Que Pasa from Mexico City, one of the greatest cities in the world - There are even dispensaries here that openly sell various strains of psilocybin mushrooms as well as branded and infused mushroom chocolates, gummies, and all kinds of cannabis products. I’ve come across psilocybin mushroom infused mezcal on multiple occasions here as well. What a place.

We’re doing the Mycopreneur Incubator today at the regular time (4 pm East Coast U.S., 1 PM West Coast - invite at the bottom of this email).

The Oprah Effect

Did y’all catch Oprah and Michael Pollan doing a podcast on psychedelics this week? Good for them. Throughout 56 minutes of pharmaceuticalized psychobabble about the potential of synthetic psilocybin administered in a strip mall clinic to hopefully recoup Compass Pathways investment that’s down 86% over the last 5 years (still better than Atai, they’re down 91% in the same time frame), they didn’t manage to pay homage to multiple millennia old indigenous practices with these substances even once or entertain the fact that 99.99% of psychedelic use happens outside of a clinical context for recreational and spiritual purposes.

Oprah should do an episode in Mexico with a 7th generation Mazatec mushroom curandero next time instead of a guy who took mushrooms once in 2017 in a completely ‘illegal’ / unregulated setting, wrote a book about his experience, and was thereafter crowned the reigning expert on psychedelics only to immediately start pushing a ‘Drugs outside of supervised medical use in clinics are bad, mmkay?’ narrative. Because that’s exactly what Michael Pollan did. He’s the definition of a culture vulture.

The ‘Pollan Effect’ is a term that has been used to refer to the sea change in mainstream cultural and scientific perception towards psychedelics after the success of Pollan’s book ‘How to Change Your Mind’ in 2018. From 1971 until 2018, polite society eschewed psychedelics as dangerous and illegal drugs with ‘no known medical value’ thanks to the categorization of Psilocybin, LSD, DMT and Peyote as ‘Schedule One’ substances under the Controlled Substances Act that was legislated in 1971 concurrently with the formal declaration of ‘The War On Drugs’ by President Nixon. After Michael Pollan did psilocybin mushrooms and various other Schedule One substances in a completely illicit and self-selected setting while becoming a ‘reluctant psychonaut’ for ‘research purposes’ to inform what would eventually become a #1 New York Times Best Selling book and the basis for a Netflix Series, he swiftly rebuked the very unsanctioned use that catapulted him into psychedelic celebrity and began calling for strictly medical use in supervised settings. And that’s what his entire platform is leveraged towards now -

Michael Pollan Drops Acid — and Comes Back From His Trip Convinced

Yes this is a real New York Times article painting Pollan as some kind of visionary of the psychedelic renaissance - but I thought dropping acid was illegal? “Rules For Thee, But Not For Me”

The Oprah Effects is like the Pollan Effect on steroids. Thanks to this podcast, millions of people have now been granted permission by the billionaire celebrity and pharma shill class to do exactly as their handlers tell them without risking developing an ounce of cognitive liberty or critical thinking skills. “If TheY SaiD iT oN tHe Tv It’s GOttA bE TRue”

“Hey look, another Eli Lilly ad!”

Speaking of the Oprah Effect, they also made no mention on the show of Oprah’s complicity in spreading misinformation about ecstasy in 2001. She amplified egregiously unscientific Drug War rhetoric claiming that ‘Ecstasy puts holes in your brain’ and slapped the Love Drug with a negative cultural stigma it’s still trying to break free from.

So for anyone keeping score:

First the powers that be purged all manner of ancestral ethnobotanical and mycological knowledge wherever possible, attacking the wisdom traditions of various cultures and literally burning them at the stake for witchcraft over a period of 500 years, then in 1971 the U.S. declared a global War On Drugs that was specifically designed to disrupt and criminalize the Anti-War hippies and the black community domestically and which continues to wreak havoc on developing nations globally (how ‘bout them Coca Leaves and Opium Poppies?), then one of the biggest stars in the world used her platform to bash MDMA in 2001, then one of the most beloved mainstream authors in the world decides he wants to do a bunch of illicit substances on his own terms free of any repercussions because he’s white and famous and is special, then he writes a bestselling book about his unsanctioned tripping, gets a Netflix Series made about it, cashes in and charges $50k a speaking engagement and has a ‘come to Jesus’ moment where he decides that psychedelics should only be used under strict medical supervision in clinics, and we should be using the synthetic patented variety of course, and he comes full circle to go on Oprah and posture as an ‘expert on psychedelics’ (Oprah’s words, definitely not fucking mine).

