Mattha Busby
@matthabusby.bsky.social
Reporting on Drugs/Psychedelics/Subculture/Society @vice @wired @rollingstone @guardian @latimes @ukesquire Repped: @aevitas_creative
Vancouver, BC
Vancouver, BC
Happy to be working with the BBC’s Strange But True Crime podcast on the extraordinary story of Gary Youds, who has now done five stints in prison for running a Liverpool cannabis cafe, most recently in July this year, for repeatedly reopening after raids and arrests
www.vice.com/en/article/t...
www.vice.com/en/article/t...
The UK’s ‘Cannabis Martyr’ Keeps Getting Jailed for Opening Weed Cafes
“All revolutionaries go to jail,” says Gary Youds, who's now been imprisoned four times.
www.vice.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Happy to be working with the BBC’s Strange But True Crime podcast on the extraordinary story of Gary Youds, who has now done five stints in prison for running a Liverpool cannabis cafe, most recently in July this year, for repeatedly reopening after raids and arrests
www.vice.com/en/article/t...
www.vice.com/en/article/t...
Porn has been the closest thing I’ve ever had to an addiction. Now, a couple of months dry from porn again — after only a momentary relapse! — it’s strange how abstaining from it can make you feel more alive…
inews.co.uk/inews-lifest...
inews.co.uk/inews-lifest...
I'm 31 and I've stopped watching porn - I feel so alive
The new porn site age verification measure has helped me kick the closest thing I've had to an addiction, says Mattha Busby
inews.co.uk
November 8, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Porn has been the closest thing I’ve ever had to an addiction. Now, a couple of months dry from porn again — after only a momentary relapse! — it’s strange how abstaining from it can make you feel more alive…
inews.co.uk/inews-lifest...
inews.co.uk/inews-lifest...
In the 1980s, amid fears of Soviet psychic warfare, the CIA commissioned an evaluation of a far out program teaching out of body experiences and 'remote viewing'. The report deemed it ‘plausible in terms of its essential objectives’
Latest for @wired.com
www.wired.com/story/the-ci...
Latest for @wired.com
www.wired.com/story/the-ci...
The CIA Used This Psychic Meditation Program. It’s Never Been More Popular
The Monroe Institute claims its meditations, which have also been used by the US military, help people access different planes of consciousness. Its virtual and in-person retreats are now selling out.
www.wired.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:13 PM
In the 1980s, amid fears of Soviet psychic warfare, the CIA commissioned an evaluation of a far out program teaching out of body experiences and 'remote viewing'. The report deemed it ‘plausible in terms of its essential objectives’
Latest for @wired.com
www.wired.com/story/the-ci...
Latest for @wired.com
www.wired.com/story/the-ci...
There were high hopes for psychedelic policy reform when Trump returned to the White House. Nine months into his second term, with a host of advocates in senior government positions for the first time in history, what happens next is anyone’s guess
For the MAPS Bulletin
maps.org/news/bulleti...
For the MAPS Bulletin
maps.org/news/bulleti...
November 1, 2025 at 2:57 AM
There were high hopes for psychedelic policy reform when Trump returned to the White House. Nine months into his second term, with a host of advocates in senior government positions for the first time in history, what happens next is anyone’s guess
For the MAPS Bulletin
maps.org/news/bulleti...
For the MAPS Bulletin
maps.org/news/bulleti...
After an American died on a psychedelic retreat in Costa Rica, her family were forced onto a wild goose chase
‘I called the police to make a missing persons report and that’s how I found out she had passed.’
For Vice (who just reposted this on socials)
www.vice.com/en/article/i...
‘I called the police to make a missing persons report and that’s how I found out she had passed.’
For Vice (who just reposted this on socials)
www.vice.com/en/article/i...
American ‘Neoshamans’ Are Running Psychedelics Hotels in Costa Rica—and Someone Died
Lauren Levis died at the Soul Centro retreat after taking iboga—an African root bark that's one of the wildest drug experiences known to man.
www.vice.com
October 26, 2025 at 7:55 PM
After an American died on a psychedelic retreat in Costa Rica, her family were forced onto a wild goose chase
‘I called the police to make a missing persons report and that’s how I found out she had passed.’
For Vice (who just reposted this on socials)
www.vice.com/en/article/i...
‘I called the police to make a missing persons report and that’s how I found out she had passed.’
For Vice (who just reposted this on socials)
www.vice.com/en/article/i...
