PsychedeRx

First glimpse of the podcast series and what’s to come. PsychedeRx is a SKRAPS original podcast exploring the therapeutic use of Psychedelics. An enthralling story of an improbable drug class, as old as humankind itself,…

We explore the use, misuse, and history of psychedelics. In this episode, we will cover the most important question of what these substances are.

In episode two of PsychedeRx, Peyote comes north to the good old US of A. And it’s not just for religious ceremonies anymore, either. Spanish conquistadors and European explorers, seeking to dominate the indigenous tribes, used Peyote to show force by banning its use and denying the tribes their spiritual practices. And we all know what happens when prohibitions are imposed – the use doesn’t stop, it just gets moved underground.

We move psychedelic history to characters like Albert Hoffman, Humphry Osmond, Abram Hoffer, Duncan Blewett, Sandoz, and even Arun’s Grandmother.

Fear. Fear causes people to do amazing and improbable things. Fear of an enemy, fear of an unknown. They are powerful motivators and ones that Syndey Gottlieb embraced with every fibre of his professional being. The same man whose family would have been Nazi victims engaged in some of the most insidious “experiments” known to man – experiments based on the knowledge and tutelage of the same Nazi scientists who deployed the gasses that would have killed his own family.

We’ve spent some time already on the definition of psychedelics – and we’ll spend more time before this series is over. But, Skraps is a podcast whose roots are run deep in the sciences, we couldn’t ignore the topic of the basic pharmacology of psychedelics. This episode is a primer for citizen scientists and holds some intriguing information for the bonafide scientists among us.

Dear Skraps Friends, We, Arun and JoJo, have had taken on a huge project in PsychedeRx, a ten episode series about psychedelics – their history, their abuse, their potential, and their future. We’re halfway through the…

War on Drugs is wrong, unethical and impacts society in a bad way. There is no data to suggest it has worked.

You can’t fight fire with fire. Or can you? You can’t treat addiction with drugs. Or can you? You can’t bandage bruises to a brain. Or can you?

We are here to bring to you how the road to psychedelic renaissance was built. And if you think, it came from overwhelming people with data, just like how a typical scientist thinks, you would be amazed at the personalities who paved the way, as much as the ones that broke it for themselves and for the world.

There’s no shortage of heartbreaking stories about men and women who have dedicated their lives to the service of their countries and endured unfathomable trauma. Add to this population the other sources of PTSD like car accidents, witnessing or experiencing violence – or even the threat of violence, sustained stress in traumatic situations (hello, COVID frontline workers – I’m looking at you), and you have an explosion in an untreated or treatment refractory population.

Zeus gave Sisyphus the eternal punishment of forever rolling a boulder up a hill in the depths of Hades for his crimes of being a trickster and twice cheating death.  “Then I witnessed the torture…

Over the ten episodes in this series, it’s clear that we are enthusiastic about the future of psychedelic medicines. There are so many potential applications for responsible, physician-assisted therapies that it almost seems as though…