{"id":96014,"date":"2025-05-22T09:53:40","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T13:53:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&#038;p=96014"},"modified":"2025-08-19T09:36:58","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T13:36:58","slug":"rise-psychedelic-capitalism-corporatization","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/rise-psychedelic-capitalism-corporatization\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rise of Psychedelic Capitalism: Work Harder and Be Happy About It?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section class=\"w-screen px-6 cu-section cu-section--white ml-offset-center md:px-8 lg:px-14\">\n    <div class=\"space-y-6 cu-max-w-child-max  md:space-y-10 cu-prose-first-last\">\n\n        \n                    \n                    \n            \n    <div class=\"cu-wideimage relative flex items-center justify-center mx-auto px-8 overflow-hidden md:px-16 rounded-xl not-prose  my-6 md:my-12 first:mt-0 bg-opacity-50 bg-cover bg-cu-black-50 pt-24 pb-32 md:pt-28 md:pb-44 lg:pt-36 lg:pb-60 xl:pt-48 xl:pb-72\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/162\/psychedelic-capitalism-1200x900-1.jpg); background-position: 50% 50%;\">\n\n                    <div class=\"absolute top-0 w-full h-screen\" style=\"background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.600);\"><\/div>\n        \n        <div class=\"relative z-[2] max-w-4xl w-full flex flex-col items-center gap-2 cu-wideimage-image cu-zero-first-last\">\n            <header class=\"mx-auto mb-6 text-center text-white cu-pageheader cu-component-updated cu-pageheader--center md:mb-12\">\n\n                                    <h1 class=\"cu-prose-first-last font-semibold mb-2 text-3xl md:text-4xl lg:text-5xl lg:leading-[3.5rem] cu-pageheader--center text-center mx-auto after:left-px\">\n                        The Rise of Psychedelic Capitalism: Work Harder and Be Happy About It?\n                    <\/h1>\n                \n                            <\/header>\n        <\/div>\n\n                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"absolute bottom-0 w-full z-[1]\" fill=\"none\" viewbox=\"0 0 1280 312\">\n                <path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M26.412 315.608c-.602-.268-6.655-2.412-13.524-4.769a1943.84 1943.84 0 0 1-14.682-5.144l-2.276-.858v-5.358c0-4.876.086-5.358.773-5.09 1.674.643 21.38 5.84 34.646 9.109 14.682 3.59 28.935 6.858 45.936 10.449l9.874 2.089H57.322c-16.4 0-30.31-.16-30.91-.428ZM460.019 315.233c42.974-10.074 75.602-19.88 132.443-39.867 76.16-26.791 152.063-57.709 222.385-90.663 16.7-7.823 21.336-10.074 44.262-21.273 85.004-41.688 134.719-64.193 195.291-88.413 66.55-26.577 145.2-53.584 194.27-66.765C1258.5 5.626 1281.34 0 1282.24 0c.17 0 .34 27.596.34 61.3v61.299l-2.23.375c-84.7 13.718-165.93 35.955-310.736 84.931-46.494 15.753-65.427 22.076-96.166 32.15-9.102 3-24.814 8.198-34.989 11.574-107.543 35.954-153.008 50.422-196.626 62.639l-6.74 1.876-89.126-.054c-78.135-.054-88.782-.161-85.948-.857ZM729.628 312.875c33.229-10.985 69.248-23.523 127.506-44.207 118.705-42.223 164.596-57.709 217.446-73.302 2.62-.75 8.29-2.465 12.67-3.751 56.19-16.772 126.94-33.597 184.17-43.671 5.07-.91 9.66-1.768 10.22-1.875l.94-.161v170.236l-281.28-.054H719.968l9.66-3.215ZM246.864 313.411c-65.041-2.251-143.047-12.11-208.432-26.256-18.375-3.965-41.73-9.538-42.202-10.074-.171-.214-.257-21.38-.214-47.046l.129-46.618 6.654 3.697c57.313 32.043 118.491 56.531 197.699 79.143 40.313 11.521 83.459 18.058 138.669 21.059 15.584.857 65.685.857 81.14 0 33.744-1.876 61.306-4.93 88.396-9.806 6.396-1.126 11.634-1.983 11.722-1.929.255.375-20.48 7.769-30.999 11.038-28.592 8.948-59.288 15.646-91.873 20.147-26.36 3.59-50.015 5.627-78.35 6.698-15.584.59-55.209.59-72.339-.053Z\"><\/path>\n                <path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M-3.066 295.067 32.06 304.1v9.033H-3.066v-18.066Z\"><\/path>\n            <\/svg>\n            <\/div>\n\n    \n\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<p>This article is <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/the-rise-of-psychedelic-capitalism-work-harder-and-be-happy-about-it-253003\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">republished<\/a> from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. All photos provided by <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Conversation<\/a> from various sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/law\/people\/jamie-brownlee\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jamie Brownlee<\/a> is a university instructor in law and legal studies, and geography and environmental studies, at Carleton University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"ad-auris-iframe\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none;\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"400\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/audio.adauris.ai\/v2\/widget\/RvjICRaqgSFBJozV1NoK\/VbAE56l6Npvu3qJx1MJn?distribution=true\" width=\"100%\" data-project-id=\"RvjICRaqgSFBJozV1NoK\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once stigmatized and outlawed, psychedelics are moving from the counterculture to the mainstream. From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/prince-harry-psychedelics-60-minutes-2023-01-09\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Prince Harry&#8217;s use of psilocybin<\/a> to National Football League quarterback <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2023\/06\/23\/sport\/aaron-rodgers-psychedelics-spt-intl\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aaron Rodgers&#8217; adventures with ayahuasca<\/a>, our media is awash with accounts of their professed benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hundreds of universities around the world are now engaging in psychedelic research. And psychedelic <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.neuropharm.2022.109399\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">legalization initiatives<\/a> are taking hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Psychedelics are becoming big business. Just as private capital flooded the cannabis sector years ago, a psychedelic gold rush is underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wealthy entrepreneurs are investing in the psychedelic industry while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/4a2e856c-4736-4b8b-9323-583bb1dbe8f4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">biotechnology start-ups<\/a> are raising capital and running clinical trials on novel psychedelic molecules. Venture capitalists are eyeing the prospects of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.openpr.com\/news\/3212760\/psychedelic-therapeutics-market-research-report-2023\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">new lucrative mass market<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter align-right\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/667645\/original\/file-20250513-56-ocz5xr.