MAPS donated $26,616 to McLean Hospital, Harvard

MAPS donated $26,616 to McLean Hospital, Harvard University, for Dr. John Halpern’s MAPS-sponsored study of the use of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in subjects with anxiety associated with advanced-stage cancer. This represents the first payment in what we expect will total $250,000 for this study. The approval of this study by McLean Hospital (where the MDMA-assisted psychotherapy will take place), the Lahey Clinic (where the patients receive primary care for their cancer), and the FDA, represents a triumph of hope over fear, hope for the too-long obstructed promise of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy v. fear of the risks of MDMA exaggerated by anti-drug crusaders and scientists for their own ends. At a time when the US government has placed all its eggs in the fear basket (war, terrorism, “drugs”, financial ruin of Social Security, gay marriage, etc., etc.), the remarkably widespread media reporting of FDA’s approval of psychedelic research again at Harvard after 40 years shows that people are eager for balance, for hopeful news. It’s now clear that the American public would welcome whatever help can be provided in facing directly life’s final challenge, to die gracefully and in peace, even if such help comes from a previously demonized and criminalized substance also used by young people seeking pleasure.