As Australia becomes one of the first places to officially embrace (or at least tolerate) psychedelic assisted therapy (PAT), it’s worth asking: just how much psilocybin does the Australian therapeutic sector need and what is the market potentially worth? How does this compare to the kind of money can be made from delivering PAT? The decisions of investors and activists alike will be heavily influenced by how these scenarios play out. For my best guesses on at least two of these questions, served with a side of irreverence, read on! (Disclaimer: Brace yourself for a journey filled with sa ..read more

2024 promises to be a big year for psychedelics everywhere, but nowhere more than in Australia. Cost, legality, and education are the three key are that are pivotal to how psychedelics will fit into our legal and social landscape in the near future. As legal psychedelic assisted therapy (PAT) ramps up, more education providers open their doors, and communities grapple with prohibition and access, I look at the challenges faced by psychedelics in Australia for 2024 and make some predictions on what we’ll see in the year ahead. Just so we’re clear, none of this constitutes medical, legal, or fin ..read more

If microdosing psychedelics isn't mainstream yet, it's very close. While it is still a niche practice, more people try it daily. One of the flow-on effects is that more people will experience taking what they think is a microdose and getting more than they bargained for. I'm going to talk about many different things in this post, but I'd like to clarify two points right now. Almost everyone who has microdosed in any remotely sustained way has experienced this. So, don't feel bad if it happens to you; you are in good company. One of the key reasons this even happens is the illegality of psy ..read more

Many people will have heard this, but I stepped down as president of the Australian Psychedelic Society (APS) at the end of August. My two years in that role, plus a year as vice president, were quite a ride! I want to share a timeline of my experiences, details of some projects I helped facilitate, some challenges we faced, and what I learned from the experience, particularly around leadership. I’ll also detail the areas I hope to work in now and the kinds of organizations I’d like to work with. For those unfamiliar with my background, I have a PhD in philosophy. I worked for many years as an ..read more

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) has released its guidelines for psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) in Australia, which is set to become legal as of July 1, albeit only under restricted circumstances. These guidelines will significantly influence how psychiatrists can provide psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) in Australia for at least the next 6-12 months. So, it is vital that everyone hoping to provide psychedelic therapy services and allied offerings, such as integration therapy, understand its contents and implications. In this post, I'll explain the c ..read more

This post lists the panel discussions, lectures, talks, and podcasts I’ve presented or been part of (those that were recorded, at least.) Like my full list of writing, I’ll keep this up to date over time. Philosophy and Psychedelics: The Big Questions   Expert Panel Discussion | TGA's Re-schedule of MDMA and Psilocybin   Rescheduling psilocybin and MDMA in Australia - A process explainer   Dr. Samuel Douglas - The Language of Psychedelics ..read more

In this post, I’ll lay out some of the big philosophical questions that psychedelics raise. I might even hint at some possible solutions. But be warned, these are not things that are easy to settle. If you are looking for easy answers, this post, philosophy, and psychedelics are all probably not for you. But if you’re brave or already down the rabbit hole of questioning your existence, read on!  Epistemology: How do we know? For those who haven’t taken philosophy at university, epistemology is the study of knowledge and is concerned with things like “what counts as knowledge?”, “How ..read more

Questions about which strains of Psilocybe cubensis (magic mushrooms) are strongest have been around for as long as underground enthusiasts have been breeding new forms. For many years magic mushroom aficionados used to respond by saying “a cube is a cube.” Why? Because the variations within this species were relatively minor. Penis Envy mushrooms have dramatically changed that, with reports and analysis suggesting they are considerably stronger than earlier strains. Whether you’re a shroom consumer or run a business getting ready for legalization, this is just one of the strains you should kn ..read more

Entheogenesis Australis (EGA) runs Australia’s premiere psychedelic and plant-medicine conferences. So, when I was offered a ticket in exchange for helping copyedit & proofread the conference journal for EGA Garden States 2022, I leapt at the chance. For the three days of this conference I ran myself ragged, packing in talks, workshops, volunteering for the Australian Psychedelic Society, networking, and multiple years' worth of socializing. It’s one thing to read all the research that is coming out, but my work as both a psychedelic content writer and nonprofit leader benefit enormou ..read more

If you’re paying attention on social media, you will have seen a rapid increase in the chatter and advertising around psilocybin chocolate products. These shroom chocolates seem to be popping up everywhere I look online, especially the larger psilocybin shroom-related subreddits. I could have written something about how awesome shroom chocolates are, make a bunch of unfounded claims about Aztec and Mayan cultures, and gloss over the reality of shroom chocolate products. But, in the interests of doing something that might be informative for an actual human, rather than just writing to appe ..read more