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip\" alt=\"A book cover with colourful drawings.\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">The authors of this article have a new book out: \u2018Psychedelic Capitalism\u2019 published by Fernwood.<\/span><br>\n<span class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"source\">(Fernwood)<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"three-causes-for-concern\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Three causes for concern<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To date, most debates about psychedelics have offered little critical analysis of their relationship to the political economy of modern capitalism and broader power structures. In our new book <a href=\"https:\/\/fernwoodpublishing.ca\/book\/psychedelic-capitalism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Psychedelic Capitalism<\/em><\/a>, we make three central claims about the so-called psychedelic renaissance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, the medicalization of psychedelics is likely to restrict access and reinforce existing health and social inequalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Second, the corporatization of psychedelics will enable economic elites to dominate the market while appropriating the vast reservoir of knowledge built up by Indigenous communities, public institutions and underground researchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And third, rather than representing progressive drug reform, the limited legalization of select psychedelics for medical use will help to entrench and sustain the drug war and the criminalization of most drug use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"ignoring-community-knowledge\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ignoring community knowledge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Across North America, we&#8217;re seeing a <a href=\"https:\/\/thewalrus.ca\/magic-mushrooms-medicine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">medicalization of psychedelics<\/a>, where a range of problems are presented as treatable by these substances. This is happening in a way that boosts corporate control of the process and pushes aside community and Indigenous knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We have seen this scenario <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/australia-news\/2024\/feb\/11\/a-raft-of-unanswered-questions-remain-as-australias-first-psychedelic-therapy-clinic-opens\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">play out in Australia<\/a>. Substances such as psilocybin and MDMA are legally available, but only through a doctor&#8217;s prescription and at great financial cost \u2014 raising questions about equity, access and who these therapies are for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Framing psychedelics as <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3368\/hopp.65.1.131\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pharmaceutical commodities and individualized health-care solutions<\/a> reinforces the prohibitionist narrative that these substances are unsuitable for use outside of the medical context. This narrative shifts attention away from how medicalized use might perpetuate a <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1556\/2054.2023.00273\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">neoliberal ideology<\/a> \u2014 locating mental \u201cdisorder\u201d within an individual, rather than addressing more systemic causes such as poverty, inequality and social exclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It also disregards <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC9950658\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">centuries of traditions created by Indigenous community use<\/a>, as well as the values of the psychedelic underground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A system built on expensive individual therapy, medically trained gatekeepers and hyper-controlled clinical access is not the model that most advocates have envisioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"a-pill-only-model-for-productivity-and-happiness\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">A pill-only model for productivity and happiness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The foundations of psychedelic capitalism were largely created by public innovation at the public&#8217;s expense and are now in the process of being taken over by private capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Psychedelic conferences increasingly resemble <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lucid.news\/wonderlands-psychedelic-corporate-rabbit-hole\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">corporate trade shows<\/a>. The psychedelic tourism industry continues to expand and cater to elite clients. For-profit companies like Mind Medicine and Compass Pathways are <a href=\"https:\/\/psychedelicalpha.com\/news\/mindmeds-total-elimination-of-psychotherapy-in-lsd-study-stokes-debate-around-its-role-in-psychedelic-therapies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">eliminating psychotherapy from their treatment protocols<\/a> and embracing a \u201cpill-only\u201d model favoured by Big Pharma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Psychedelics, including microdosing and psychedelic-assisted therapy, are marketed as a way for the general population to extract more work out of their already overworked lives, and to be happy about it in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Companies are competing to <a href=\"https:\/\/harvardlawreview.org\/forum\/no-volume\/patents-on-psychedelics-the-next-legal-battlefront-of-drug-development\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">capture intellectual property<\/a> to harness profits from existing compounds and erect legal barriers around new chemicals and their applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The for-profit ketamine industry already offers a glimpse into the future of corporatized psychedelic therapy. This includes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2024\/01\/30\/1227630630\/ketamine-infusion-clinic-mental-health-depression-anxiety-fda-off-label\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a lack of attention to risks<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/ketamine-therapy-depression-treatment-addictive-drug-clinics-2023-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">deceitful