Reposted by Mattha Busby
The HyperCard inventor was a huge proponent of taking lower doses of 5-MeO-DMT, which is widely considered the strongest psychedelic in the world.
Apple Pioneer Bill Atkinson Was a Secret Evangelist of the ‘God Molecule’
The HyperCard inventor was a huge proponent of taking lower doses of 5-MeO-DMT, which is widely considered the strongest psychedelic in the world.
wrd.cm
October 20, 2025 at 12:09 PM
The HyperCard inventor was a huge proponent of taking lower doses of 5-MeO-DMT, which is widely considered the strongest psychedelic in the world.
Bill Atkinson was a computing pioneer who effectively made Apple computers usable for everyday people. But few people know that later in life he was a secret advocate of what’s widely considered the world’s most potent psychedelic: 5-MeO-DMT
New for WIRED
www.wired.com/story/apple-...
New for WIRED
www.wired.com/story/apple-...
Apple Pioneer Bill Atkinson Was a Secret Evangelist of the ‘God Molecule’
The HyperCard inventor was a huge proponent of taking lower doses of 5-MeO-DMT, which is widely considered the strongest psychedelic in the world.
www.wired.com
October 20, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Bill Atkinson was a computing pioneer who effectively made Apple computers usable for everyday people. But few people know that later in life he was a secret advocate of what’s widely considered the world’s most potent psychedelic: 5-MeO-DMT
New for WIRED
www.wired.com/story/apple-...
New for WIRED
www.wired.com/story/apple-...
The Psychedelic Turf Wars Have Begun
But who is behind attacks in Toronto that have left shroom shops sprayed with bullets and rammed by trucks? And aren’t mushrooms supposed to dissolve the ego?!
Latest for DoubleBlind
newsletter.doubleblindmag.com/p/the-psyche...
But who is behind attacks in Toronto that have left shroom shops sprayed with bullets and rammed by trucks? And aren’t mushrooms supposed to dissolve the ego?!
Latest for DoubleBlind
newsletter.doubleblindmag.com/p/the-psyche...
The Psychedelic Turf Wars Have Officially Begun
Shots fired, stores torched, and still no meaningful answers.
newsletter.doubleblindmag.com
October 17, 2025 at 10:15 PM
The Psychedelic Turf Wars Have Begun
But who is behind attacks in Toronto that have left shroom shops sprayed with bullets and rammed by trucks? And aren’t mushrooms supposed to dissolve the ego?!
Latest for DoubleBlind
newsletter.doubleblindmag.com/p/the-psyche...
But who is behind attacks in Toronto that have left shroom shops sprayed with bullets and rammed by trucks? And aren’t mushrooms supposed to dissolve the ego?!
Latest for DoubleBlind
newsletter.doubleblindmag.com/p/the-psyche...
Reposted by Mattha Busby
I rounded up drug news of the last month for the first edition of THE BUMP. Includes the NYT Amy Griffin story, a barbershop banger from @matthabusby.bsky.social and @maxdaly.bsky.social on the secret of tusi's success.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
October 13, 2025 at 11:55 AM
I rounded up drug news of the last month for the first edition of THE BUMP. Includes the NYT Amy Griffin story, a barbershop banger from @matthabusby.bsky.social and @maxdaly.bsky.social on the secret of tusi's success.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Reposted by Mattha Busby
Cocaine carnage is coming to Britain
Budget blow has exploded beyond control
🖊️ Mattha Busby www.newstatesman.com/politi...
Budget blow has exploded beyond control
🖊️ Mattha Busby www.newstatesman.com/politi...
October 4, 2025 at 6:02 AM
Cocaine carnage is coming to Britain
Budget blow has exploded beyond control
🖊️ Mattha Busby www.newstatesman.com/politi...
Budget blow has exploded beyond control
🖊️ Mattha Busby www.newstatesman.com/politi...
‘Soon as you’re at the boozer that’s what it’s all about. Have a drink and have a ‘shizzle mcnizzle’,’ one leading coke-using influencer recently told his 77,000 followers
My first for New Statesman
www.newstatesman.com/politics/soc...
My first for New Statesman
www.newstatesman.com/politics/soc...
