Psychedelic "Science" 2023 Review

Psychedelic “Science”

Alright here are my unfiltered thoughts on Psychedelic Science 2023, MAPS, and the general state of the psychedelic movement as it stands today.

I put the “Science” part in quotes as a reference to a quip comedian Shane Mauss made on stage at his stand up show I attended on Tuesday night as part of the conference afterparty circuit.

“Psychedelic ‘Scieeenccce’ …. They should put that shit in quotes” remarked Mauss, alluding to the perception that the profit-motivated science peddled by the emergent psychedelics industry is far from settled. I’m not a scientist, but I am a keen observer and social commentator, so consider this account a curation of numerous perspectives and incidents that collectively serve to inform one particular analytical framework of the massive mega convention that took Denver by hail storm last week.

Psychedelic Science was spectacular in the most elementary, etymological sense of the word. It was an absolute spectacle. And it was masterfully executed and produced.

Psychedelic Science 2023 brought out the best of the current psychedelic ecosystem and everyone showed up in their true colors. Despite the hoopla around speakers’ contractual obligations to avoid disparaging the host organization and it’s interests, I may have attended more panels where members openly criticized MAPS and aspects of the ‘psychedelic industry’ than panels that didn’t.

I covered the Indigenous Affinity: Legislative Impacts on Native Communities panel for Lucid News, which was moderated by Dr. Angela Beers. The panel content was a prelude to the disruption that happened on stage during the closing ceremony, where Dr. Beers and several other protestors hijacked the mic from MAPS Founder Rick Doblin to amplify their message that the ‘psychedelic industry’ is a misguided and adversely impactful form of “forceful seeking” that overstepped it’s boundaries long ago.

I heard similar sentiments expressed by the robust and influential Oakland Hyphae community, which sent out an open letter addressing the inaccessibility and gatekeeping promulgated by MAPS and the for-profit psychedelic community. The ‘Responsibility of Psychedelic Journalism’ panel also addressed the ‘muzzling of MAPS critics’ invoked by the required signing of a non-disparagement clause by all press covering the event.

And yet all of the above referenced perspectives and the broader communities they stem from where present and empowered to show up as their full selves for this conference. Just the way it should be.

I see the psychedelic movement and the communities contributing to it as stakeholders in an iterative process; co-designers of a spiritual emergency that is as fluid and dynamic as the psychedelic experience itself.

One elder on the Indigenous Affinity panel professed that the word ‘psychedelic’ was new to him, and that he had trouble pronouncing it or understanding what it means. For him, what we in the western world call ‘a psychedelic experience’ is part and parcel to a much more expansive cosmology and epistemological world view that is much older and more comprehensive than “Psychedelic Science”.

I heard this perspective on a number of different occasions, expressed in a number of different ways by a number of different people last week. And yet I heard it in person, in community, and side by side with the perspectives of South Asian immigrants, Palestinian and Israeli researchers, Swiss pharmaceutical executives, Colombian Yagé practitioners, World Economic Forum members, radical BIPOC community rights activists, Rabbis, Evangelical Christians, Muslims, tenured academic researchers, A-List celebrities, billionaire philanthropists, snarky comedians, and so many other unique and infinitely valuable perspectives.

To me, Psychedelic Science was one thing above all else: An Opportunity.

MAPS brings together an extraordinary constellation of individuals, movements, companies, and polyvergent perspectives. This conference created opportunities for all of us to explore synthesis, amelioration, restorative justice, and a real sense of meaningful community together in person.

Everyone got a stage - the critics, the detractors, the skeptics, the disparagers, the academics, the corporate executives, the blind confidence men and amplifiers of hype. There was a track for everyone.

I got to play a fairly significant role in the scheme of things, which was a huge honor and humbling to say the least. It’s only been two and a half years since I stepped out of the psychedelic closet and launched Mycopreneur Podcast, and MAPS was one of the first established organizations to directly reach out to me and offer a vote of confidence. The notion that the most influential and impactful organization in psychedelics had multiple executives independently reach out to me unsolicited to show love for the largely unrecognized work I was doing at the time says so much about the organization.