marketing<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/article\/psychedelic-telemedicine-has-arrived-what-could-possibly-go-wrong\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">little consideration to therapeutic care<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There has been a <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3368\/hopp.65.1.117\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">surge of new patent applications<\/a> (and granted patents) in the U.S. on substances such as psilocybin, LSD, DMT, 5-MeO DMT and mescaline that seek to secure exclusivity, monopolize supply chains and privatize knowledge that already exists in the public domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Psychedelics have been swept up into the well-rehearsed capitalist playbook where private players are fabricating exclusionary rights over what are ultimately the products of collective human struggle and intellectual achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"medical-legalization-of-psychedelics\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Medical legalization of psychedelics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The medicalized approach to psychedelic mainstreaming also connects to drug law and policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Across North America, the biomedical approach is the main influence on drug law and the primary avenue for psychedelic access in most jurisdictions. This approach is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/article\/psychedelics-are-a-billion-dollar-business-and-no-one-can-agree-who-should-control-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">widely supported by psychedelic capitalists<\/a> who have a financial stake in medical legalization and want to limit legal access to anything outside of the medical-pharma frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the United States, places like Oregon and Colorado have more holistic legal models that include elements of community control to prevent corporate capture. But most state initiatives remain limited in scope and are centred around medicalized therapy, particularly for military veterans. Even in Oregon, which has been lauded for its progressive drug policies, there has been an unmistakable <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2022\/03\/10\/oregon-wrestles-with-offering-psychedelic-therapy-outside-health-care-system\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">drift toward medicalization<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Canada&#8217;s cannabis industry exemplifies how processes of legalization can become intertwined with the interests of corporate-dominated industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Michael Devillaer, professor of psychiatry and behavioural neurosciences and author of <a href=\"https:\/\/blackrosebooks.com\/products\/buzz-kill-michael-r-devillaer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Buzz Kill<\/em> (2024)<\/a>, has explained, the cannabis industry has prioritized profit maximization, product promotion and increased consumption at the expense of public health concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-is-best-for-public-interest\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is best for public interest?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As the medical legalization of psychedelics deepens, we are likely to see the intensification of criminal penalties for recreational and other uses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In fact, <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.drugalcdep.2024.111086\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">police seizures<\/a> of psychedelics like psilocybin in the U.S. have increased in recent years. <a href=\"https:\/\/doubleblindmag.com\/ayahuasca-practitioner-arrests\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Global arrests<\/a> for the transportation of compounds such as ayahuasca, iboga and peyote have also increased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These problems are likely to be exacerbated by systems of <a href=\"https:\/\/ondrugs.substack.com\/p\/bifurcated-rescheduling\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bifurcated scheduling<\/a>, where a drug product is placed in a different class from the active ingredient or substance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were to approve psilocybin for depression or MDMA for PTSD, it is likely that only FDA-approved medicinal psilocybin and MDMA products would be rescheduled, while the substances themselves would continue to be prosecuted as restricted narcotics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is in the public interest to move beyond a myopic focus on medical legalization to a more open, decriminalized model of public access. An approach like this would not only mitigate the threats associated with corporate capture, it would also reduce the harms associated with criminalization and the war on drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Community-controlled decriminalization is a better path to mainstreaming psychedelics than relinquishing power to the medical industry and pharmaceutical cartels that provide monopolized services to primarily affluent customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And treating drug use and dependence as a public health issue and incentivizing harm reduction and support services for at-risk populations would go a long way to mitigating the tragedies of the drug war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>_<br>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\">Carleton Newsroom<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/253003\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Once stigmatized and outlawed, psychedelics are moving from the counterculture to the mainstream. From Prince Harry&#8217;s use of psilocybin to National Football League quarterback Aaron Rodgers&#8217; adventures with ayahuasca, our media is awash with accounts of their professed benefits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":96020,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[1623],"cu_story_tag":[],"class_list":["post-96014","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-expert-perspectives"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/96014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/96014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96032,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/96014\/revisions\/96032"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=96014"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=96014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}