Summit Participant Priorities

This document represents the preliminary analysis of stakeholder interviews conducted by the Psychedelic Safety Institute. The interviews were designed to understand participant priorities and goals for the upcoming Summit, and 75% of Summit participants responded to the interview questions. The content has been thematically grouped into nine key areas based on recurring themes and priorities expressed by interview respondents.

This analysis was instrumental in shaping the Summit agenda and informing the development of its streams. The content reflects direct anonymized quotes to two key questions asked of all summit participants:

1. "If the Summit could answer, address, or result in one thing that would make a meaningful difference in psychedelic safety, what would it be?"

2. "What outcomes from the Summit would be most valuable for you and your organization and why?"

The quotes in this document represent a sample of verbatim responses from participants, providing direct insight into the perspectives and priorities across different sectors of the psychedelic field. 

We welcome feedback on this preliminary analysis as we continue to refine our understanding of the collective priorities represented within our Summit community.

1. Networking, Relationship, and Collaboration Building

• Foster cross-sector collaborations: Address underrepresentation of marginalized groups and bridge the gap between clinical research and real-world settings.

• Develop partnerships: Engage indigenous and community-based organizations to integrate traditional knowledge into safety protocols and outcome measures.

• Encourage ongoing dialogue: Support coordinated action among academia, advocacy groups, and policymakers on psychedelic safety. "Bridge-building between the worlds of clinical research, clinical practice, policy, services, religious use, decriminalization, microdosing, and recreational use."

  
  

  "...building relationships with networks of experts in the field and making sure that there's an intentional way to maintain and sustain those relationships as these policy conversations evolve so that in real time when things are happening and folks need information or support, there's a mechanism by which we can call on and show up for one another."

  
  

  "...creating a coordinated network in buy-in from a range of stakeholders committed to advancing psychedelic safety in the Psychedelic space. So I think networking is really key in the Psychedelic community. And so bringing everybody together to talk about all of the points I think will be really useful. And, you know, there's huge, huge pieces to overcome. I mean, even us as an organization, we have many challenges to overcome but you know, we're working at that slowly. And with confidence we can do it over time especially because we were responding to the needs of the community. And so just looking forward to being more connected to the Psychedelic community, and being able to have a voice in how all of this unfolds."

  
  

  "I think a major outcome would be the relationships that either will be strengthened or formed through the conversations. I think it would be very valuable to, you know, expand your network of people who are actively working on these issues so that we can, as I said before, you know, share notes and learn from each other's insights."

  
  

  "I'm mostly coming to strengthen existing connections with trusted folks in the field, share in dialogue, and forge new connections that could be mutually beneficial for my organization and those served by partner groups."

  
  

  "I'm really looking forward to networking with other minds in the space about how to address some of our organization’s problems. I know we need things, and it's difficult to create some of these resources alone in a silo and also with restrictions on our funding, so finding other nonprofits that are willing to do some of this work with their own structures would be great."

  
  

  "So for us, what we feel like would be most valuable in addition to networking is really just informing other organizations about what we're up to, the areas we’re already working to improve safety and connecting with people who are interested in supporting our mission and expanding our reach into the world and identifying potential Partners in collaboration."

  
  

  "I think events like these are almost always most valuable for developing personal relationships with organizations and people who have overlapping goals, you know, and starting to identify ways to collaborate. So the relationship building I think ends up being the most valuable no matter what the topic of the event is."

  
  

  "[We are] most interested in having a better understanding of the field of play today. Understanding who are the stakeholders and the space, being able to identify gaps in policies that exist today, best practices and policy recommendations that we may be able to utilize to develop our own kind of strategic plan on how we want to support the psychedelic movement."

  
  

  "I know that the outcomes are typically thought of as this or that kind of product, but actually from my experience doing this kind of group the most valuable outcome is a stronger network of people who know each other, can call each other, can consult with each other, and that trust each other."

  
  

  "I'm looking forward to building and maintaining relationships within the community."

  
  

  "Strengthening alliances to have a solid network, where to refer people seeking specific needs."

  
  

  "Open connections with other stakeholders to share knowledge and resources. Get out of silos"

  
  

  "Follow up meetings with key stakeholders; new partnerships, collaborators and advocates; funding strategies and opportunities; increased presence and participation in the evolving landscape of psychedelic use and safety."

  
  

  "Meeting the other key stakeholders and organizations involved and identifying who to partner with for advancing psychedelic safety."

  
  

  "Well, if the summit could result in one thing that would make a meaningful difference in psychedelic safety, that would be coming together—the field coming together around psychedelic safety in a way that allows for a transcendence of the conflicts that have occurred in the field ... a way for there to be a harmonizing around, focus and commitment to psychedelic safety and funding ..."

