Summary: Freethink provides an approachable overview of where the patent conversation stands in the psychedelic field, why prior art pertaining to psychedelics is “uniquely difficult,” and how the non-profit Porta Sophia is attempting to protect the public domain by offering a searchable inventory of psychedelic prior art.
“There are long, dark gaps in research, when the drugs were forbidden and studies suppressed; there is the wealth of anecdotal and recreational experiences recorded and shared informally; and there are vast stores of Indigenous knowledge and practices that may not be well documented,” explains author B. David Zarley.
MAPS Founder and Executive Director Rick Doblin, Ph.D., emphasizes the timely importance of the online library of psychedelic prior art: “We need psychedelics and psychedelic therapy more than ever before, I would say, in the history of humanity, because of what’s at stake.”