Psychedelics
and
Doing Good
Aaron Nesmith-Beck
EA Toronto - 13/05/2020

What we’ll cover
⪢ Psychedelic Renaissance
○ Research
○ Policy change
⪢ How psychedelics can do good
○ Mental health
○ Trauma
○ Addiction
⪢ The long-term future
○ Potential benefits of psychedelics
○ Moral circle expansion
⪢ What Aaron is working on
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Psychedelic Renaissance
Research
⪢ MDMA for PTSD (MAPS)
○ Granted “Breakthrough Therapy” designation by the FDA
○ Currently in phase 3
⪢ Psilocybin for depression (MDD & TRD)
○ Granted “Breakthrough Therapy” designation by the FDA
○ Currently in phase 2
⪢ Psilocybin for smoking, alcoholism & more
○ Johns Hopkins, NYU, Imperial College London, Yale
⪢ A list of ongoing psychedelic clinical trials
3

Psychedelic Renaissance
Policy change
⪢ Medicalization
○ FDA & EMA approval processes
⪢ Decriminalization
○ Denver, Oakland, Santa Cruz, Washington, Chicago & more
○ Canada (sign the petition here)
⪢ Legalization
○ Oregon ballot initiative (IP 34)
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How psychedelics can do good
Mental health
⪢ Mental health problems responsible for 7-14% of global
DALY burden1
⪢ Cause profile: mental health (Michael Plant)
⪢ Depression & anxiety
○ NYU & Johns Hopkins gave psilocybin to end-of-life cancer
patients
○ 60-80% showed clinically significant reductions at 6 month
follow-up2,3
5

How psychedelics can do good
Mental health
⪢ Psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression (TRD)
○ TRD patients are depressed for years or decades & no
treatment works
○ Imperial College London pilot study:
“...eight (67%) of the 12 patients achieved complete
remission at 1 week and seven patients (58%) continued to
meet criteria for response (50% reduction in BDI [Beck
Depression Inventory] score relative to baseline) at 3
months, with five of these (42%) still in complete
remission”4
6

How psychedelics can do good
Mental health
⪢ MDMA for PTSD
○ 54% success rate in MAPS phase 2 trials5
○ Success = “no longer qualify for PTSD diagnosis”
⪢ Treating trauma in general
○ High ACE scores -> worse health outcomes6
⪢ Research to treat OCD, eating disorders, cluster headaches
ongoing
⪢ Naturalistic psychedelic users have better long-term mental
health outcomes; reduced psychological distress; reduced
suicidality7
7

How psychedelics can do good
Addiction: tobacco
⪢ Smoking accounts for 6% of all ill-health globally, more
than HIV and malaria combined8
⪢ WHO estimates as the largest cause of preventable death in
the world
○ 7M deaths per year, loss of 140M life years annually9
⪢ Psilocybin for smoking cessation
○ 80% quit rate after 6 months, 67% after 12 months10
○ Psilocybin probably at least twice as good as current
standard of treatment (RCT ongoing)
⪢ Naturalistic psychedelic use reduces smoking11
8

How psychedelics can do good
Addiction: alcohol
⪢ Psilocybin for alcoholism
○ NYU pilot study showed significant increase in abstinence12
○ Currently in phase 2 at NYU
⪢ MDMA for alcoholism study results coming soon
○ “A significant number stopped drinking completely”13
⪢ LSD appears effective in treating alcoholism14,15
⪢ Research to treat opioid and cocaine addiction ongoing
9

How psychedelics can do good
Wellbeing, personality traits & values
⪢ Increase in Big Five trait Openness16
○ Hasn’t been replicated
○ Potentially good
⪢ Psychedelic use predicts liberal and anti-authoritarian
political views17
⪢ Increased nature-relatedness and care for the environment18
○ Lifetime psychedelic use predicts pro-environmental
behaviour19
○ Strong connection between nature-relatedness and
wellbeing20,21
10

The long-term future
Potential benefits of psychedelics
⪢ Nature-relatedness & pro-environmental behaviour
good for climate change
⪢ Interrupt cycles of intergenerational trauma
⪢ Increase set of well-intentioned & capable people
(Griffes)
11

