To the Pioneers: An Open Letter to the Psychedelic Medicine Industry About The Importance of Supporting Legalization

Dear Psychedelic Medicine Entrepreneur,

Congratulations on being a pioneer at this pivotal time for our industry. Thanks to the growing body of research by the world’s top medical institutions, we now have confirmation that psychedelics hold unparalleled potential to help end the suicide, addiction, and depression epidemics, which are destroying more lives than ever before.

We stand at the precipice of a radical shift in medicine, in which compounds that have been  shelved and demonized for decades are finally being recognized for their monumental therapeutic promise. The data is now undeniable, with studies published in journals such as Frontiers in Neuroscience confirming that psychedelics actually repair nerve endings.

In less than three years since Denver became the first municipality in the United States to pass  legislation deprioritizing the enforcement of state and federal laws criminalizing psilocybin, a total of sixteen cities have now adopted policy reform measures seeking to decriminalize various psychedelic compounds. Oregon also became the first state to legalize psilocybin for therapeutic use in 2020 and over a dozen states have introduced psychedelic policy reform legislation in 2022 alone.

While we’re proud of the progress we’ve made, we must do better.

As trailblazers of this nascent industry, we have an obligation to ensure that we’re not just building businesses, but zealously advocating for safe, legal, and affordable access to these life-saving compounds.

As Forbes reporter Amanda Siebert recently wrote, “there is a tie-dyed elephant in the room.”  Until psychedelic compounds are legal, our industry can’t grow as fast as it needs to — and that need is urgent.

The statistics are daunting: Every single day more than 300 people die of a drug overdose, and  another 150 people are taking their lives. These are not “drug addicts,” these are our sisters, brothers, sons, and daughters. Drug and alcohol misuse is a medical problem, not a character flaw.

We need treatments that do more than just suppress the symptoms of depression, anxiety,  post-traumatic stress, and other mental health indications that often serve as a precursor for addictive behavior, but that address the root causes of these indications so that addiction is prevented and can be permanently remedied. We also need treatments that can repair and heal  the areas of the brain most affected by addiction, and do more than transfer an addiction from one compound to another. We need these treatments to be affordable and accessible now.

Recently, the DEA acknowledged the need for the US Department of Health and Human  Services (HHS) to update the medical and scientific evaluation of 5 non-scheduled psychedelic tryptamines to determine whether they belong on schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act. Equally important (if not more important) is the need for HHS to evaluate the medical and  scientific evaluation of the psychedelic medicine ibogaine as a schedule 1 substance, which we  believe has no basis to be listed as such.

Ibogaine, derived from the psychoactive plant tabernanthe iboga, has been shown to break addictions quickly and safely, eliminating the effects of withdrawal and allowing people to reenter society as flourishing members. 

Even though ibogaine has been demonstrated to be significantly more effective than  suboxone/methadone in helping people with opiate addictions get into remission, and is legal in  Mexico, Bahamas, New Zealand, and many other countries, ibogaine continues to be classified as a schedule I drug under U.S. federal law. Schedule I drugs are illegal to produce, manufacture, possess, and sell, and are compounds that the federal government considers, by definition, to have a “high potential for abuse and the potential to create severe psychological  and/or physical dependence.” As we are working to elucidate, there is absolutely no evidence  proving that ibogaine demonstrates any potential for addiction or misuse, and its therapeutic  potential significantly outweighs the preventable risks associated with underground administration.

According to Rick Doblin, founder of MAPS, ibogaine was incorrectly classified in 1971 as a Schedule I substance because it was found during a drug raid alongside heroin and essentially charged with “guilt by association.” What the regulators didn’t know at the time was that the  dealers in possession of the ibogaine had used it to break their own addictions to heroin.

In fact, ibogaine is likely one of the least-addictive substances on Earth.

In the 1950s, ibogaine was sold over the counter under the brand name “Lambaréne” as an  energy supplement. Since then, thousands of people have used a single dose of ibogaine to  break an addiction to heroin, opiates, meth, crack, and alcohol — usually by traveling to  countries where the compound is legal or unregulated.

Faced with a growing opiate crisis, ibogaine has the power to give people a second chance at  life. For this reason, our 501c3 non-profit organization, the Mind Army, has put together a legal dream team committed to petitioning the DEA, seeking that ibogaine be removed from regulation under the Controlled Substances Act entirely.

At this critical moment, we must recognize that working together for legalization will create the single most important catalyst that any of our businesses can have. We can’t sit back and wait for the government or the medical establishment to take action, because they simply don’t have the knowledge about these compounds that we do. Collectively, it’s our job to educate them.

Many people assume that the FDA hasn’t determined the safety or efficacy of psychedelics. They say there must be a reason these compounds are currently scheduled. However, if the FDA was making decisions based on facts, then why isn’t nicotine a scheduled substance? We know it has no medical benefits and is highly addictive…

As an industry, change is up to us.

Legalization is the single most important thing that will immediately and exponentially grow the  research, development, and commercialization that will lead to major advances in biotech, healthcare, and mental wellness. By banding together now, we can get ibogaine de-scheduled, and put an important win on the board for the psychedelic medicine industry.

All boats rise with this tide!

I invite you to join industry pioneers such as Juan Pablo Cappello of Nue Life; Dr. Ivan Casselman; Chad Harman, CEO of Psycheceutical, Dr. Roger S. McIntyre, CEO of Braxia Scientific Corp., Zeeshan Saeed, CEO of FSD Pharma; and Calum Hughes, CEO of Allied Corp; who have already stepped forward to support the Mind Army’s de-scheduling effort.

Let us be the ones who change the paradigm at this pivotal time in human history. You will have done something truly noble, and your business will have exponentially more opportunity when  we accomplish this mission together.

Peace. Zappy Zapolin, Mind Army Founder

Kaia Roman, Co-Founder, Strategy & Communications Atom Smith, Co-Founder, Shamanic Ninja Courtney Barnes, Legal Advisor Dustin Robinson, Legal Advisor Tom Zuber, Legal Advisor Jeff Zuber, Legal Advisor David Feldman, Legal Advisor Dr. Edward Pearson, Medical Advisor