21 November 2025
Psychedelic Science Meets Global Health at PS2025
At PS2025, global experts, practitioners, and community leaders came together to chart new pathways toward a psychedelic movement grounded in equity, reciprocity, and real-world mental health impact.
By: Ismail Lourido Ali, Veronica Magar, and Grace Cepe
MAPS Bulletin: Volume XXXIV
MAPS’ Global Origins
In 1986, MDMA was scheduled as a controlled substance by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration after following the World Health Organization (WHO)’s recommendation that it be placed under international control due to concerns about abuse potential and lack of accepted medical use. In April 1986, the same year, Rick Doblin founded MAPS as a nonprofit research organization to sponsor rigorous research on the therapeutic efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapy. Since then, for nearly 40 years, MAPS has been conducting research, advocacy, and educational efforts to advance legal, safe, and responsible use of psychedelics for healing, spirituality, and personal growth.
While MAPS’ efforts are best known within the United States, Rick has maintained a global perspective since the beginning. Even then, it was clear that transforming drug policy would require international coordination in culturally diverse regions to protect policy advancements in areas where reforms could be made.
With decades of experience sponsoring cutting-edge clinical research, MAPS has leveraged its knowledge base and growing network to strengthen its global advocacy efforts for international policy reform.
In 2016, Natalie Lyla Ginsberg established MAPS’ Policy and Advocacy Department and joined Italy’s Nonviolent Radical Party as a guest to represent MAPS at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna. In 2016, Ginsberg, along with Ismail Lourido Ali, then a law school volunteer with MAPS’ Policy team, attended the UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS) in New York City. Shortly after, MAPS secured its own consultative status (meaning the UN now formally recognized MAPS as a participating organization). UN Consultative status allowed MAPS to organize a number of formal education sessions for delegates and civil society NGOs at the annual United Nations CND’s meetings in Vienna, eventually co-hosting a session with the government of the Czech Republic about psychedelic research.
By actively engaging global policymakers, MAPS laid the foundation for international cooperation, opening the door to policy reforms first focused on economic, social, and cultural rights1 as they relate to legal access for psychedelic-assisted therapies for the treatment of mental illness. These efforts have allowed MAPS to engage in global conversations about cannabis, MDMA, and other psychedelics — at times ahead of the curve — advocating to classify them as “essential medicine” and for the relevant UN bodies to reassess the contemporary scientific evidence on MDMA’s therapeutic potential. This decade of international efforts has allowed MAPS to build relationships with delegates representing Canada, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Colombia, Israel, and civil society NGOs worldwide.
Strengthening the Global Psychedelic Movement
As the world has built upon MAPS’ breakthrough research agenda, a decentralized, multicultural psychedelic commons community has emerged, and several allied organizations and efforts now engage in the broader international conversation. Globally-focused organizations like ICEERS, Beckley Foundation, OPEN Foundation, Chacruna Institute, Awe Foundation, and the Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund advance multinational or multicultural goals by, for instance, advocating for Indigenous rights and defending traditional use of plant medicines, funding research for biomedical advancements and environmental sustainability, or educating the public about ethical and reciprocal collaboration opportunities in multiregional contexts, like between the Global North and South. Throughout the years, MAPS has also supported the founding of independent nonprofit affiliates in countries including Canada (est. 2011), Israel (est. 2021), Germany (est. 2021), and Italy (est. 2024). These global affiliates share MAPS’ mission and commitment to psychedelic research, education, and policy reform.
Meanwhile, grassroots organizations are producing educational events about the safe and responsible use of psychedelics and sharing them throughout the larger community. Inspired, in part, by the founding of the San Francisco Psychedelic Society, MAPS and Ginsberg helped establish the Global Psychedelic Society (GPS), an effort that thrives today with hundreds of community organizations that fuel educational, networking, and advocacy opportunities across the world.
Over the years, MAPS has convened the world’s leading experts on psychedelic research, therapy, policy, community, and traditional healing. 35 years after its first small educational event in 1990, Psychedelic Science 2025 (PS2025) was the latest in dozens of summits and conferences — but not the first to ensure robust international and multicultural participation at a MAPS event. In 2017 and 2023, Open Society Foundation and other supporters granted funds to secure scholarships for international community members to attend and contribute to our Psychedelic Science conferences; PS2017’s Perspectives Scholarship and PS2023’s Momentum Scholarship have been launchpads for dozens of up-and-coming and established voices, many of whom have become key figures in the larger movement.
