On January 6th, 2021 at least two psychedelic heads stormed the United States Capitol. Strange as it may seem, those adhering to right-wing politics haven’t just established a beachhead in the psychedelic renaissance—they’re maneuvering to own it.

Weeoo weeoo livestream alert for Thursday, December 17th at 8PM ET!!. Last time we popped bottles and jammed in the comments - come hang out with us again for some reflections on 2020.

Thea Riofrancos is a political scientist whose research has focused on political conflict related to extraction, energy, and infrastructure in a rapidly warming and politically unstable world. She also serves on the steering committee for Democratic Socialists of America for a Green New Deal.

This list is by no means exhaustive, but it spotlights a number of psychedelic pharmaceutical companies and executives with ties to extractive industry.

Extractive industry is highly speculative by nature and firms are risk tolerant—they either “strike gold” or they don’t. When their gambles fail, psychedelic startups can take over their corporate shells to quickly go public with minimal regulatory scrutiny.

A mining firm’s conflict with Argentinian communities illustrates extractive industry’s practices and values, and raises questions about how these corporate approaches will translate into the psychedelic pharmaceutical industry.

Canadian mining and exploration company AIS has had a number of executives move on to found psychedelic pharmaceutical businesses. Why? Because psychedelics are where the money’s at.

When the media republishes statements from psychedelic pharmaceutical startups and their executives with little-to-no vetting, it functions as a corporate megaphone and damages the field of psychedelic science.

Through EmpathBio, ATAI Life Sciences says it will develop “safer” MDMA derivatives for patients with PTSD and calls the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies' (MAPS) approach "MDMA 1.0." MAPS' executive director, Rick Doblin, says that if that's the case, ATAI is "MDMA 0.5."

Since COMPASS Pathways filed for a controversial psilocybin patent in 2018, Usona Institute has consistently placed its research findings in the public domain.

American policing is a white supremacist institution that has repeatedly demonstrated the degree to which it values property over human life. Our struggles against the police are inseparably entwined with similar struggles around the world, and they cannot be disconnected from larger struggles for human rights.

"I want nothing to do with those kinds of folks who want to decriminalize psychedelics,” Rahn told Forbes."

Field Trip Ventures leads the charge to use “psychedelic” as a marketing buzzword for any kind of niche therapy.

Jamon A. Rahn, CEO of psychedelic pharmaceutical startup MindMed, offered a glimpse of the future of psychedelic science, including proprietary data and hints of an “LSD neutralizer.”

As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, Christian Angermayer, the world’s largest psychedelic pharmaceutical investor and founder of ATAI Life Sciences, calls to sacrifice public health for the sake of “the economy.”

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Christian Angermayer—the world's largest psychedelic pharmaceutical investor and founder of ATAI Life Sciences—dismisses medical experts in his desperation to reboot the economy.

The coronavirus has made it clear that psychedelic medicalization will not revolutionize mental healthcare without systemic socioeconomic change.

As technology and psychedelics turn to mental health, we’ll likely see a future where we are treated based on our digital biomarkers, and sold mental health services based on the personal data we surrender.

Psychedelic capitalists justify their decision to go for-profit in the ballroom of America’s most recent for-profit flop.

After decades of psychedelic nonprofits paving regulatory pathways and priming wealthy investors, for-profits are moving in to reap the rewards.