The long-term future
Moral circle expansion
⪢ Moral progress entails expanding the circle of moral concern
(Singer)
⪢ Rivalrous games + exponential tech = self-extinction
(Schmachtenberger)
⪢ Psychedelics can change sense of personal identity by
altering propositional & ontological qualia (Emilsson)
○ From closed to open individualism
12

The long-term future
Moral circle expansion
⪢ Psychedelic users care more for others than users of other
illicit substances & users of no illicit substances22
⪢ Participants in Johns Hopkins research rated by community
observers as more altruistic (locally)23
⪢ Psilocybin for TRD patients report more “connectedness”
and “acceptance”24
13

The long-term future
Moral circle expansion
⪢ "This sense of connection to people often extended to strangers
such as shop assistants, people on trains and in the street"
⪢ "Many patients described how the sense of connection seemed to
spread wider, a “deep connection to everyone”
⪢ “Four patients described having powerful insights about the
European refugee crisis during the dose, which was unexpected
and uncharacteristic for them (P9, P12, P15, P4), and some others
reported becoming more concerned about global issues in the
months after their treatment”25
14

What Aaron is doing
Atman
⪢ Legal psilocybin retreats in Jamaica
○ Helps individuals directly
○ Helps mainstream psychedelics
○ Builds groundwork for further development
⪢ Future direction: practitioner training
○ Bottleneck in psychedelic space
⪢ Exploring remote ketamine during COVID-19
⪢ More about Aaron: https://anesmithbeck.com/
15

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Thanks for listening!
Any questions?

17
References
1. EA Concepts: Improving Mental Health and Happiness.
https://concepts.effectivealtruism.org/concepts/improving-mental-health-and-happiness/
2. Ross, Stephen & Bossis, Anthony & Guss, Jeffrey & Agin-Liebes, Gabrielle & Malone, Tara & Cohen, Barry & Mennenga, Sarah & Belser,
Alexander & Kalliontzi, Krystallia & Babb, James & Su, Zhe & Corby, Patricia & L Schmidt, Brian. (2016). Rapid and sustained symptom
reduction following psilocybin treatment for anxiety and depression in patients with life-threatening cancer: A randomized controlled
trial. Journal of Psychopharmacology. 30. 1165-1180. 10.1177/0269881116675512.
3. Griffiths, Roland & Johnson, Matthew & A Carducci, Michael & Umbricht, Annie & Richards, William & Richards, Brian & P Cosimano,
Mary & Klinedinst, Margaret. (2016). Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with
life-threatening cancer: A randomized double-blind trial. Journal of Psychopharmacology. 30. 1181-1197. 10.1177/0269881116675513.
4. Carhart-Harris, Robin & Bolstridge, Mark & Rucker, James & Day, Camilla & Erritzoe, David & Kaelen, Mendel & Bloomfield, Michael & A
Rickard, James & Forbes, Ben & Feilding, Amanda & Taylor, David & Pilling, Steve & H Curran, Valerie & Nutt, David. (2016). Psilocybin with
psychological support for treatment-resistant depression: An open-label feasibility study. The Lancet Psychiatry. 3.
.10.1016/S2215-0366(16)30065-7.
5. Mithoefer, Michael & Feduccia, Allison & Jerome, Lisa & Mithoefer, Anne & Wagner, Mark & Walsh, Zach & Hamilton, Scott &
Yazar-Klosinski, Berra & Emerson, Amy & Doblin, Rick & Com, Alli@mapsbcorp. (2019). MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for treatment of
PTSD: study design and rationale for phase 3 trials based on pooled analysis of six phase 2 randomized controlled trials.
Psychopharmacology. 236. 10.1007/s00213-019-05249-5.
6. Hughes, Karen & Bellis, Mark & Hardcastle, Katherine & Sethi, Dinesh & Butchart, Alexander & Mikton, Christopher & Jones, Lisa &
Dunne, Michael. (2017). The effect of multiple adverse childhood experiences on health: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet
Public Health. 2. e356-e366. 10.1016/S2468-2667(17)30118-4.

