🍄 Your First Trip Changes Everything

👋 Welcome

Turns out, mushrooms don’t just shift your mindset - they might also shift your taste in abstract splatter art.

To close out the week, we’re digging into how those changes show up in the brain after just one psilocybin trip, scanning military urine tests, and pondering why worms have more access to LSD than most of us do (yup - there’s a study).

As always, we’ve got the weird, the wondrous, and the WTF of the psychedelic world.

🔝 Weekly Highlights

• 🍄 Mushrooms mess with your eyes, not your vibes — A new study suggests psilocybin alters how people perceive art, but doesn't make them love it more. Take a look
  

• 🙏 Religious revival… with a side of shrooms — Faith-based groups want their sacraments to include a little more psilocybin and a lot less wine. See what’s brewing
  

• 🧠 Bryan Johnson downloads consciousness 3.0 — The longevity guru smoked 5-MeO-DMT and claims he saw an atlas of human consciousness laid out before him. Get the map
  

• 👶 Gen Z & psychedelics: It’s complicated — Young adults now lead the U.S. in psychedelic use. Should we worry, celebrate, or ask for a playlist? Check the trends

🧬 Quick Hits

RESEARCH 🔬

• 🧬 Brain-immune reset? Psilocybin and MDMA may recalibrate how our brains handle fear. Read the science
  

• 🌿 CBD’s surprise cameo — Cannabidiol could reverse stress-induced neuropsych effects. Dig into the study
  

• 🧘 Meditation ≈ Mushrooms — Study shows both spark similar, life-enhancing insights. Compare the effects

POLICY 🏛️

• 🧪 Ibogaine in Kentucky? A Republican lawmaker wants to study it for addiction treatment. They already scratched the idea once, is Round 2 on the horizon? Peek at the proposal
  

• 🏛️ Senate gets shroomy — A hearing on psychedelics for veterans is officially on the books. Track the hearing

BUSINESS 📈

• 💰 Big Pharma’s big bet — AbbVie’s dropping $1.2B to stake its claim in psychedelic mental health. See the deal
  

• 📈 Emyria steps up — Aussie biotech ramps up clinical development of psychedelic therapies. Take a closer look
  

• 🍄 Shrooms go industrial — Denver launches its first psilocybin cultivation center. Tour the facility

CULTURE 🎭

• 🏈 Ayahuasca FTW — Buffalo Bills’ Jordan Poyer credits a shamanic journey with helping his contract decision. Hear his story
  

• 🧪 From counterculture to clinic — Psilocybin’s slow evolution from counterculture symbol to medical marvel. Trace the shift
  

• ✝️ Holy trip, revoked — A priest who founded a Christian psychedelic society was stripped of his ordination. Catch the backstory

🌈 Main Features

1. The human brain undergoes powerful rewiring after first psilocybin session.

A new study out of Imperial College London shows that even a single psilocybin session can trigger measurable, lasting changes in brain structure - particularly in the default mode network and visual cortex. Translation? The brain's wiring for ego, emotion, and perception can shift after one meaningful trip. It’s not just a feeling, it’s physical.

Researchers saw increases in cortical thickness and changes in connectivity, particularly in areas associated with sensory processing and self-referential thought. These shifts may explain why so many users report not just temporary mood boosts, but lasting changes in how they think, feel, and relate to the world. Neuroplasticity, meet neuropsychedelia.

👉 Read the report here

2.  Military to begin testing troops for psilocin.

In a move that screams “old system meets new paradigm,” the U.S. military is rolling out tests for psilocin, the active metabolite of psilocybin, in its drug screening protocols, according to a leaked memo obtained by Marijuana Moment. It’s a policy shift that could have serious implications for both psychedelic research and personal liberty in the ranks.

While the military hasn’t officially banned psilocybin like it has other substances, the testing suggests rising concern, or curiosity, about its use among service members. As research continues to show potential benefits for PTSD and trauma, this surveillance move may represent either a barrier or a prelude to reform. Either way, it’s clear the brass is paying attention to what’s in the bloodstream—and the headlines.

💡 Honorable Mention

🧬 LSD = Longevity?

In a plot twist that sounds like the premise of a sci-fi nature doc, researchers gave tiny worms a microdose of LSD—and they lived 25% longer.

The study, conducted on Caenorhabditis elegans, found that low-dose lysergic acid helped improve stress resistance and extend lifespan. While worms aren't humans (yet), the implications for how psychedelics influence cellular aging and resilience are lighting up longevity labs.

Turns out, tripping your way into your twilight years might not be such a stretch.

🎁 Psychedelic Utility Belt

• 🧖 Psychedelics for Veterans — A free, medically reviewed, step-by-step guide to help veterans safely explore psychedelic therapy for PTSD, anxiety, and trauma. Check out the guide
  

• 🍫 Make Your Own Shrooms — Learn how to turn dried magic mushrooms into gummies, chocolates, and capsules with this easy DIY guide. Start making your batch

👋 Signoff

That’s all this week, friends. Stay kind, stay bold, and stay slightly altered.

Have a great weekend!

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