Drug Discovery and Development – DMT pioneer Rick Strassman weighs in on psychedelic hope and hype
DMT pioneer Rick Strassman weighs in on psychedelic hope and hype
Interest in the therapeutic potential of psychedelics may have exploded in recent years, but the field will likely see “a lot of separating the wheat from the chaff,” said Dr. Rick Strassman, a professor at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and author of “DMT: The Spirit Molecule” and “The Psychedelic Handbook.”
In the 1990s, Strassman conducted pioneering research on the psychedelic DMT (N,N-dimethyltryptamine), which is found in many plants and animals.
While the number of psychedelic companies has exploded recently, the herd may already be thinning. Several public companies in the space have seen their valuations plummet over the past year.
“I think there’ll be more consolidation,” Strassman predicted. “There will be just a handful of players in the end.”
Strassman recommends that companies and academics interested in the therapeutic potential of psychedelics avoid making unsubstantiated claims or minimizing the adverse effects of the drug class.
The companies that most effectively tap the potential of psychedelics while reducing the risk of adverse events are the most likely to find traction in the marketplace. Several researchers, for instance, are working on developing compounds inspired by drugs such as LSD or psilocybin without causing hallucinations…
Read the full story at: https://www.drugdiscoverytrends.com/dmt-pioneer-rick-strassman-weighs-in-psychedelic-hope-and-hype/
