask you for directions?
You ask me why I asked you?
Who´s the guide around here anyway?
Surely we´re not lost.
Are we lost?
We´re lost.
Let us never go back
May we never be found.

Bob Hofman

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