Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies

The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research and educational organisation founded in 1986. Its stated purpose is to develop medical, legal and cultural contexts in which people can benefit from careful uses of psychedelics and marijuana. Over more than three decades of operation it has raised more than $150 million and supported 45 studies, working worldwide across clinical research, drug policy and public education.

Its flagship programme is MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD, the effort to establish MDMA as a medicine for post-traumatic stress disorder, which helped create the field of psychedelic-assisted therapy. Alongside it, MAPS runs broader psychedelic research programmes and evidence-based clinical research on psychedelics and marijuana, and conducts education and advocacy intended to inform policy and to promote legal, responsible access to psychedelics for healing, spirituality and personal growth.

The organisation operates under seven guiding principles, among them healing for all, open science - open book, prioritise public benefit, set the setting, and consciousness without criminalisation. These commit it to transparency in its research, an evidence-based approach to policy and culture change, and a mission-driven focus on public benefit rather than commercial return. Relevant fields of work include clinical research, psychedelic-assisted therapy, MDMA-assisted therapy, drug policy research and public education.