World's Largest Psychedelics Conference Sheds Light On Alternative Mental Health Therapies, Boasts 12K Attendees

The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) sponsored a Psychedelic Science conference in Denver last week, which gathered over 12,000 people from the entire psychedelics spectrum. 

The list of attendees included the most knowledgeable individuals in the field, as well as grassroots organizations, practitioners, scientists, politicians, veterans, celebrities, publicly traded companies and psychonauts who advocate awareness expansion and access to psychedelic-assisted therapies as mental health treatments for general well being.

The conference at the spacious Colorado Convention Center in Denver, the first US city to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms, was supported by such sponsors as Wellbeing Digital KONEF and Dr. Bronner’s. 

Under therapy, science, studies, clinical trials, society, policy, plant medicine, business, veterans, Colorado, community, an immersive gigantic room called “Deep Space,” as well as a cinematheque, a huge marketplace and a practitioners’ lounge, one could get a grasp of the

activities that took place during the three conference days. Day-long workshops were held on the two prior days.

Opening Remarks And ‘A Happy Dose’ Of Curiosity

On the morning of June 21, the MAPS team welcomed attendees at the packed main stage where board member Vicky Dulai, policy and advocacy director Ismail Ali, strategic initiatives officer Liana Gillooly and global impact officer Natalie Lyla Ginsberg reminded attendees of the importance of education and prioritizing public benefit. 

Or “making choices out of love rather than fear and scarcity,” while also “practicing reciprocity with all forms of life.”

In Gillooly’s words, the conference's unprecedented magnitude and scale owes much to a “happy dose of curiosity” around psychedelics. It is also backed by MAPS' seven principles: See past the paradox, Healing for all, Prioritize public benefit, Open science & open books, Set the setting and Integrate compassion, not criminalization and Be the bridge.

Expectation mounting, it was Rick Doblin’s turn, MAPS founder. “I can only wonder: Am I tripping? No, it’s that culture is tipping.”

Doblin talked about his love for Hermann Hesse’s Journey to the East, a novel that led him to understand it was his destiny to “join in the great experience above the individual and cultural and human wide consciousness transformation, which is what we need for both humanity and survival to thrive.”

After a quick but comprehensive overview of the history of psychedelic science and current regulatory landscape, Doblin talked about a new “Gross National Trauma” (GNT) metric, to be used for the potential application of MDMA- and psychedelic-assisted therapy. 

Former Texas governor Rick Perry also spoke. “Rick’s the light, I’m the dark,” joked the GOP politician. And yet, he says they both coincide in the search for a treatment for PTSD.

Perry first heard of psychedelics in 2012. In 2020, he was approached by Amber and Marcus Capone, the founders of Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS) to work together on alternative mental health therapies. 

Perry now believes there is a need to look at the clinical results of

psychedelic-assisted therapies and advance with caution. “I want to make sure we make progress in the right way.”

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D), who has said that although the broad consensus is that more research is needed, the state is “forging a path ahead.”

Polis told the packed room on the first day of the conference that “implementation law got through much smoother than we guessed.” In his view, it’s a pragmatic policy that brings governors into the psychedelic-assisted therapy struggle: “It’s ridiculous that someone suffering from anxiety, depression or PTSD can get medical coverage for very costly prescription drugs but cannot get coverage for a treatment that addresses some of the underlying causes."  

More on the conference coming your way soon. Stay tuned!

Photo: Benzinga edit with photos by Twitter and Wikipedia.