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References
7. Hendricks, Peter & Thorne, Christopher & Clark, Charles & Coombs, David & Johnson, Matthew. (2015). Classic psychedelic use is
associated with reduced psychological distress and suicidality in the United States adult population. Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford,
England). 29. . 10.1177/0269881114565653.
8. 80,000 Hours Problem Profile: Smoking in the Developing World. https://80000hours.org/problem-profiles/tobacco/
9. World Health Organization Tobacco Fact Sheet. (July 26, 2019). http://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco
10. Garcia-Romeu, Albert & Griffiths, Roland & Johnson, Matthew. (2015). Psilocybin-Occasioned Mystical Experiences in the Treatment of
Tobacco Addiction. Current drug abuse reviews. 08. . 10.2174/1874473708666150107121331.
11. Johnson, Matthew & Garcia-Romeu, Albert & Johnson, Patrick & Griffiths, Roland. (2017). An online survey of tobacco smoking
cessation associated with naturalistic psychedelic use. Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England). 31. 269881116684335.
10.1177/0269881116684335.
12. Bogenschutz, Michael & Forcehimes, Alyssa & A Pommy, Jessica & Wilcox, Claire & Ribeiro Barbosa, Paulo Cesar & J Strassman, Rick.
(2015). Psilocybin-assisted treatment for alcohol dependence: A proof-of-concept study. Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England).
29. . 10.1177/0269881114565144.
13. Thoricata, Wesley. (2020). How Medical Science Grapples with Psychedelic Plants like Ayahuasca and Ibogaine: A Conversation with
Professor David Nutt. Psychedelic Times. https://psychedelictimes.com/psychedelic-plants-david-nutt/
14. Krebs, Teri & Johansen, Pål-Ørjan. (2012). Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) for Alcoholism: Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled
Trials. Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England). 26. 994-1002. 10.1177/0269881112439253.

19
References
15. Garcia-Romeu, Albert & Davis, Alan & Erowid, Fire & Erowid, Earth & Griffiths, Roland & Johnson, Matthew. (2019). Cessation and
reduction in alcohol consumption and misuse after psychedelic use. Journal of Psychopharmacology. 33. 10.1177/0269881119845793.
16. MacLean KA, Johnson MW, Griffiths RR. (2011). Mystical Experiences Occasioned by the Hallucinogen Psilocybin Lead to Increases in
the Personality Domain of Openness. Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England). 25(11):1453-1461. 10.1177/0269881111420188.
17. Matthew M. Nour B.M., B.Ch., M.A., Lisa Evans M.Sc. & Robin L. Carhart- Harris B.Sc., M.A., Ph.D. (2017). Psychedelics, Personality and
Political Perspectives. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. 10.1080/02791072.2017.1312643.
18. Forstmann, Matthias & Sagioglou, Christina. (2017). Lifetime experience with (classic) psychedelics predicts pro-environmental
behavior through an increase in nature relatedness. Journal of Psychopharmacology. 31(8):975-988. 10.1177/0269881117714049.
19. Ibid.
20. Renate Cervinka, Kathrin Röderer, Elisabeth Hefler. (2011). Are nature lovers happy? On various indicators of well-being and
connectedness with nature. Journal of Health Psychology. 17(3):379-388. 10.1177/1359105311416873.
21. Capaldi CA, Dopko RL, Zelenski JM. (2014). The relationship between nature connectedness and happiness: a meta-analysis. Frontiers in
Psychology. 2014;5:976. 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00976.
22. Lerner, M. & Lyvers, M. (2006). Values and beliefs of psychedelic drug users: a cross-cultural study. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs.
38(2):143-7. 10.1080/02791072.2006.10399838

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References
23. Griffiths, Roland & Richards, William & Johnson, Matthew & McCann, Ud & Jesse, Robert. (2008). Mystical-Type Experiences
Occasioned by Psilocybin Mediate the Attribution of Personal Meaning and Spiritual Significance 14 Months Later. Journal of
psychopharmacology (Oxford, England). 22. 621-32. 10.1177/0269881108094300.
24. Watts, Rosalind & Day, Camilla & Krzanowski, Jacob & Nutt, David & Carhart-Harris, Robin. (2017). Patients’ Accounts of Increased
“Connectedness” and “Acceptance” After Psilocybin for Treatment-Resistant Depression. Journal of Humanistic Psychology. 57.
002216781770958. 10.1177/0022167817709585.
25. Ibid.