2. Funding & Resources

• Secure diversified funding streams:Support longitudinal research on both short- and long-term effects of psychedelics, including studies beyond controlled clinical trials.

• Increase investment:Boost funding for independent, community-led research initiatives to ensure equitable representation and culturally informed practices.

• Leverage shared resources: Expand evidence generation and fill critical data gaps through grants, public-private partnerships, and resource sharing. "Safety-oriented clinical research agenda and funding plan. This would be an incredible advocacy tool as well."

  
  

  "Funding strategy"

  
  

  "More funding for the field :)"

  
  

  "...a major need that our organization has is funding for scholarships to support research fellows and to be able to hire staff to write grants and so forth."

  
  

  "Specifics to take to congress when asking for new appropriations. So, if it's determined that more money is needed for long-term patient monitoring or whatever, we'd need to know how much and why that amount."

  
  

  "One area that I think we really need to focus in on…get some funding to organize some and conduct some studies which will look at range of cardiovascular effects both in healthy normal volunteers as well as an individuals with some degree of of cardiac risk. This is an area we don't have that much well-organized data and I think we need it."

  
  
  
  

3. Data Infrastructure

• Develop comprehensive data collection tools:Track both benefits and harms, including robust adverse event reporting systems (Issues 10.1, 10.2).

• Integrate real-world data:Include diverse communities and non-academic settings, ensuring marginalized populations are represented.

• Implement consistent metrics: Establish longitudinal tracking methods to build a clearer safety profile over time. "Help gather baseline data on psychedelic safety in different areas--research, underground, ceremonial, religious, etc."

  
  

  "If there was one thing that would make a meaningful difference in psychedelic safety from my vantage working in the policy side of state government, it would be to see a robust data collection tool, employed for the regulated use of natural medicines for us to gather information on both potential benefits and potential harms associated with the use of natural medicines."

  
  

  "The most important thing is collecting data—both from a public safety perspective and a public health perspective. But there's also a lack of data of who is currently using psychedelics in the underground psychedelic ecosystem. We don't have a handle on how many firefighters or cops or military veterans or nurses or whoever is aging in accessing these modalities to treat their PTSD or other behavioral health issues."

  
  

  "Understanding metrics and data capture. How can we measure success?"

  
  

  "I think that the one thing I would love to see is some type of highly coordinated and cohesive national research effort. I think there's a lot of us in the field that have unanswered questions or just simply don't really know what data we have, what data we’re missing, and I think that a strategy for stitching together  various research efforts already underway and sort of having a shared vision for what research again, including real world research, most importantly could look like over the next, you know, three or four years."

  
  

  "The product that would be most valuable would be harmonized measures of or consensus measures around safety events so that we could apply these across all of our efforts."

  
  

  "Public safety data. I think critically important as a law-enforcement organization that tries to mitigate the rhetoric that we hear largely from other law enforcement organizations or politicians on the issue of who is using psychedelics, why they're using it and how they're benefiting from it ... and is there a public safety concern?"

  
  

  "From the health economics perspective one of the most important outcomes from the summit would be the development of a standardized adverse event reporting framework that multiple stakeholders commit to implementing. This should be part of a more general outcome reporting system that all providers would be encouraged to subscribe to."

  
  

  "As a researcher and educator and advocate, I love data. So I'm really excited to see the metrics that you all are gathering and really just excited to see the outcomes of the summit and what people across the sector are saying. Those pieces of data and infographics and things like that can be really helpful when it comes to educating people."

4. Research

• Establish unified coding systems and data infrastructures:Align clinical trials, community-based studies, and real-world practice.

• Harmonize protocols and definitions:Standardize definitions for adverse events and screening criteria to improve reproducibility and data sharing.

• Link national and international research efforts: Streamline knowledge exchange and reduce duplication through coordinated research initiatives. "...We really need to do a deep dig into the range of medical effects, particularly cardiovascular effects, and just really get some funding to organize and conduct some studies which will look at the range of cardiovascular effects both in healthy normal volunteers as well as in individuals with some degree of cardiac risk. This is an area where we don't have that much well-organized data, and I think we need it."

  
  

  "Help gather baseline data on psychedelic safety in different areas: research, underground, ceremonial, religious, etc."

  
  

  "If there was one thing that would make a meaningful difference in psychedelic safety from my vantage working in the policy side of state government, it would be to see a robust data collection tool, employed for the regulated use of natural medicines for us to gather information on both potential benefits and potential harms associated with the use of natural medicines."