Cocaine carnage is coming to Britain
Budget blow has exploded beyond control
www.newstatesman.com
October 4, 2025 at 2:16 AM
‘Soon as you’re at the boozer that’s what it’s all about. Have a drink and have a ‘shizzle mcnizzle’,’ one leading coke-using influencer recently told his 77,000 followers
My first for New Statesman
www.newstatesman.com/politics/soc...
My first for New Statesman
www.newstatesman.com/politics/soc...
Reposted by Mattha Busby
'There’s people telling me I’m about to spend the rest of my life in prison over some edibles.'
American basketball player Jarred Shaw talks to @matthabusby.bsky.social from prison in Indonesia
American basketball player Jarred Shaw talks to @matthabusby.bsky.social from prison in Indonesia
‘I use cannabis as medicine’: the US basketball player facing execution in Indonesia over $400 of gummies
Unlike his fellow basketball player, Brittney Griner, Jarred Shaw has received scant attention after being arrested for a drugs offence overseas
www.theguardian.com
October 3, 2025 at 9:12 AM
'There’s people telling me I’m about to spend the rest of my life in prison over some edibles.'
American basketball player Jarred Shaw talks to @matthabusby.bsky.social from prison in Indonesia
American basketball player Jarred Shaw talks to @matthabusby.bsky.social from prison in Indonesia
Reposted by Mattha Busby
twenty strangers walk into a hikrodose, a portmanteau of microdose and hike; could a reconnection with nature come out?
a fun one from @matthabusby.bsky.social, out today in @atmosmag.bsky.social 🌎
a fun one from @matthabusby.bsky.social, out today in @atmosmag.bsky.social 🌎
‘We Are Part of Nature’: Inside the Rise of Hikrodosing | Atmos
Atmos joins a mushroom-infused microdose hike for an afternoon of psychedelics, reconnection with nature, and crystal harps.
atmos.earth
September 25, 2025 at 4:37 PM
twenty strangers walk into a hikrodose, a portmanteau of microdose and hike; could a reconnection with nature come out?
a fun one from @matthabusby.bsky.social, out today in @atmosmag.bsky.social 🌎
a fun one from @matthabusby.bsky.social, out today in @atmosmag.bsky.social 🌎
Mushroom-infused hikes have gotten a bad rap lately. Hikers have made headlines after becoming incapacitated and hallucinating. I hoped there would be no such mishaps at our more regimented and measured affair
Inside the rise of hikrodosing for @atmosmag.bsky.social
atmos.earth/science-and-...
Inside the rise of hikrodosing for @atmosmag.bsky.social
atmos.earth/science-and-...
‘We Are Part of Nature’: Inside the Rise of Hikrodosing | Atmos
Atmos joins a mushroom-infused microdose hike for an afternoon of psychedelics, reconnection with nature, and crystal harps.
atmos.earth
September 25, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Mushroom-infused hikes have gotten a bad rap lately. Hikers have made headlines after becoming incapacitated and hallucinating. I hoped there would be no such mishaps at our more regimented and measured affair
Inside the rise of hikrodosing for @atmosmag.bsky.social
atmos.earth/science-and-...
Inside the rise of hikrodosing for @atmosmag.bsky.social
atmos.earth/science-and-...
Reposted by Mattha Busby
Exclusive: The long-awaited WHO-commissioned review on coca leaves is unequivocal - No "evidence of clinically meaningful public health harms associated with use," but research "robustly" shows harms "associated with coca control strategies."
Mattha Busby reports:
Mattha Busby reports:
WHO-Commissioned Review: Coca Not Harmful, But Prohibition Is
A copy of the report viewed by Filter indicates that keeping coca leaves in Schedule I is unjustified. Global policy change could follow.
filtermag.org
September 23, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Exclusive: The long-awaited WHO-commissioned review on coca leaves is unequivocal - No "evidence of clinically meaningful public health harms associated with use," but research "robustly" shows harms "associated with coca control strategies."
Mattha Busby reports:
Mattha Busby reports:
Human design, which places people into archetypal personality types, is approaching a high-watermark cultural moment. In the new season of Love is Blind: UK, a human design coach propels the phrase 'trust your spleen' into the zeitgeist
For @wired.com
www.wired.com/story/human-...
For @wired.com
www.wired.com/story/human-...
Human Design Is Blowing Up. Following It Might Make You Leave Your Spouse
The astrology-like system uses birth dates to break people into personality types and even find love and riches. From sleeping arrangements to diets, some are taking it very seriously.
www.wired.com
September 16, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Human design, which places people into archetypal personality types, is approaching a high-watermark cultural moment. In the new season of Love is Blind: UK, a human design coach propels the phrase 'trust your spleen' into the zeitgeist
For @wired.com
www.wired.com/story/human-...