The conference was an absolute blur for me: I flew into Denver on Sunday and went straight to the Psychedelic Leadership Summit, an ‘un-conference’ style day long event that served to connect the leaders of various organizations and initiatives within the psychedelic space. I ran a workshop called “The Art of Pizzazz’, which focused on techniques and strategies I employ to buttress my Public Relations and Public Speaking efforts. At least half of the attendees to my workshop were scheduled speakers at Psychedelic Science, and many other international conferences, so it felt like a relevant contribution to the afternoon.

On Monday, I headed to the Colorado Convention Center to pick up my badge - before I even got in line, I ran into my friend James McConchie of Haight Street Shroom Shoppe, who told me the Mushroom Summit was just getting underway and that as a sponsor of the co-located conference, he needed me to assist him at the summit. I spent the next 6 hours tapping in with many former Mycopreneur Podcast guests and meeting an impressive consortium of delegates from the worldwide mushroom industry, which is projected to reach a valuation of around 100 billion dollars by 2030.

Monday afternoon was spent with the phenomenal Tabula Rasa Ventures team at a pool party, which was a goldmine for networking and authentic relating. That lovely afternoon segued into the Oakland Hyphae and SSDP Juneteenth Psychedelic Pipeline party, which reflected the magnificent cross-pollination on display throughout the week in Denver. Underground psychedelic stewards and direct action drug policy reform advocates played Dominoes and Connect 4 with MAPS executives and venture capitalists, showcasing an opportunity for communities that may typically be siloed off from each other to have face to face dialogues and build rapport together.

This type of ‘Spontaneous Magic’ is the secret sauce of these conferences and conventions. When you look at an event online, or on paper, the missing ingredient is the unpredictable and transformational connections that come together to create extraordinary opportunities. I probably went to less than 2% of the scheduled conference programming and sessions, because the majority of my time was devoted to interviews, one on one meetings, responding to unscheduled opportunities, and rubbing shoulders with Alex Grey at Meow Wolf.

On Tuesday, I checked into my conference-appointed hotel at the Hyatt Regency and buzzed around the convention center making time for spontaneous encounters with friends and fans. I got many of each, and eventually ended up heading to the Shane Mauss comedy show in the evening. I watched him command the stage and execute his well-honed craft before heading off to my own stand up comedy appearance at the Kaivalya Kollectiv and Tandava Retreats fundraiser. I showed up a half hour before my set time and was blown away by the size of the crowd and venue. A sea of heads as far as I could see filled Cervantes’ Other Side, and I wondered how the mass of people would respond to my stand up routine after they’d been letting loose on the dance floor to a DJ for the last hour.

I felt completely in my element up on stage, though I diagnosed that a shorter and sweeter routine would work best for this particular occasion given the dynamics of the event. I peeled away from the party at midnight after continuously extending my stay thanks to the many unpredictable and fruitful run ins I had with friends old and new from around the planet. A highlight was tapping in with the magnificent Zeus Tipado for a conversation that ranged as wildly in scope as our mutual interest in psychedelics and the human imagination do.

On Wednesday, I had what was surely one of the busiest and most fulfilling days I’ve ever had professionally. I reported at 8 am to the Speakers Lounge to pick up my emcee notes and be briefed on my days responsibilities tending to the Society Stage. By 10 am I was on stage warming up the crowd in a tailored cannabis suit with my trusty Rick Doblin puppet on hand. I introduced Earth and Fire Erowid, personal heroes of mine, before ceding the stage to these master drug educators and heading over the the Deep Space exhibit, which I was assigned to cover that day for Lucid News.

I continued emcee duties throughout the day before eventually hosting my own panel alongside Adam Aronovich of Healing From Healing. This two-person panel format was my personal favorite as opposed to the panels with 6-7 people, as we were able to dive deeper into our messaging and thematic explorations without overstepping the 30-minute time slot.

