Here’s something trippy: Magic mushrooms are illegal almost everywhere in the US. But soon, you can buy stock in the psychedelics on Wall Street.
The London-based Compass Pathways just filed to go public in the US — and it’s likely to be the biggest shroom trip yet to hit the stock market.
Since 2016, the company has raised $116m+ from investors like Peter Thiel.
Compass has researched shrooms as a depression treatment, and it thinks it can dramatically improve symptoms after just one dose.
So how legal are shrooms, exactly?
Federally, shrooms are a schedule I drug in the US, meaning they’re generally not approved for medical treatment
But there are a few exceptions to this:
- If you have a terminal illness, you can take certain otherwise illegal drugs (meaning all the mushrooms you want) under the Right To Try Act.
- Denver and Oakland have both decriminalized psilocybin, the substance that puts the “magic” in “magic mushrooms.”
- This November, Oregon will vote on whether to allow people to buy and sell psilocybin for therapeutic reasons.
Compass is not the first shrooms seller to ring in the stock bell
Earlier this year, a small psychedelics company called MindMed listed on the Canadian markets, racking up $24m+. Field Trip Health ($19.5m raised) has announced plans to follow suit.
In the US, the mushroom market is gaining steam, and even has its own lobbying body, which is fighting to normalize therapeutic use.
Back in 2019, a group of pros teamed up to create the Society for Psychedelic Outreach, Reform, and Education… yes, SPORE for short.