For @wired.com
www.wired.com/story/human-...
Reposted by Mattha Busby
A great piece from this current issue of The Fence. @matthabusby.bsky.social usby.bsky.social dives deep into the hive mind of Simon Buxton: the "bee shaman" beloved by Tori Amos, who sat at the centre of a collapsing colony of cultish devotion and then disappeared
www.the-fence.com/men-beehivin...
www.the-fence.com/men-beehivin...
Men Beehiving Badly
buzz buzz buzz
www.the-fence.com
September 15, 2025 at 1:28 PM
A great piece from this current issue of The Fence. @matthabusby.bsky.social usby.bsky.social dives deep into the hive mind of Simon Buxton: the "bee shaman" beloved by Tori Amos, who sat at the centre of a collapsing colony of cultish devotion and then disappeared
www.the-fence.com/men-beehivin...
www.the-fence.com/men-beehivin...
Is there no such thing as a bad trip, or can they actually be traumatizing? This debate is playing out in the psychedelics field…
‘Most young adults who get cancer feel they experienced personal growth from it. That doesn’t mean you want them to get cancer.’
statesofmind.com/psychedelic-...
‘Most young adults who get cancer feel they experienced personal growth from it. That doesn’t mean you want them to get cancer.’
statesofmind.com/psychedelic-...
Do Difficult Psychedelic Experiences Hurt or Heal You? Inside The World’s Bad Trip Debate
Many believe that "bad trips" should be reframed as challenging parts of the healing process. Does that ignore the risks?
statesofmind.com
September 13, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Is there no such thing as a bad trip, or can they actually be traumatizing? This debate is playing out in the psychedelics field…
‘Most young adults who get cancer feel they experienced personal growth from it. That doesn’t mean you want them to get cancer.’
statesofmind.com/psychedelic-...
‘Most young adults who get cancer feel they experienced personal growth from it. That doesn’t mean you want them to get cancer.’
statesofmind.com/psychedelic-...
What happens when your backyard is no longer private, and your life can be upended by a government ‘code enforcer’ with a silent camera in the sky?
How one California county launched a drug war 2.0 on legal cannabis growers, and what it morphed into
For @reason.com
reason.com/2025/09/09/t...
How one California county launched a drug war 2.0 on legal cannabis growers, and what it morphed into
For @reason.com
reason.com/2025/09/09/t...
How weed surveillance drones destroyed the lives of these Californians
California tried to use drones to find illegal weed operations, but they found building code violations instead.
reason.com
September 9, 2025 at 11:46 PM
What happens when your backyard is no longer private, and your life can be upended by a government ‘code enforcer’ with a silent camera in the sky?
How one California county launched a drug war 2.0 on legal cannabis growers, and what it morphed into
For @reason.com
reason.com/2025/09/09/t...
How one California county launched a drug war 2.0 on legal cannabis growers, and what it morphed into
For @reason.com
reason.com/2025/09/09/t...
Reposted by Mattha Busby
Peyote is holy to many Native Americans.
Can a band of true believers stop it from disappearing from the Texas-Mexico border? https://www.texasmonthly.com/being-texan/peyote-native-americans-texas-mexico/
Can a band of true believers stop it from disappearing from the Texas-Mexico border? https://www.texasmonthly.com/being-texan/peyote-native-americans-texas-mexico/
Peyote Is Vanishing From the Texas-Mexico Border. For One Group, That’s Not an Option.
The psychoactive cactus is sacred to many Native Americans, but it’s quickly disappearing from the only U.S. state where it grows.
www.texasmonthly.com
August 20, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Peyote is holy to many Native Americans.
Can a band of true believers stop it from disappearing from the Texas-Mexico border? https://www.texasmonthly.com/being-texan/peyote-native-americans-texas-mexico/
Can a band of true believers stop it from disappearing from the Texas-Mexico border? https://www.texasmonthly.com/being-texan/peyote-native-americans-texas-mexico/
Reposted by Mattha Busby
When Daniel Khalife, a British soldier accused of spying for Iran, escaped from Wandsworth Prison, he became a social media celebrity... Was he a threat to national security? Or just a mixed up kid?
My latest for GQ, a story of angst and espionage...
www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/dani...
