Speaker

Paul Stamets, Mycologist and Founder of Fungi Perfecti

Context: Founder and former executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), Rick Doblin, interviewed renowned mycologist Paul Stamets for an Arena Hall late night fireside chat. The conversation focused on the emerging research and development of psychedelic pharmaceuticals and the culture surrounding such developments.

Bio: Paul Stamets, renowned speaker, author, mycologist, medical researcher, and entrepreneur, is widely regarded as a leading authority in the field of fungi, encompassing their habitats, medicinal applications, and cultivation methods. Delving into various mushroom species and research findings, he illuminates how mushrooms can contribute to both human health and environmental well-being. Stamets' core argument revolves around the concept that habitats possess immune systems akin to humans, and mushrooms serve as crucial cellular links between the two realms. Leveraging our shared evolutionary history with fungi, he advocates for innovative microbiome collaborations that promise heightened sustainability and immune system reinforcement.

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Summary

For Paul Stamets, the very path of humanity is dependent upon the psychedelic revolution.

We are currently living in an age of decision - do we continue on a path of mutually assured destruction killing the planet and ourselves, or do we awaken to empower the freedom of consciousness inherently present within us? This choice is at the heart of Paul Stamets’ mission to bring about a new discussion and outlook on psilocybin. With a nuanced understanding of the subject of psychedelics and government regulation, Paul Stamets is just the individual for the job.

Big Ideas:

• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that MDMA (a synthetic compound that can evoke euphoria and raise energy levels) used for PTSD therapy is approved for prescription medication. This is a huge advancement in the discussion surrounding psychedelic pharmaceuticals. For Stamets, medicine is more effective if it treats patients closer to the heart of the trauma. The world renowned mycologist believes MDMA contains such effectiveness. 
• There has occurred a 1,600 year gap of psychedelic knowledge and research. Since the Church wiped out psychedelics in 396 A.D. until rudimentary research began in the 1890s, with mainstream research only emerging recently. This gap has led to a profound cultural crisis over the centuries. The resurgence being seen now is greatly needed.
• The late 1980s witnessed the FDA becoming pressured to investigate potentially life-saving drugs to be distributed as a result of the AIDS crisis. Finally, in 1992, pressure had amounted to convince the FDA Drug Evaluation staff to end the multi-generational, multi-decade repression on psychedelic research. This was the key turning point to where we are now in relation to available ongoing research with psychedelics.
• Buying the domain rights to fungi.com and fungi.net for only $28, Paul Stamets began a company that today sees itself as the Nation’s most successful nutraceutical mushroom-based company. Owning the entire company with zero debt, Stamets is overseeing record revenue increases - further supporting his thesis that individuals are beginning to wake up to the positive possibilities of psychedelics.
• For Stamets, biodiversity is biosecurity. In an age when environmental concerns are at an all-time high, it is important to appreciate the interconnectedness of interacting organisms throughout the entirety of the ecosystem. Stamets believes that flourishing businesses surrounding the growth of such interconnected fungi are a key defender of nature’s complex ecosystem.
• When psilocybin stops stuttering in multiple individuals, there are interesting and profound implications of the possibilities that this drug has on its patients. Paul Stamets is one such case. The positive effect left upon him by psilocybin became the catalyst for pursuing many other passions - not least of which a successful career in martial arts.
• With regards to PTSD, Paul Stamets is passionate about the application of psychedelics to not only treat PTSD, but also to prevent the mental health condition itself. The process of psychedelic therapy is a process of explanation. Stamets believes that this process of therapy is both extremely important, and also allows for the maximization of benefitting from the treatment.
• Before the large historical gap of non-usage and understanding of psychedelics in the previous millenia occurred, ancient civilizations all around the world are found to have been using these drugs as an integral part of societal life. Just now, researchers are beginning to rediscover the ancestral practices of the ancient past - revealing how living in a given ecosystem for a prolonged period of time inevitably leads to the discovery of psychedelic substances useful in the daily life of societies.
• For Stamets, psilocybin is important in that it connects you with “Universal Consciousness”, it takes you out into the in, “you understand that we are all one people in one giant consciousness that extends way beyond the earth, and that now we have access to this universal knowledge.”
• Psilocybin, more than anything else for Stamets, is a giant possibility. It empowers the freedom of consciousness to get more creative, exciting people to come up with the inventions, because humans have the ability to invent our way out of the mess, that for Stamets, is the modern world. It would seem then, that psilocybin mushrooms are having an underground revolution that's empowering all individuals who come in contact. For Stamets, this is the beginning of the much-needed paradigm shift.