Shayla Love: The High-Stakes Game of Psychedelic Capitalism

Voices of Esalen

“All of these sort of regular things that biotech companies do, like snapping up patents so that they can get investor dollars moving forward, they’re intersecting with this culture in the psychedelics world, which is sort of anti-ownership. These forces will clash. They oppose with one another.” - Shayla Love, Vice Media Shayla Love is a senior staff writer at Vice Media whose writing has appeared in the Washington Post, the Atlantic, Harper’s Magazine, the Guardian, and more. Her recent focus has been the field of psychedelics and how they exist and interact with the forces of what some refer to as late-stage capitalism. Shayla discussed whether there is a way to corporatize psychedelics responsibly, who has the most to gain in the new landscape of psychedelic capitalism, why the for-profit entity known as Compass Pathways attempted to patent a form of synthetic psilocybin, how and why the accompanying challenge to this patent from a group called FTO, or Freedom to Operate, originated, whether state decriminalization of psychedelics is at odds with federal medicalization, and more. Coming Soon at Esalen: Live and learn at Esalen for 4 weeks as part of our Live Extended Education Program or L.E.E.P. Under the guidance of our skilled faculty and surrounded by a cohort of twelve other learners, students will be challenged to expand their personal growth edges and open up to greater discoveries of self and community. Learn more and apply, at https://www.esalen.org Integration From the Core: Embodiment through Yoga, Dance, and Sound Meditation. Drawing on the embodied practices of yoga, pranayama , sound meditation, and conscious dance, reconnect your bodies and minds, digest your feelings and emotions, and open yourselves to the wisdom of your heart. Led by Jovinna Chan. Learn more or apply now at https://www.esalen.org.