Ask Me Anything - Q&A session

Over the last two decades of participation in psychedelic spaces, David Nickles has contributed to a wide range of research, harm reduction, and advocacy projects relating to drugs, plants, and the people who use them. He has helped run the DMT-Nexus forum, collaborated on underground research projects (such as phytochemical analysis and connecting drug using populations with researchers interested in their experiences), contributed to harm reduction projects (including drug checking and peer support at live events), and worked to disseminate open source resources for developing sustainable, self-sufficient relationships with psychoactive materials.

Referring to his approach to the field as "non-prohibitionist critical psychedelia" David has been a vocal opponent of psychedelic mainstreaming, a concerned critic of the processes of psychedelic medicalization, and generally antagonistic towards the grifters, charlatans, and would-be gurus littering contemporary psychedelia. In 2018, David raised the alarm about the corporate pharmaceutical incursion into psychedelia, highlighting the ethical and material issues presented by the arrival of such "corporadelic" actors. He subsequently co-created, produced, and reported the podcast Cover Story: Power Trip in 2021, followed by contributions to several critical documentaries highlighting ongoing problems within the so-called "psychedelic renaissance," in addition to a myriad of other work on the topic.

While many contend that David is more adept at identifying systemic problems than solving them, this opportunity to ask him anything presents a real, material example of David solving the problem of what to do when you wind up with an open time slot and no speaker. Bring your questions to enjoy a lively freewheeling discussion on a range of topics from psychedelic extraction techniques, to the dynamics of mainstreaming and medicalization, to what it feels like to be gaslit by MMA, and more!