I want to start by thanking you all for your ongoing readership. Every time I pen something and send it out into the ether I am surprised by how many of you read it, top to tail! Even on Friday evening, when the last thing I’d think you’d want to do is read a 7,000-word tome on psychedelic patents, REMS, or bifurcated scheduling, with just a splash of dry humour for light relief.
It doesn’t go unnoticed, or unappreciated.
Over three years ago, when I registered psilocybinalpha.com and threw together the homepage while sitting at my laptop in the English countryside, I couldn’t have imagined where it would take me. I have been fortunate enough to meet so many fantastic people, present at conferences and symposia in psychedelics and beyond, and carve out a very niche corner in this ‘space’. And, Psychedelic Alpha – thanks to the work, support and guidance of friends and colleagues – has been featured in outlets like the New York Times, on live TV broadcasts, and in policy documents from bodies like the UNODC.
Needless to say, it’s been quite the journey. Not just for me, but for many of us. It hasn’t all been rosy, either.
The precarity of running a small media company/consultancy in an emergent and tumultuous space has been something of a strain at times. I certainly don’t command sympathy, though. The joys have outweighed the pains to a huge degree. And I am forever grateful to the companies and organisations that took a chance on a twenty-something British bloke and his motley crew by signing an agreement with us to provide services and ‘insights’.
And again, these growing pains and difficulties haven’t only been felt by me… the whole field is undergoing a similar process.
As we come crashing back down to earth from sky-high company valuations and largely unabashed exuberance, we come back to a moment of reality. Whether you’re an investor in the medical side of psychedelics; a practitioner in state-regulated markets; or, whoever: the next few years will be critical to ensuring a safe, scalable and successful roll-out of psychedelics.
As the hype subsides, the real work begins!
I hope I can play a continuing role in helping you cut through the noise (and BS).
But as I get pulled in more directions – what with consultancy, advisory, and pro bono engagements – the time I dedicate to writing has taken a hit.
I have been looking to find ways to get back to writing. It’s something that doesn’t necessarily come naturally to me, but I do enjoy it. Thanks to colleagues and friends, we also have a great deal of data that is often sitting in our ‘trackers’: some of which isn’t on the website.
The dream is to get more of this in front of you, our readers and decision makers in the space, in a manner that’s contextualised, editorialised and… useful. Here are a handful of examples of our coverage from the past year or so:
To support this work, I’m establishing a reader-supported model for the more analysis-focused content we produce.
Pα+ subscribers will receive regular Bulletins covering many aspects of the space that we deem relevant, as well as timely updates and analysis of key milestones across psychedelic policy, research and culture.
I can’t promise that some elements of our coverage won’t be ‘in the weeds’, but I will do my best to ensure that explainers and ‘catch-ups’ are included for where we dive deep.
We’re also going to include other subscriber-only content such as interviews and deep dives into specific topics, as well as analysis of patent filings/grants, for example.
Most things will be written by me (Josh), with the help of my colleagues and friends. If all goes well, in time I hope to bring in the occasional outside author or guest.
Beyond all of this, taking out a subscription to Pα+ is a way of supporting our continued coverage of the space. And for that, I couldn’t be more grateful.
And for those that aren’t quite ready to take the plunge and subscribe to Pα+, rest assured that I will continue to provide what I hope is a valuable amount of information and data on the house.
In this vein, I was pleased to launch the Psychedelic News Feed last month. Aside from this, our legal and patent trackers will remain freely-available on the website, and the occasional Bulletin or deep dive will be made available to all who care to read it.
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Subscription options
I want to keep this as simple as possible: your subscription directly supports our ability to produce meaningful data and commentary on the space. For that reason, the pricing is simple: $20/month per user, or $200 per year.
I am pleased to extend a discount to you – an existing reader – for the first year (or 6 months on monthly plans):
For those that might wish to support us even more, the best thing you can do is tell a friend about what we’re doing here. Or, get in touch with us about our higher tier offering.