Psychedelics Investing And The War On Drugs

In April of 2019, over seven thousand people expressed interest in attending the “First Ever Psychedelic Mushroom Convention” in Dallas, Texas. – FB

That’s quite a crowd. But, what’s even more notable is who actually showed up to the convention. Nearly one thousand people attended the event just to hear what psychedelic fungi experts from all across the globe had to say. 

Data shows that these numbers shouldn’t surprise anyone.

The reality is that a large majority of our population is in fact in favor of legalizing drugs. Take Marijuana for example…

Again, this shouldn’t come as a shock. Nearly every single class of citizens has been negatively effected by the war on drugs.

To take it even further, some drugs would actually make society better. Safe and effective pain management, real mental satisfaction, and no addictions or physical harm. Bet you didn’t learn that in school. 

Inside the 2019 Global Commission on Drug Policy are some shocking statements and recommendations. For starters, they provided weighted scores for the actual harms of drugs.

The substance that we started this article with, mushrooms, shows up dead-last when it comes to harm caused. And what should be even more shocking is what tops the list – alcohol.

The level of insanity here should really make investors think. The most celebrated liquid in America is also the most harmful to our bodies and society. Meanwhile, some of the most demonized and notorious substances end up having nearly zero affect on the consumer.

Get ready for the next mind-blowing fact: Nearly half a million people are behind bars in America because of a drug offense. That’s 20% of the total prison population. 

That means that when we all pay taxes, a big chunk of that money is going to imprison people who have committed ‘crimes’ for dealing with substances far less harmful than alcohol.

One of the main reasons for this is our scheduling of drugs. Or, in other words, how we rank a drug by its harm level, compared to how much harm they actually do. As you might guess, the scheduling of drugs is all over the place. There is literally no rhyme or reason to how drugs are scheduled from a rational point of view. 

Today, we can look back in history and see that many drugs were demonized by certain political or corporate motives. “Wealthy industrialists must have realized that hemp threatened to replace some of their most profitable industries, including wood pulp paper, cotton, petroleum, and chemicals.” 

Methadone’s regulation has allowed pharmaceutical companies to jack up prices to dip into insurance policies to boost their profit margins.

Ecstasy and LSD were criminalized because they opened people’s minds to the bigger picture, which threatened the control that the political elite have on society. 

You see, there are many reasons that drugs are subjectively scheduled, but it has nothing to do with protection to the individual or more importantly, public safety. Drug scheduling is completely based upon how to regulate, tax, and control people.

Those who don’t follow the rules will end up in one of these categories:

If this suddenly feels like I’m writing a conspiracy story here, you’d be absolutely correct. The facts and rationale behind each detail are glaringly obvious. Criminalization and regulation of drugs has nothing to do with what’s best for people. It has to do with what’s best for those controlling the people. 

Now, this isn’t some battle cry of “Hey little people, let’s take over the masters!” Instead this is simply a reality check with how our actual societies have embraced this ridiculous classification of drugs. Any rational person should be able to look at this topic as a simple math equation.

The drugs that have more negative effects should be the ones that are controlled or outlawed. The drugs that have little or no negative effects should be free to grow, possess, and consume. 

That time is certainly coming in the near future where we’ll look back on the drug war as one of the most expensive, damaging, and just plain stupid things we’ve done as a human race. 

Fortunately, we are doing something about this. And it’s coming in the form of capitalism, where investors are putting their money into drug related projects that create services and products.

Now, to be fair, most investors are simply putting their money to work in the hopes of multiplying their investment. These investors are not necessarily intending to create massive social change or help people who would benefit from the legalization of certain drugs.

Or, are they?

According to a recent Bloomberg article, new investors are looking to “change the world for the better as well as make money.”

Even Harvard University and the University of Zurich have collaborated with the World Economic Forum to offer a new course called, “Impact Investing for the Next Generation.”

This style of investing, which is known as “sustainable capitalism,” makes a lots of sense. Not only are new investors looking for great returns on their capital deployed, but they’re also looking to ensure that they can successfully continue to deploy capital in the future.

Investment firms and entrepreneurs should take note. This next generation of investors (we’ll call them rich millennials) is serious about making this happen.

There has already been half a trillion US dollars (yes, TRILLION) deployed into impact investment opportunities around the world. And there’s another $40 trillion that will be changing hands to younger generations within the next decades.

These new investors will be looking to deploy legacy wealth into projects that have sustainable returns – both monetarily and socially. That’s just smart business.

So, when we think about legalizing drugs, we really need to be considering all the facts from a rationale standpoint – not from the narrative that we’ve been fed for the past 100 years.

Investing is not a zero-sum game where someone has to lose for another to benefit. Medicines like cannabis or psilocybin which have been demonized in our society actually offer great potential for investment return. Just as importantly, entrepreneurs will be incentivized to create incredible products and services that will help society in a positive way.