On Wednesday night I hit the Portal event that was produced by many friends of mine including Mission Club, Double Blind Magazine, Fireside Project, and Propeller. This was a great event despite the pounding hail and rain outside that also forced headlining artist Bonobo to cancel after an emergency flight landing.

Thursday was another busy day at the conference, although without being tethered to the Society Stage all day I was able to freely explore ore of the conference and programming. I covered the Indigenous Affinity panel on this day, and saw the foreshadowing of what turned out to be a fairly remarkable and dramatic protesting of MAPS and the ‘psychedelic renaissance’ during the main stage closing ceremony on Friday afternoon.

I also contributed a story to the Storytelling panel hosted by fellow Lucid News team member Mareesa Stertz on Thursday at the Deep Space stage alongside Steve DeAngelo, Firstman, Hanifa Nayo Washington, Gina Giorgio, and Simran Sethi.

I cut out of that session after my moment in the spotlight and headed to the Market Place stage to participate in a Lucid News panel analyzing some of the days programming and conference happenings in real time.

I could’ve fallen asleep right after the panel wrapped and the house lights went off on the exhibition room floor, but I was in full-on conference mode and leaned into the cordyceps chocolate that my friends at Fruiting Bodies had given me. It was during this encounter that I learned that this new mushroom supplement company ahd formed after one of the Co-Founders heard the Mycopreneur Podcast episode featuring the other Co-Founder and reached out to him to collaborate.

I drew upon my stamina reserves to attend the Flaming Lips concert produced by Good Trip Studios, which I wouldn’t have missed even if someone had to wheel me in hooked up to an oxygen tank - which is actually how opening act Eric Andre did show up in typically dramatic fashion.

I somehow made it to Meow Wolf after that, and was eventually tucked into bed around 4 am ready for my nightly 4 hours of sleep.

Friday was another big day, with the unexpected bonus of having the opportunity to comb the showroom floor upstairs and satirically interview exhibitors with a MAPS camera crew. I made a lot of new friends that day and successfully demonstrated that satire can be an effective form of brand promotion in addition to it’s scope as a critical lens for examining the macro narratives and critical issues attendant to the mainstreaming of psychedelics.

I wrapped up Friday afternoon by participating in my final panel of the event, another unexpected opportunity. I was invited at the last minute to join Shane Mauss, Adam Strauss, and Sarah Rose Siskind on stage with Ken Jordan of Lucid News for a comedic analysis of Psychedelic Science programming.

I then headed up the penthouse of the Hyatt Regency for the Zendo Project Fundraiser, which presented numerous opportunities to connect with some of the key team members at Zendo Proejct, MAPS, and a number of other influential organizations in the psychedelic ecosystem.

Friday night I hit the Mystic Ventures dinner party at the Church of Cannabis before retiring to the suburbs to sleep for a whopping 6 hours at the home of my dear friend Zach from Mushroom Cult.

Saturday morning I managed to squeeze in a hike on the way to the airport, then flew to Mexico City in time for the Pride celebrations and a visit with my Mycoday mushroom chocolate Co-Founder Kevin Streber.

There’s obviously a lot that I’ve left out here, but the above account is an attempt to encapsulate and share a small part of the magic that happened last week in Denver. I’m pretty new to the ‘psychedelic space’ as a formal congregation of individuals and entities with personal and collective histories together. This has actually been a huge blessing, as I don’t have a frame of reference for anything that’s happened over the years before I arrived. I choose to evaluate prioritize, and respond to what I see with my own eyes. The verdict I’ve arrived at is that Psychedelic Science was a momentous occasion, and that the organizations involved are all essential contributors to an extraordinary emergent opportunity that is actively being defined, refined, and re-defined on a daily basis. And that this constitution and reconstitution of ideologies, objectives, and results happens best in person and in real time.

MAPS has their finger on the pulse. Could the psychedelic industry be improved, critiqued, evolved, enhanced? Of course it can. And I see no evidence to the contrary that 12,000 people who all congregated in Denver last week aren’t actively contributing to creating a better alternative to the status quo.