Founder of Toms Shoes Pledges $100 Million Towards Psychedelic Research
Toms Shoes founder promises $100 million towards psychedelic research and access.
Founder of Toms Shoes, Blake Mycoskie, pledged to provide $100 million to assist access and research regarding psychedelics (1).
Mycoskie interviewed with MartketWatch (2), where he discussed how the money being donated will aid research, nonprofits working to expand access for patients in need of psychedelic treatments, and support academic institutions researching psychedelic medicine.
Mycoskie shared an experience he had with ayahuasca in 2017. During this psychedelic therapy encounter, he was able to witness healing on another level. “[It] “cracked me open, and it connected me more to my faith in God, made me feel that we were all connected and everything was fine and perfect…I came back just feeling like, wow, that was more powerful than any therapy I’d ever done,” Mycoskie said (1).
The $100 million donation, approximately a quarter of Mycoskie’s net worth, may be the most generous donation to psychedelics research. Blake Mycoskie discussed with MarketWatch (2), ”We really need to get this right, and we really need to have these foundations and nonprofits funded properly … I felt a real sense of urgency.”
References
Ep 24, Part II: Data Transparency in Cannabis Testing with Yasha Khan
December 12th 2024Evan Friedmann and Yasha Kahn, co-founder of MCR Labs, discuss the discrepancies between current regulations and data on mycotoxins and pesticides in cannabis products. They highlight the need for updated regulations based on new data, emphasizing the importance of accurate testing and labeling. They also discuss the issue of result manipulation, particularly in THC content, and the need for public health officials to address this. Yasha suggests making testing data public to enhance oversight and suggests a national entity to manage this data for better consistency and public safety.
Ep 24, Part I: Data Transparency in Cannabis Testing with Yasha Khan
November 21st 2024Evan Friedmann interviews Yasha Khan, co-founder of MCR Labs, about his journey into the cannabis industry and his efforts to promote transparency and integrity in laboratory practices. Yasha discusses the origins of MCR Labs, which began in Massachusetts to meet the needs of the soon-to-be legal medical cannabis market. He explains the challenges faced, including result manipulation by labs and the impact on public health. Yasha's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) project aimed to gather testing data from 37 states, revealed significant discrepancies in potency and mold results. Despite some states' reluctance to share data, Yasha has made much of this data public, leading to collaborative research and publications on various aspects of cannabis testing.