By 2025, it was clear that the international community was ready for more intentional collaboration and coordination. Mutual connections brought MAPS in contact with former WHO official Veronica Magar, and a cohesive vision began to weave it all together.
Bridging Science, Community, and Global Health at PS2025
As psychedelic research continued to rapidly expand over the years, MAPS has heard from stakeholders in the public health spheres that mental health approaches imported from those high-income countries often overlook the community-based and cultural dimensions of healing that define much of the Global South. Without intentional inclusion, this movement risks perpetuating social and economic inequities rather than addressing and transforming them.
In the spirit of the work sparked a decade ago, Ismail Ali — now MAPS’ Co-Executive Director — and Dr. Magar co-convened a consultation during the Psychedelic Science 2025 Conference: “Psychedelic Science Meets Global Health: Community-Led Innovation, Research and Policy Change in the Global South.” The half-day workshop brought together over fifty participants from across the world — researchers, Indigenous healers, policymakers, and community leaders — to explore how psychedelic-assisted approaches can strengthen global mental health through equity, reciprocity, and cross-cultural collaboration.
Why It Mattered
Global health consultations of this kind have been rare in the psychedelic field so far. Many psychedelic gatherings focus on pharmacology, clinical trials, or regulatory frameworks, or are extremely local, leaving out the multiregional, community-based, participatory, and traditional knowledge systems that sustain healing in low- to middle-income countries (LMICs). By creating a platform for dialogue across LMICs, the PS2025 consultation filled a critical gap. It recognized that the future of psychedelic science depends not only on scientific breakthroughs but also on the ability to share power, resources, and governance with communities that have long stewarded plant-based and ceremonial healing traditions in different geographies and territories.
Making Space, Not Leading Alone
MAPS decided to host the conversation, but instead of defining the agenda, it sought to create space for direct exchange among partners from diverse backgrounds. This shift — from leading in isolation to convening in collaboration — was widely recognized as essential for ensuring that the contemporary psychedelic ecosystem evolves as a shared, egalitarian, collaborative movement — not an extraction of information for proprietary gain.
Keynote speakers Dr. Stefano Bertozzi (Former Dean and Professor, UC Berkeley School of Public Health), Dr. Anja Loizaga-Velder (Director of Research and Psychotherapy, Nierika Institute for Intercultural Medicine), and Dr. Raúl Escamilla Orozco (Medical Director, Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatria, Mexico City), framed the dialogue around a defining question: How can global psychedelic science improve mental-health outcomes with greater efficacy, safety, and equity while safeguarding cultural integrity?
Over the course of the session, psychiatrists, activists, therapists, academics, and researchers across areas of scholarship identified challenges to explore, priorities, and next steps toward a more equitable global mental health agenda. The discussion made clear that future access to care and cultural compatibility would not be achieved through symbolic action alone, but that changes would need to be prepared for and built into the structure of global health itself. From ensuring the relevance of emergent research to refining approaches to care delivery, the road ahead would need a map informed by multiple global perspectives. Participants left inspired by a collective sense of possibility: that psychedelics can not only heal individuals but also help repair the systems that fragment communities and knowledge traditions.
At the end of the day (with a whole conference to go), the PS2025 Global Psychedelic Workshop also demonstrated that a community working toward equitable psychedelic science in the context of global health already exists — and that collaboration, humility, and shared stewardship could bring it to another level of influence and impact.
Looking Ahead
The consultation’s vision was clear: a plural, globally inclusive psychedelic ecosystem rooted in scientific rigor, Indigenous wisdom, and community empowerment. As this global network expands, MAPS and its partners are committed to amplifying LMIC-led innovation and ensuring that future dialogues remain open, inclusive, and reciprocal. In 2026, a group of experts will synthesize the findings from the PS2025 consultation into a report that outlines actionable recommendations for funders, regulators, and researchers to achieve health equity and have a real-world impact on mental health.
These commitments point toward a new paradigm, where psychedelic science evolves through active partnership and participatory models, in which communities become co-creators of the evidence and policy that affect them, rather than extractive or individually focused approaches uncritically copied from different circumstances. As this global network evolves, MAPS and its partners are committed to amplifying LMIC-led innovation and ensuring that future dialogues remain open, inclusive, and reciprocal.
