Compass Pathways has set itself up to be the first legal provider of psilocybin • Hacker News Board

Re: Compass Pathways has set itself up to be the first legal provider of psilocybin

#151

Post by eindiran » Sat, Jan 05, 2019, 5:17 AM UTC

skilled wrote: post #146

abrookewood wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They aren't planning on growing anything ... they have to synthesize the compound as the 'grown' versions are not pure enough for the FDA.

That sounds dumb. Any citation on why it's so?

I don't have a citation for you, but the mechanism here is that it's difficult to extract just the alkaloid you want when a plant has a number of chemically similar alkaloids. So when you do an extraction, you get a number of different compounds, often mixed in slightly different proportions.

Re: Compass Pathways has set itself up to be the first legal provider of psilocybin

#152

Post by eindiran » Sat, Jan 05, 2019, 5:22 AM UTC

abrookewood wrote: post #142

alexibm wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm so tired of comments like "startup is disrupting the [xyz] industry." No they don't disrupting anything. They didn't invent anything. They are just planning to grow and sell mushrooms. Growing mushrooms is well know process.

They aren't planning on growing anything ... they have to synthesize the compound as the 'grown' versions are not pure enough for the FDA.

Even though that's the case, what they're doing isn't novel. There are a number of syntheses for psilocybin that are well known in the literature that are potentially suitable for industrial production. In fact, there are a few available in Shulgin's famous TiHKAL. It seems quite unlikely to me that the synthesis they will be doing is novel or "disruptive" in any way.

Re: Compass Pathways has set itself up to be the first legal provider of psilocybin

#153

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jan 05, 2019, 5:40 AM UTC

rdiddly wrote: post #125

jjeaff wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't exploiting the intellectual property of a non-profit for financial gain the business model for essentially every single tech company in existence? That is, at least every tech company that has open source software somewhere in their stack - which is presumably all of them.

Touché, and you could argue that every big success story from the last couple centuries was based on exploiting some kind of freebie. (I'm thinking of the Rockefellers, Carnegies, and Vanderbilts of the world.) Although there are some OSS licenses that address this by restricting commercial uses more heavily. I dunno... if everyone goes into it with eyes open, that seems fine to me. It's when they pull the ol' bait-a…

[deleted]

Re: Compass Pathways has set itself up to be the first legal provider of psilocybin

#154

Post by daveFNbuck » Sat, Jan 05, 2019, 5:58 AM UTC

waynecochran wrote: post #150

daveFNbuck wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Freedom and responsibility going hand in hand doesn't mean that hobbies with negative health consequences should be illegal.

Never said illegal. If I willingly place myself in a high risk category I should pay for that myself. I may buy a wing suit someday, but I won't ask you to pay for my wheelchair.

Should coal miners get health insurance? What about first responders?

Re: Compass Pathways has set itself up to be the first legal provider of psilocybin

#155

Post by int_19h » Sat, Jan 05, 2019, 6:39 AM UTC

sigstoat wrote: post #74

CharlesW wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd think, especially with U.S. population growth and fertility rates being so low. In reality, the current administration is actively working to reduce legal immigration as well.[1][2] Although the policies are opposed by most, it's not difficult to find people who support reducing legal immigration as well. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_policy_of_Donald_T... [2] https://www.cato.org/blog/house-gop…

> In reality, the current administration is actively working to reduce legal immigration as well. the chart in that second link shows the family based, diversity and asylee immigration being cut, but all of the employment/skill-based immigration being boosted. that strikes me as at least trying to reflect approval of business-starting immigrants, though with a preference for younger ones.

The proposals last year included massive cutbacks on H1 and L1 visa programs, among other things. As I recall, their purported replacements for the work visa track were much more constrained, so the result was a reduction in skilled immigration.

But we know that's what that crowd wants, anyway. They haven't exactly held back in op-eds. CIS, for example, is explicitly arguing for pre-1992 annual levels specifically for the skilled category, which would imply massive cuts.