Well, what can you do. More people talking about mushrooms is a good thing - even if these culture vultures are the ones who introduced them to the ancient art and science of tripping.

If you want to participate in real, groundbreaking psilocybin mushroom research using two different strains of real psilocybin mushrooms in a naturalistic setting, check out the upcoming Microdosing Research Retreat by Flow State

Here’s some of what you’ll get to experience:

This is the first IRB-approved microdosing research study in a naturalistic retreat environment using two varieties of fruiting body psilocybin mushrooms. Top experts in the emerging field of microdosing and psychedelic science will be conducting this research among a population of healthy volunteers, mapping their brain states via wireless EEG while participants are under the influence of a psilocybin mushroom microdose in a retreat setting. 

“IRB-approved” means that this study has been evaluated and approved by an Institutional Review Board composed of scientific professionals who have ensured that the study design meets ethical standards and adequately protects the rights of the subjects. 

Here’s a quote from the retreat co-founder Adam Bramlage:

“This is more than just a retreat—it’s a historic moment in psychedelic research. For the first time, participants have the opportunity to immerse themselves in a groundbreaking microdosing study while actively contributing to the future of mental health science. What makes this research retreat truly unique is that participants can choose their level of involvement. They can opt into a Double-Blind Placebo Group for a true scientific experience, join the Expectancy Group where they know they’re microdosing so we can study the power of belief, or be part of the Control Group, where their brain scans will provide critical baseline data” says retreat co-leader Adam Bramlage.

The retreat venue is DOPE af too. If this looks like something you’re interested, use this code for 10% off - MPRETREAT

🍄 MINNESOTA NICE ETHNOBOTANICALS 🍄

I’m also jazzed to announce that I’ve partnered with Minnesota Nice Ethnobotanicals to help spread the gospel of their completely legal entheogens and ethnobotanicals.

“MN Nice” is the largest importer of Amanita muscaria mushrooms in the U.S., and they’ve got a ton of other incredible plants and fungi on their site that you should go check out right now before the FDA or Michael pollan or Oprah decide you can’t do cuddle puddles on Kanna or experience lucid dreaming with Blue Lotus flower. I advise you to load tf up on their incredible products asap as I myself have done. I’m rolling deep on their Shilajit currently.

Minnesota Nice Ethnobotanicals has been full on supporting some elite and highly undervalued content creators in a way that very few companies will ever step up and do - the utterly brilliant Chrysantilus and the OG Soul of Jaret are among these creators, as well as Gabriel Hardie of The Launchpad Podcast.

Show MN Nice some love and check out their staggering library of legal ethnobotanical plants and fungi for sale by using this link here.

Speaking of Amaniya muscaria…I made a longer form YouTube video about the connection between Mario & Amanita muscaria mushrooms. Should I do more long-form content like this on YouTube?

Alright, no Mycopreneur Newsletter would be complete without a proper Mycroboost shoutout: I travel everywhere with their functional mushroom products and they keep me absolutely dialed in and ready to rock - the mushroom coffee in particular ids a game changer. Hit up their site below and buy out the entire inventory before I consume everything on there myself.

Now I’m off to explore CDMX - I’ve been to this city somewhere around 30 times at least, and it never gets old. I’m having lunch with Ireri from Symbioses MX, one of the leading mushroom startups in Mexico. She is an absolute gem, and was also recently featured on The Mushroom Revival podcast. I gotta get her on Mycopreneur!

Here’s the invite to the Incubator for today:

Mycopreneur Incubator

Time: Today, Mar 6, 2025 04:00 PM East Coast U.S., 1 PM West Coast U.S.

Login: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81235158111?pwd=2uZOQzm1fxaAzUKarCYBV7t36GWsxR.1

Meeting ID: 812 3515 8111 Passcode: 783768

It’s free, but if you want to throw me some money for tacos today, you can send monies here:

Venmo: @Mycopreneur

PayPal: [email protected]

Let me know if you’re interested in sponsoring an incubator by replying to this email.

Shoutout to regular attendee Christian from Euphoria Farms for showing the Incubator love on X. Check out his work and come meet him at the Incubator.

Alright, I’m off to Austin tomorrow for SXSW - I’m speaking on a panel called ‘Psychedelics in the Media’ on Saturday with some good friends.

Come say hi if you’re out there in Austin and see me.

And Oprah if you’re reading this I’ll come on your show and be entertaining and informative. We can talk about mushrooms and psychedelics in the real world.

This invitation to hang is cordially extended to you as well Michael.

Thanks for swinging by today and see you at the Incubator.

DW