Welcome to issue #11 of The Ethical Trip! This fortnight:

For all this, plus roundup of recent research and what High Times optimistically described as ‘a flair for humor’, read on!

On a personal note, the past month has been enormously challenging for my family & I. I’m deeply grateful for everyone who’s sent messages of support and helped out. Huge thanks also to the people showing appreciation of my work by contributing finically via buy me a coffee cactus.

Filtering out the usual examples of reinventing the wheel, the past fortnight of psychedelic research gave us some interesting (by my idiosyncratic standards) papers & books.

Psychedelic Immortality: Nietzschean Perspectives on Reincarnation, Femtheogens, and Philosophy look’s like it’s going to be a worthwhile read, though possibly challenging for anyone not well-versed in Nietzsche. Personally, I am a little sceptical that it can fulfil its goal of showing that ‘situating education and democracy within the context of reincarnation can incite a renaissance of American culture and politics.’ But seriously, with a thesis like that, how can it not be interesting?!

In a more conventional vein, Im & Sandoe (2025) give a thorough update on where the emerging science of using psychedelics to treat a range of headache-related disorders is up to.

Brittain et al (2025) highlights the lack of consensus on competencies and training requirements for psychedelic practitioners and the need for better consultation with Indigenous and priority populations and more rigorous post-trial care of psychedelic trial participants.

On a related ethics note, Koenig-Robert, Keogh, & Pearson (2025) give some much-needed balance to discussion of using psychedelics to treat aphantasia. While there is emerging evidence that psychedelic use can enhance our visualisation abilities, this paper highlights situations where strong mental imagery is less helpful or potentially corelates with poor mental health.

Lots more good stuff below, but only for subscribers!

Efforts to corner the market in certifying psychedelic practitioners and retreats as safe and/or ethical are intensifying. There are projects like Lumara/MindLumen, and numerous websites, including Third Wave, are reproducing some version of the vetted practitioner list maintained by Psychedelic.Support, with varying level of due diligence.

Even the activity of the Australian Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Practitioners (AMAPP) is at least partially directed towards a future where a particular logo on one’s website is an indicator of ethical practice and adherence to safety standards.

These are just the examples that are public. Behind the scenes, many people are working on similar projects, largely convinced that they’ll be the ones to get it right and somehow succeed where others have not.

You will be amazed to learn that I’m not convinced any of them haven’t gotten it right thus far. But this is maybe not for the reasons you’d think.

So, what are the obstacles to Certifying Psychedelic Psychedelic Practitioner Safety & Ethics?

Want to help upgrade my budget from ‘Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri’ to ‘Civilisation VII’? Support me via Buy Me a Coffee. If you’re feeling really flush with cash, and can spare $7 a month, maybe consider joining the Founding Readers Tier.

Elements of the psychedelic sphere are coming around to the idea that some of our problems are systematic and environmental. But within the unholy crossover of psychology, ‘wellness’ and tryptamine-powered woo, the belief that individuals are the sole authors of their own destinies, even in the face of events utterly outside their control, still remains overstated.

I wrote this essay for Independent Australia, many years ago. And while the specifics of housing prices at the time now seem laughably minuscule, the questions remain the same: How much of our success is really earned, how much is just the roll of the dice, and what should we do about it?

Read the full piece here: The 'lucky country', the 'fair go' and getting what we deserve

Lots of us working across academia, as entrepreneurs, or volunteering our time to worthwhile cases, are familiar with burnout: the state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged or excessive stress, often due to work or other life-demands.

You’re probably also familiar with the symptoms: emotional exhaustion, physical fatigue, and cognitive issues like forgetfulness or difficulty concentrating.

What you may be less familiar with are the causes and symptoms of burnout for neurodivergent people.

For example, for autistic people, autistic burnout can be caused by the cumulative stress of social demands, camouflaging/masking their autistic traits & behaviours, and generally having to survive in a brutally un-accommodating world. This can exhibit as exhaustion in similar ways as ‘classical’ burnout, but also as increased sensory sensitivity or loss of skills.

In all cases, the treatment is to take away the factors driving chronic & cumulative stress. So, if your burnout is caused by chronic overwork, the solution largely comes down to no longer over-working. Similarly, autistic burnout seems best relieved by stopping masking, getting accommodations and reducing other stressors such as excessive stimuli.

(Yes, I know all of this is easier said than done.)

There is very preliminary research suggesting that burnout recovery could be aided by psilocybin use. But my personal experience of working with a lot of people who partake in psychedelics is that this is no magic bullet against the impacts of chronic overwork or societal expectations to act neurotypical.

Tickets for the EGA Garden States conference are limited. So if you want to attend, hit that website now to buy tickets or explore volunteering opportunities: https://www.gardenstates.org/

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If you made it this far, thanks, again, for reading!

I’d love to know what people think on the subject of ethics certifications - please feel free to hit reply if you have any thoughts on this.

As always, all feedback and suggestions are welcome, and I promise* to not betray you to the Tyrell Corporation.

*Unless it turns out I’m also a replicant.

PS:

Q: Why doesn’t anyone like the Diamond Shruumz chocolate bar at parties?

A: Because it was just pretending to be a fungi.

Written on Worimi lands. Sovereignty was never ceded.

Icon by Freepik from Flaticon