  
  

  "I think that the one thing I would love to see is some type of highly coordinated and cohesive national research effort. I think there's a lot of us in the field that have unanswered questions or just simply don't really know what data we have, what data we’re missing, and I think that a strategy for stitching together various research efforts already underway and sort of having a shared vision for what research again, including real world research, most importantly could look like over the next, you know, three or four years."

  
  

  "The product that would be most valuable would be harmonized measures of or consensus measures around safety events so that we could apply these across all of our efforts."

  
  

  "...for us to understand as broadly as possible where the research interests are, where the questions are, and where we can find sources of overlap of shared interest so that we are not duplicating efforts unnecessarily and that we are building the best program of research weekend informed by the minds of others being applied to these problems."

  
  

  “We need an open‐source shared database accessible to researchers, practitioners, and individuals… because negative experiences aren’t super common, but we need data at scale if we want to identify risk factors and trajectories.”
  

5. Training and Service Provision

• Create safety and ethics guidelines: Develop training programs that incorporate culturally relevant harm reduction strategies.

• Establish accountability mechanisms: Implement systems to address unethical practices, especially within community-based settings.

• Include diverse cultural perspectives: Ensure safety protocols and outcome measures reflect the needs of all populations. "A basic psychedelic literacy workbook that could be distributed to those in care/emergency professions around the country, including therapists, doctors, psychiatrists, emergency personnel, etc."

  
  

  "Working groups in the primary professions (that will work on clinical psychedelics) working towards consensus statements on different practices and controversies."

  
  

  "I would love to be able to address what we are going to do with harmful facilitators…what we should do when there are bad actors, and how do we address that as a community?"

  
  

  "Clinical practice standards and guidelines for psychedelic therapy—we need these to move forward with regulatory approval and wider acceptance in the mental health field."

  
  

  "Working groups developing consensus statements would be helpful so that there are clearer norms and standards for designing my future clinical studies."

  
  

  "...have set standards for certification of practitioners and also set standards for preparation and integration before and after medicalized psychedelic experiences, whether it's through ketamine clinics, or through Oregon or through, you know, programs where you're leaving the country to access this care."

  
  

  “If the summit could only do one thing that would make a meaningful impact in psychedelic safety, then I think…it would be to create a pathway for accrediting psychedelic training, organizations, and programs. And also through that creating distinct license types for people who are either already licensed, or would become some sort of formal psychedelic practitioner."
  

6. Safety Net

• Define evidence-based best practices: Develop standards for screening, dosing, and integration, applicable in both clinical and non-clinical contexts.

• Adopt standardized safety metrics: Ensure consistent adverse event reporting across different study designs.

• Promote long-term monitoring: Capture real-world outcomes and adapt safety protocols as new data emerge.

• Support Consistent Terminology: A standardized terminology to harmonize the disparate language used across therapy settings, research, harm reduction communities, and the media for describing adverse events, risk levels, and safety practices
  

"Well, I think it'd be wonderful to see some type of consensus or large amount of individuals that could together determine delivery methods of therapeutic treatment options; that would really benefit the individuals who are in most need of therapeutic care."

"...I think some sort of charter to set up an organization that would be involved in monitoring safety and that would have the right kinds of resources and data collection methods to be able to do that but also a set of shared principles that can be promulgated throughout the various sectors and stakeholder groups."

"A unified framework for psychedelic safety, including the development of a shared lexicon for the field."

"I think if your summit could at least move the needle forward on what psychedelic safety means to indigenous peoples. That would be a contribution. What does it mean to our indigenous friends?"

"Patient monitoring practices. Individuals should ‘own their experience" and be able to reference it, whether positive or negative."

"Clear identification of what is an adverse event, psychedelic harm, and a challenging experience.

"That the foundation gets laid for establishing a high-level functioning certifying body for Psychedelic Assisted Therapy. That's what's missing in the field..."

"I think it would be truly wonderful to establish a kind of a core anchor group of institutions and individuals that are ready to agree on some principles and a foundational aspect of psychedelic safety and a commitment to developing these best practices with a clear path forward."

"Continue to raise the issue of safety, both psychological safety and medical safety, and also societal safety and public health implications. I think that's going to be very important that we take the lead in addressing these issues and not avoid the tough questions and only focus on the, you know, the more positive exciting aspects…"

"The product that would be most valuable would be harmonized measures of or consensus measures around safety events so that we could apply these across all of our efforts."

"The people fully understand the importance of safety and what they need to do individually and in an organization to provide a safe enough environment for participants to be able to trust their vulnerability to come forth with their truth and authenticity. So, to really understand the importance of safety in a healing Journey. Without safety, there is no healing Journey."

