Recently came across a somewhat disturbing article:
A participant in a clinical trial on MDMA therapy accused her unlicensed therapist of sexual assault. Was it a one-off event or an institutional failing?
qz.com
The gist is that a patient in the MAPS MDMA trials had sex with one of the therapists while under the influence. There was a lawsuit that was filed and subsequently settled, with the therapists (2 were involved) saying that the sex was consensual. (Personally, I don't see how there could ever be consent when one person is drugged, let alone during a clinical trial.) MAPS released a statement last May concerning the incident:
maps.org
The Quartz article contained a number of noteworthy statements from other assault victims in different trials/situations, such as:
That last quote was news to me. It seems rather cavalier to not require all therapists to be licensed.....
Keeping in mind that this is just one article with statements from a few people, it's not hard to read it and come away with a bit of a soured view on MAPS, or at least to some of the people involved. I fully support the end goal of mainstreaming psychedelic therapy in an evidence- and caution-based way, but damn it if it won't be this kind of bullshit that takes the project down.