Footnote
- According to the UN’s International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (1966), Article 12 recognizes, “the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.” Additionally, Article 15 recognizes, “the right of everyone to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications,” and “to benefit from the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary, or artistic production.”
References
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). (1986). Schedules of the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971 (as amended). United Nations Treaty Series, 1019, 175. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/commissions/CND/conventions_schedules_psychotropicschedule.html
World Health Organization. (1985). Expert Committee on Drug Dependence: Twenty-second report (WHO Technical Report Series No. 729). World Health Organization.
Commission on Narcotic Drugs. (1986). Inclusion of 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in Schedule I of the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971 (Decision 39/2). In Report of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs on its thirty-ninth session (Vienna, 21–28 January 1986) (E/1986/24). United Nations Economic and Social Council.
Drug Enforcement Administration. (1986). Schedules of controlled substances: Placement of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) into Schedule I. Federal Register, 51(219), 36552–36560.
United Nations. (1966, December 16). International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. United Nations Treaty Series, 993, 3–. https://treaties.un.org/doc/Treaties/1976/01/19760103%2009-57%20PM/Ch_IV_03.pdf
Ismail Lourido Ali, J.D.
Ismail Lourido Ali, JD serves as MAPS Co-Executive Director. Ismail has been actively participating in the drug policy reform movement for over a decade, informed by half a lifetime of diverse personal experience with psychedelics and other substances. Previously as the Director of Policy & Advocacy at MAPS, Ismail supported the design, building, and implementation of psychedelic policy reform across the country and world. Ismail co-founded and co-chaired the Board of the Psychedelic Bar Association and is licensed to practice law in the state of California. Ismail has advised, is formally affiliated with, or has served in leadership roles for numerous organizations in the drug policy ecosystem, including Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Chacruna Institute, the Ayahuasca Defense Fund, and Alchemy Community Therapy Center (formerly Sage Institute).
Veronica Magar, Dr PH, MPH, MA
Veronica Magar, Dr PH, MPH, MA is a distinguished thought leader and advocate in global public health at the intersection of psychedelic science, contemplative practice, and traditional knowledge systems. As an accomplished investigator, published author and respected speaker, she specializes in shaping global policy, taking strategic action, conducting research, and employing community-based approaches that bridge these three areas.
With over 35 years of experience, Dr. Magar has established a legacy, progressing from grassroots community-based work to shaping regional and global policies. She collaborates with diverse partners, employing various research methods including community-based, participatory, quantitative and mixed methods to demonstrate impact. Her expertise also extends to influencing global policies through fostering public discourse on sensitive subjects, resulting in consensus-driven normative guidance. With extensive on-the-ground experience in community, country, regional and global settings, she has worked with UN and other international agencies in over 30 countries across Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean, Africa, and the Americas.
Dr. Magar earned her Doctorate in Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill in 2000, and a Masters in Public Health and Master of Arts in Latin American Studies from UCLA in 1991. In addition to her extensive experience in the field, she continually invests in ongoing education and expanding her skillset. She is qualified to teach mindfulness-based stress reduction, and is a third-year student in the psychedelic-assisted therapy program at the AWE Foundation.
Dr. Magar is fluent in English and German, with a working knowledge of Spanish, Portuguese and Hindi. She speaks frequently at local, regional and global conferences and seminars as a keynote, panelist and trainer.
Grace Cepe
Grace Cepe (she/her) serves as the Education Officer for MAPS. She earned her B.A. in psychology cum laude from the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). At UCSC, Grace was a research assistant for the social psychology department’s Sexual and Gender Diversity Laboratory, an instructor’s assistant for an introductory psychology course, and a residential counselor intern for at-risk foster youth. Before joining MAPS as Education Officer, Grace volunteered with MAPS, San Francisco Psychedelic Society, and the Chacruna Institute, and advocated for a local decriminalization bill in Santa Cruz. Since attending MAPS’ Psychedelic Science Conference in 2017, she has deepened her interests in culturally-adaptive psychedelic-assisted therapy, careful research methodologies, and honest evidence-based drug education.
Become a MAPS Member with a monthly donation
As a Member, you’re not just making a donation — you’re joining a community that is at the forefront of advancing research, changing policy, and evolving education around psychedelics. Join us in shaping a future where these life-changing tools are available to those who need them most.