Re: Compass Pathways has set itself up to be the first legal provider of psilocybin

#156

Post by oetkerz » Sat, Jan 05, 2019, 7:14 AM UTC

jessaustin wrote: post #144

lenzm wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I'm on the same side as you, but you don't help your case by making wild claims like: > No user of this product has ever harmed anyone else as a result of using it

I don't care to make a "case". I'm interested in any examples of contradictions to this claim. So far my interest has not been satisfied in this thread...

https://deadspin.com/5549389/mushroom-tea-murder-man-removes...

https://globalnews.ca/news/4461248/thomas-chan-murder-trial-...

Re: Compass Pathways has set itself up to be the first legal provider of psilocybin

#157

Post by RyJones » Sat, Jan 05, 2019, 7:37 AM UTC

jessaustin wrote: post #145

claudiulodro wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you say antidepressants are not dangerous to anyone even though they cause suicidal ideation in some people? One notable mushroom incident I remember is the tourist in Amsterdam that jumped off a building after using mushrooms.[1] That being said, the solution to the issue is definitely not what the company in the article is trying to do. [1] http://www.simplyamsterdam.nl/French_tourist_in_Amsterdam_co...

That's not really what I was talking about. The unfortunate French girl harmed herself, but unless your link left out a relevant fact such as her having landed on someone, she didn't harm anyone else.

Her family might disagree that nobody else was hurt. The people tasked with cleaning her of the pavement may disagree, as well.

Not all externalities of drug use are physical.

I'm extremely pro-legalized everything. I find your callous disregard alarming.

Re: Compass Pathways has set itself up to be the first legal provider of psilocybin

#158

Post by black-tea » Sat, Jan 05, 2019, 9:29 AM UTC

daveFNbuck wrote: post #140

RankingMember wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't let someone's knucklehead comment dissuade you from supporting something that would do a huge amount of good for people here in America.

My concern is that this is a popular enough sentiment that universal health care would lead to real reductions in freedom for Americans. I think it's reasonable to be concerned about anything that could contribute to current trends toward totalitarianism.

What freedoms does USA have that European countries with universal healthcare do not?

Bear in mind Portugal has healthcare and legalised all drugs.

Re: Compass Pathways has set itself up to be the first legal provider of psilocybin

#159

Post by diydsp » Sat, Jan 05, 2019, 10:12 AM UTC

ghostwthemost wrote: post #94

basseq wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I did. To me, there's an undercurrent here that some of the psychedelic experts have specific, subjective viewpoints (à la Richard Stallman). That these people have concerns is interesting , but the case that they're material or even right wasn't proven. Again, no surprise that they shuttered the nonprofit: it's a corporate structure that precludes you from raising traditional VC, among other limitations. And si…

I think you're purposefully ignoring the other issues that the writer has illustrated quite well in the article. I was going to spend time citing points but you should be well aware of them by this point and I'd rather get back to work.

unfortunately, that's precisely how mainstream culture works: it allows any of your objections to be recast in terms of "sanctioned" procedures.

That's why we need to protect our culture from the "dominion" ideology where abject utilization (some would say exploitation) is a _protected_ activity or process. but we currently allow stepping on ppl or traditional entheogen culture because it's part of a "business process." "the law allows it." "it will help ppl so i deserve money for it."

ironically, i would like to see how these perspectives change after a generation of psilocybin "consumers."

Re: Compass Pathways has set itself up to be the first legal provider of psilocybin

#160

Post by jessaustin » Sat, Jan 05, 2019, 11:02 AM UTC

RyJones wrote: post #157

jessaustin wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not really what I was talking about. The unfortunate French girl harmed herself, but unless your link left out a relevant fact such as her having landed on someone, she didn't harm anyone else.

Her family might disagree that nobody else was hurt. The people tasked with cleaning her of the pavement may disagree, as well. Not all externalities of drug use are physical. I'm extremely pro-legalized everything. I find your callous disregard alarming.

Sure, let's have a Drug War to make it easier on the sidewalk cleaners. All the murder, all the injustice, all the expense, it's totally worth it because psilocybin is the only reason anyone ever jumped off a building. "Callous disregard", indeed.