PT 627 - Mary Carreon — Censorship, Psychedelic Media & Policy Crosscurrents
Description
Episode summary
Joe and Mary dive into how platform censorship and shifting algorithms have reshaped psychedelic media, why DoubleBlind moved to a “newsletter-first” model, and what that’s revealed about true audience engagement. They reflect on the post-2024 MDMA decision headwinds, state-level policy moves (wins and losses), and how funding, politics, and culture continue to reconfigure the field. They also explore alternatives to alcohol, chronic pain research, reciprocity around iboga/ibogaine, and lessons from PS25 (MAPS’ Psychedelic Science 2025).
Highlights & themes
- From platforms to inboxes: Social and search suppression (IG/FB/Google) throttled harm-reduction journalism; DoubleBlind’s pivot to email dramatically improved reach and engagement.
- Post-MDMA decision reality: Investment cooled; Mary frames it as painful but necessary growth—an ecosystem “airing out” rather than a catastrophic pop.
- Policy pulse: Mixed year—some state measures stalled (e.g., MA), others advanced (e.g., NM; ongoing Colorado process). Rescheduling cannabis may add complexity more than clarity.
- Censorship paradox: Suppressing education makes use less safe; independent outlets need community support to keep harm-reduction info visible.
- Chronic pain & long COVID: Emerging overlaps and training efforts (e.g., Psychedelics & Pain communities) point beyond a psychiatry-only frame.
- Alcohol alternatives: Low-dose or occasional psychedelic use can shift habits for some; Mary stresses individual context and support beyond any single substance.
- Reciprocity & iboga: Rising interest (including from right-leaning funders) must include Indigenous consultation and fair benefit-sharing; pace of capitalism vs. community care is an active tension.
- PS25 field notes: Smaller, more manageable vibe than 2023; fewer “gold-rush” expectations; in-person dialogue beats online flame wars.
Notable mentions
- DoubleBlind: Newsletter-first publishing; nurturing new writers and reported stories.
- Psychedelics & Pain Association / Clusterbusters: Community-driven models informing care and research (cluster headache protocols history).
- Books & media: Body Autonomy (Synergetic Press anthology); Joanna Kempner’s work on cluster headaches - Psychedelic Outlaws; Lucy Walker’s forthcoming iboga film.
- Compounds to watch: LSD (under-studied relative to MDMA), 2C-B, 5-MeO-DMT (synthetic focus), and broader Shulgin-inspired families.
Mary Carreon: [00:00:00 ] Okay, I'm gonna send it to my dad because he wants to know. Here
Joe Moore: we go. Yeah, send it over. So, hi everybody. We're live Joe here with Mary Anne, how you doing today?
Mary Carreon: I'm great Joe. How are you?
Joe Moore: Lovely. I actually never asked you how to pronounce your last name does say it right?
Mary Carreon: Yes, you did. You said it perfectly
Joe Moore: lovely.
Joe Moore: Um, great. So it's been a bit, um, we are streaming on LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitch X and Kick, I guess. Yeah. Kick meta. Meta doesn't let me play anymore. Um,
Mary Carreon: you're in forever. Timeout. I got it. I got it. Yeah.
Joe Moore: Yeah. I think they found a post the other day from 2017. They didn't like, I'm like, oh cool. Like neat, you
Mary Carreon: know, you know.
Mary Carreon: Yeah. That happened to me recently, actually. Uh, I had a post taken down from 2018 about, uh, mushroom gummies and yeah, it was taken down and I have strikes on my account now. So
Joe Moore: Do you get the thing where they ask you if you're okay?
Mary Carreon: Yes, with, but like with my searches though, [00:01:00 ] like if I search something or, or someone's account that has, uh, like mushroom or psychedelic or LSD or something in it, they'll be like, mm-hmm are you okay?
Mary Carreon: And then it recommends getting help. So
Joe Moore: it's like, to be fair, I don't know if I'm okay, but Yeah, you're like, probably not. I don't really want your help. Meta. Yeah.
Mary Carreon: You're like, I actually do need help, but not from you. Thanks. Yeah,
Joe Moore: yeah, yeah.
Mary Carreon: So not from the techno fascists.
Joe Moore: Oh, good lord. Yeah. Uh, we'll go there.
Joe Moore: I'm sure.
Mary Carreon: I know. I just like really dove right there. Sorry. Yeah. All right, so let's,
Joe Moore: um, before we go, let's give people like a bit of, you know, high kicks on, on who is Mary, where you working these days and what are you doing?
Mary Carreon: Yeah, thank you. My name is Mary Carryon and I am forever and first and foremost a journalist.
Mary Carreon: I have been covering, I say the plant legalization spaces for the past decade. It's, it's been nine and a half years. Uh, on January 3rd it will be [00:02:00 ] 10 years. And I got my start covering cannabis, uh, at OC Weekly. And from there went to High Times, and from there went to Mary Jane, worked for Snoop Dogg. And then, uh, I am now.
Mary Carreon: Double blind. And I have become recently, as of this year, the editor in chief of Double Blind, and that's where I have been currently sinking my teeth into everything. So currently, you know, at this moment I'm an editor and I am basically also a curator. So, and, and somebody who is a, uh, I guess an observer of this space more than anything these days.
Mary Carreon: Um, I'm not really reporting in the same way that I was. Um, but still I am helping many journalists tell stories and, uh, I feel kind of like a story midwife in many ways. Just like helping people produce stories and get the, get the quotes, get the angles that need to be discussed, get the sentences structures right, and, um, uh, helping [00:03:00 ] sometimes in a visionary kind of, uh, mindset.
Mary Carreon: So yeah, that's what I'm doing these days.
Joe Moore: Oh, there it is. Oh, there you are. Love that. And um, you know, it's important to have, um, editors who kind of really get it from a lot of different angles. I love that we have a lot of alignment on this kind of, and the drug war thing and kind of let's, uh, hopefully start developing systems that are for people.
Joe Moore: Yeah, absolutely. If you wanna just say that. Yeah, absolutely.
Mary Carreon: Yeah, absolutely.
Joe Moore: So, um, yeah, I almost 10 years in January. That's great. We um, it's so crazy that it'
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