"So, for us what would be helpful would be best practices. so I know we have strong feelings about what those are, but, so, having those established, and then, and then having a certifying body that would say, Okay, so this organization meets them, it's 80% of them are meets 90% of them, so kind of let the gold seal of approval, so that people can then…"

"Clinical practice standards and guidelines for psychedelic therapy—we need these to move forward with regulatory approval and wider acceptance in the mental health field."

"Understanding the consensus around best practices for psychedelic safety."

"It would be great if we could publicly show everyone that we are starting to work on safety. I feel like this has been dismissed and diminished and minimized especially in the media over the past few years around psychedelics is you know, like nobody says anything negative about this but we say, hey, we all got together….I think that would be most valuable to my audience and to the survivors that I work with to see that we're actually making progress."

"I hope the summit results in actionable strategies for creating a unified safety framework that can be part of a best practices framework for delivery of care, including a toolkit for practitioners/organizations and increased collaboration across sectors."

"I think that would be defining the components of a robust psychedelic safety infrastructure—identifying what currently exists in that, identifying what needs Improvement. What's the gold standard? And where there just are flat-out gaps."

8. Regulatory & Policy Framework

• Incorporate safety measures into legislation:Use research findings on dosing, screening, and integration to inform policy.

• Re-examine prohibition policies:Transition towards evidence-informed frameworks for legal or regulated psychedelic use.

• Develop policy recommendations: Reduce barriers to inclusive, ethically guided research.

"...I think that the single greatest factor contributing to the risks within psychedelic culture and the greatest impediment to the creation of a culture of safe use is drug prohibition itself. We are obviously not leaving this conference having ended drug prohibition, but I think the thing that would be most impactful would be leaving it with a shared understanding of that reality."

"Clinical practice standards and guidelines for psychedelic therapy—we need these to move forward with regulatory approval and wider acceptance in the mental health field."

"The outcomes most valuable for me and my organization from the summit would be an understanding of legislative and regulatory changes. That could be made either in the ketamine space or just forward thinking for post-approval implementation around psychedelics to, you know, guarantee improve ensure safety for patients and providers as we Implement psychedelic medicine and to our existing Healthcare framework."

"To me the biggest benefit would be to support the development of a game plan for educating government, regulators, and gatekeepers in psychedelic safety so that we can grease the skids for the widespread adoption of psychedelic therapy. So that could happen on a state-by-state level and is happening that way. But I think that on the federal level is where we're going to really see big changes in terms of access to this kind of care. So, participating in the narrative development and the strategic plan for helping government officials to get on board with accurate information about psychedelics, safety would be very helpful and meaningful."

9. Public Education & Perception

• Design culturally inclusive public education campaigns:Ensure individuals understand potential risks, benefits, and harm-reduction practices.

• Provide specialized training:Develop targeted training for first responders, healthcare workers, and community organizations on safe psychedelic use.

• Improve communication and messaging: Incorporate indigenous and marginalized community perspectives to foster trust and reduce stigma. "I readily admit my field of vision is narrow and comes from my own lived experience and the work that I have embarked on as a result. With that said, I hope that we can talk about: 

  • What is public education and how should it be delivered?

  • What is the messaging?

  We will have many voices and no common message I am sure. But can we acknowledge the need for balanced messaging and the benefits of public education."

  
  

  "...I would say that if we could only leave the meeting with a strategic plan for delivering education to those groups in the public—responders, teenagers, parents, government officials, regulators, producers, and so on, then I think that would be a great result."

  
  

  "I think that the one thing that would make a meaningful difference in psychedelic safety that could come from this summit is a more comprehensive national education initiative for the general public can be in the media. Also training First Responders and healthcare workers is another hugely important group to educate. Another thing that would make a really meaningful difference in psychedelic safety would be to include nurses in whatever groups and policies are moving forward."

  
  

  "...a re-education media campaign"

  
  

  "We would love to have something concise that we could include in our curriculum that reaches the incumbent systems, that demonstrates to those systems that the psychedelic ecosystem is unifying and organizing effectively around safety."

  
  

  "...how do we make sure that people are able to have a safe supply? How do we make sure that there are robust education materials available to help people so they know how to use these substances safely? And how do we make sure that there are support services, the community environment, the wraparound of support so that they can get information on both education as well as if they have challenging experiences?"

  
  

  “I think it would be great to come out of the summit with kind of a clearer strategy for public communications and education to support public safety. I know a lot of groups are working on that and talking about it, but it still seems like there could be more coherent coordination especially across groups that may play different roles or be kind of taking on different pieces of the puzzle to still be contributing to a bigger picture of narrative that can move us in the direction of greater safety while continuing to expand and support access."