My latest for GQ, a story of angst and espionage...
www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/dani...
Daniel Khalife: Fugitive, Traitor? Soldier, Spy
When Daniel Khalife, a British soldier accused of spying for Iran, escaped from Wandsworth Prison, he became a social media celebrity. But the wild true story of his arrest, escape and recapture revea...
www.gq-magazine.co.uk
September 4, 2025 at 10:36 AM
When Daniel Khalife, a British soldier accused of spying for Iran, escaped from Wandsworth Prison, he became a social media celebrity... Was he a threat to national security? Or just a mixed up kid?
My latest for GQ, a story of angst and espionage...
www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/dani...
My latest for GQ, a story of angst and espionage...
www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/dani...
Reposted by Mattha Busby
what does cocaine legalization have to do with climate change?
from clandestine airstrips carved into the Amazon, to laundering drug money through dirty businesses—it's a whole lot more than you think, reports @matthabusby.bsky.social for @atmosmag.bsky.social 🧪🌎
from clandestine airstrips carved into the Amazon, to laundering drug money through dirty businesses—it's a whole lot more than you think, reports @matthabusby.bsky.social for @atmosmag.bsky.social 🧪🌎
The Surprising Climate Effect of Legalizing Cocaine | Atmos
The war on drugs has created an illegal cocaine market responsible for the degradation of the Amazon and the rights of Indigenous people.
atmos.earth
September 2, 2025 at 3:03 PM
what does cocaine legalization have to do with climate change?
from clandestine airstrips carved into the Amazon, to laundering drug money through dirty businesses—it's a whole lot more than you think, reports @matthabusby.bsky.social for @atmosmag.bsky.social 🧪🌎
from clandestine airstrips carved into the Amazon, to laundering drug money through dirty businesses—it's a whole lot more than you think, reports @matthabusby.bsky.social for @atmosmag.bsky.social 🧪🌎
‘The criminal infrastructure built principally for cocaine is increasingly facilitating illegal deforestation, timber trafficking, and illegal gold mining.’
Latest for @atmosmag.bsky.social
atmos.earth/the-surprisi...
Latest for @atmosmag.bsky.social
atmos.earth/the-surprisi...
The Surprising Climate Effect of Legalizing Cocaine | Atmos
The war on drugs has created an illegal cocaine market responsible for the degradation of the Amazon and the rights of Indigenous people.
atmos.earth
September 1, 2025 at 4:19 PM
‘The criminal infrastructure built principally for cocaine is increasingly facilitating illegal deforestation, timber trafficking, and illegal gold mining.’
Latest for @atmosmag.bsky.social
atmos.earth/the-surprisi...
Latest for @atmosmag.bsky.social
atmos.earth/the-surprisi...
Reposted by Mattha Busby
Went up north to try Britain's only water menu and talk to the "sommeliers" who are convinced water's the new wine www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
Meet the water sommeliers: they believe H₂O can rival wine – but would you pay £19 a bottle?
A restaurant in the English county of Cheshire has launched a water menu, as have a number of US establishments. Is it really possible, though, to tell one terroir from another?
www.theguardian.com
August 28, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Went up north to try Britain's only water menu and talk to the "sommeliers" who are convinced water's the new wine www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
Psychedelic experiences are leaving people feeling less rigid about notions of sexuality and arousal
“The drug isn’t ‘making’ someone bisexual, polyamorous, or gender expansive, but its creating a window where they can explore what was already there.”
New for SOM:
statesofmind.com/beyond-the-b...
“The drug isn’t ‘making’ someone bisexual, polyamorous, or gender expansive, but its creating a window where they can explore what was already there.”
New for SOM:
statesofmind.com/beyond-the-b...
Beyond the Binary: How Psychedelic Experiences Can Change Your Views on Gender and Sexuality
Altered states may break down barriers and open paths to self-discovery. Should users follow these insights?
statesofmind.com
August 26, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Psychedelic experiences are leaving people feeling less rigid about notions of sexuality and arousal
“The drug isn’t ‘making’ someone bisexual, polyamorous, or gender expansive, but its creating a window where they can explore what was already there.”
New for SOM:
statesofmind.com/beyond-the-b...
“The drug isn’t ‘making’ someone bisexual, polyamorous, or gender expansive, but its creating a window where they can explore what was already there.”
New for SOM:
statesofmind.com/beyond-the-b...