Psychedelics - What Are Your Thoughts?

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20% of American adults are currently diagnosed with some sort of mental health issue. In the US, we spend about $40 billion a year on psychiatric drugs that oftentimes don't work well. There's growing body of evidence that psychial therapy and psychials can do a much better job at treating things like depression and anxiety than pills.

Brom Rector is the founder of Empath Ventures, a VC fund that in invests in early-stage psychedelics startups. Prior to founding Empath, Brom sent several years as a portfolio manager and quantitative researcher. Brom joins the show to discuss the current state of the psychedelics industry, the lessons learned founding a VC fund, the differences between psychedelics and cannabis, and a whole lot more. Important Links:

Show Notes:

How Brom became interested in psychedelic investing
Psychedelics and the mental health epidemic
Depoliticising psychedelics
Empath Ventures’ business model
How we can scientifically improve psychedelics
The influence of hippie culture
A contrarian view on Big Pharma
The potential benefits of ibogaine
The differences between cannabis and psychedelics
Do some people not react to psychedelics?
Brom’s thoughts on microdosing
Lessons learned from founding a VC company
The benefits of Rule 506(c)

Books Mentioned:

How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence; by Michael Pollan
Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection; by John E. Sarno MD