The Entrepreneurship of Psychedelic Negativity: Psymposia, Trauma, Iatrogenic Harm, and Prohibition 2.0
Contemporary Drug Problems July 10, 2026 Oliver Davis, Sophie Casey
This article offers a skeptical appraisal of Psymposia, a U.S.-based psychedelics watchdog group that helped block FDA approval of MDMA for PTSD in 2024. Close analysis of its "Power Trip" podcast, FDA hearing interventions, and allegations of a "Psychedelic Syndicate" portrays the group as an effective "entrepreneur of psychedelic negativity." The authors argue that Psymposia's sensationalist approach to trauma and narrow view of iatrogenic harm presents its activism as harm-reduction while conspiring to produce "Prohibition 2.0" through "distributed anxiogenesis." The authors claim the group received over $400,000 USD in funding, mostly undisclosed, possibly used for consultancy and media access. They reject the group's position as incoherent and damaging to substantive Left politics, aiming to bring balance to conversations about psychedelic medicalization and decriminalization.