Psychedelic Week Update, August 5, 2024
Psychedelic Week Update, August 5, 2024
Petrie-Flom Center psychedelic bootcamp and annual conference on law and policy of psychedelic medicine, JAMA Viewpoint on FDA advisory committee meeting, Lykos, and MDMA-AT
As I enter the final push to complete my upcoming book on psychedelic law, my activity on Psychedelic Week has slowed. I write to provide an update and assure you that I’ll resume posting more frequently soon.
I want to thank you for your interest in this newsletter. It has been a pleasure to develop, and I have big plans for it after I submit the nearly-completed book.
Recent Events
In addition to completing several academic writing projects, I’ve been fortunate to co-host several psychedelic events at Harvard Law School’s Petrie-Flom Center.
Last week, we hosted our first psychedelic law and policy bootcamp. This four-day event convened over fifty people from all corners of the psychedelic ecosystem. Participants learned from expert lawyers, healthcare professionals, medical researchers, bioethicists, religious scholars, and spiritual leaders. They discussed timely topics such as federal drug scheduling, state psychedelic regulation, psychedelic clinical trials, the commercialization of psychedelic medicines, engaging respectfully with Indigenous communities, religious freedom, and intellectual property rights. The Psychedelics Bootcamp 2024 was made possible by a generous gift from the Gracias Family Foundation.
In June, the Petrie-Flom Center held its annual academic conference, which focused on the law and policy of psychedelic medicine this year. All sessions are viewable online for free thanks to the Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation (POPLAR), the Saisei Foundation, Tim Ferriss, Matt Mullenweg, and the Oswald DeN. Cammann Fund at Harvard University.
To launch the annual conference, we held a fireside chat with New York Times-bestselling author Ayelet Waldman, whose 2017 memoir A Really Good Day helped launch the psychedelic renaissance. Other conference sessions addressed psychedelics in medical and therapeutic practice; human rights and constitutional rights; cross-cultural, indigenous, and spiritual use; research, innovation, and patents; and legalization and access, which was divided into part I and part II. Conference speakers are contributing chapters to an edited volume that we will publish with an academic press.
Recent Publications
Last week, I published a JAMA Viewpoint article titled Psychedelic Therapy Scrutinized by FDA Advisory Committee? The full article is available here. It analyzes the June 4 FDA advisory committee meeting on Lykos and its new drug application for MDMA-AT. I discuss the advisory committee votes and what they mean for the future of psychedelic research.
Thank you for your patience while I wrap up the current book project. I look forward to sharing more details about it soon.
*The views expressed on Psychedelic Week do not represent the views of Harvard University, POPLAR at the Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School, Florida State University or its College of Law, or Yale University. Psychedelic Week is an independent project unaffiliated with these and other programs and institutions.
Mason Marks, MD, JD is the Florida Bar Health Law Section Professor at Florida State University, the senior fellow and project lead of the Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation (POPLAR) at the Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School, and an visiting fellow at the Information Society Project at Yale Law School. Professor Marks teaches drug law, psychedelic law, constitutional law, and administrative law. His forthcoming book on psychedelic law and politics will be published by Yale University Press. He tweets at @MasonMarksMD and @PsychedelicWeek.