In 1986, a nonprofit named MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) was started to develop legal contexts for beneficial uses of psychedelics and cannabis. 31 years later, MAPS has reached a milestone with the most promising candidate yet: MDMA-assisted psychotherapy as a treatment for PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
MDMA and PTSD therapy
They've already conducted Phase 2 studies in the US, Canada, Israel, and Switzerland. After a comprehensive therapeutic process involving preparatory sessions, MDMA-assisted therapy sessions, and non-drug therapy sessions, 61% no longer met the criteria for PTSD. This improved to 68% after a year. Of those who met the criteria, many experienced significant reductions in symptoms. This compared to only 25% for the placebo group, who received all the therapy, but with a sugar pill instead of MDMA.
After MAPS' studies, the FDA granted 'Breakthrough Therapy Designation' to MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. The next step is Phase 3 trials, and this is estimated to cost about $25 million. MAPS has already raised $17 million, with $8 million remaining.
If the trial succeeds, therapeutic use could be approved as early as 2021. MAPS has created a public benefit corporation that would sell MDMA post-approval. This is a scalable and financially sustainable structure that could kickstart a renaissance in research into the therapeutic applications of many different psychedelics.
Here you can read more about MAPS work on MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.
Pineapple Fund donated 1M and then does something extraordinary
Pineapple Fund announced on Reddit that it will match every donation to MAPS, from today until March 10th, 1:1; up to $4 million. This should fully fund the Phase 3 trials. If it succeeds, prescription MDMA could come as early as 2021.
The Pineapple Fund created a form of cryptocurrency philanthropy. The organization was started by an anonymous donor who claims to be among the 250 largest holders of Bitcoin in the world. The fund aims to give away $86 million worth of Bitcoin, and has already given $20 million worth of the currency to 13 organizations, including million-dollar donations to the Water Project, which provides clean water to people in sub-Saharan Africa, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights watchdog and the free drug and plant information database Erowid. These donations can be verified thanks to Bitcoin’s digital ledger system, which records every transaction in a public database.
You can read more on the Pineapple Fund in this article in The Guardian.
Double match! Azarius will match your donation
We as proud Bitcoin and MAPS supporters decided to join in. As a big high five to MAPS, Pineapple and those suffering from PTSD, we’ll go for a “double match”. Azarius will match your contribution, up to a maximum amount of € 50.000 before sending it to Pineapple. This way we can reach the goal even faster!
These are our donation addresses (pro-tip: the SegWit address has lower fees):
bitcoin: bc1qqtdcd87w9pdnpp4zt9da93c90ay6tlfckv2wlj (SegWit)
bitcoin: 12m12ofyTcU1yxiGPeGA9rDaM5ZCrpBcLu
Or in the old school way: IBAN NL09 ABNA 0408 8750 89 (SWIFT/BIC: ABNANL2A) Don't forget to mention MAPS donation in the description.
