Will Psychedelic Stocks Be The New ESG Favorites For 2021?

• Psychedelic drug stocks are among the best performing equities in 2020
• Psychedelic drugs are the world’s best hope in alleviating a Mental Health Crisis that afflicts over 1 billion people
• Psychedelic medicine can generate $100s of billions in savings for the global economy each year

While many investors remain purely focused on profits, a new class of investor has been acquiring greater prominence in recent years: the “socially conscious investor”.

These investors focus not only on profit/loss parameters, but also on how companies measure up in terms of Environmental, Social and Governance criteria. Known as ESG investing, companies that make positive contributions to the environment or society are being rewarded for these good deeds – via more investor dollars.

Why psychedelic drug stocks are strong ESG candidates

Investors are becoming more educated about psychedelic drugs and psychedelic drug medicine. As they learn more, psychedelic stocks are looking more and more like not merely great investment opportunities, but great ESG investment opportunities.

Why?

Start with the obvious. We are in the midst of a rapidly-worsening Mental Health Crisis that already afflicts over 1 billion people – centering on stress-related conditions like depression, anxiety, addiction and PTSD.

The COVID pandemic is causing rates of depression, anxiety and addiction to skyrocket. Existing therapies for these conditions have proven grossly inadequate.

This is a humanitarian catastrophe. Want to do something about it?

Invest in psychedelic drug stocks.

Clinical research on these psychedelic substances is showing the clear potential to revolutionize mental health care. Instead of ineffectually treating symptoms (the current standard of care), psychedelic medicine represents potential cures for these conditions.
 

Behind only hunger, poverty and war, the Mental Health Crisis is the greatest humanitarian crisis on the planet today.

You won’t find an investment that can “cure” hunger, poverty or war. But you can invest in cures for the Mental Health Crisis.

Also looking to make investments that support the economy? Psychedelic drug stocks.

The economics of psychedelic medicine

According to the World Economic Forum and the Lancet Commission, the Mental Health Crisis is already costing the global economy over $1 trillion per year – in lost productivity alone. Mental health conditions are a leading cause of disability.

Along with this, each year $100s of billions is spent (wasted?) treating mental health conditions. In the United States alone, mental health care eats up $300 billion per year. But with existing standards of care so inadequate, there is little to show for all this spending.

Psychedelic medicine has the potential to dramatically reduce the $1+ trillion per year in productivity losses related to mental health.

Psychedelic medicine can also directly save enormous sums. An economic study on MDMA-assisted psychotherapy by MAPS showed potential treatment savings of $103,000 per patient.

With our economies just as sick as our populations, investing in psychedelic medicine (and psychedelic drug stocks) is an investment in not just mental health but also economic health.

Companies like Compass Pathways (US:CMPS), MindMed Inc (CAN:MMED / US:MMEDF), Numinus Wellness (CAN:NUMI / US:LKYSF), Mind Cure Health (CAN:MCUR / US:MCURF), Cybin Corp (CAN:CYBN / US:CLXPF), Field Trip Health (CAN:FTRP / US:FTRPF), Mydecine Innovations Group (CAN:MYCO / US:MYCOF) and Entheon Biomedical are among the corporations leading the charge in this Psychedelic Drug Revolution.

They have also been delivering fantastic investment returns.

But what if there was an even larger hidden savings from developing and commercializing psychedelic drugs?

Can psychedelic drugs cure our minds and save our hearts?

As the Psychedelic Drug Revolution spawns an explosion in clinical research, important/exciting discoveries are being made on practically a weekly basis.

Recent research has discovered that the same region of the brain that is affected by depression and anxiety is also linked to heart disease risk.
 

(Excessive) stress is one of the leading risk factors for heart disease. Depression and anxiety are also caused by stress – and all three conditions are linked to the same part of the brain.

If we cure this depression and anxiety (via psychedelic medicine) will we also dramatically lower the risk of heart disease for those treated?

Heart disease is the leading cause of death globally, killing approximately 17.3 million people each year. Treating heart disease eats up a large percentage of healthcare dollars.

Can psychedelic medicine (potentially) save millions of lives each year – as it cures mental health conditions – while saving our healthcare system additional billions?

We don’t know. Invest in the psychedelic drug industry and find out.

Maybe psychedelic medicine can ‘only’ cure mental health conditions that afflict over 1 billion people, while saving the global economy $100s of billions each year.

Maybe psychedelic medicine can also represent a major breakthrough in the battle against heart disease.

Either way, psychedelic drug stocks could emerge as new favorites for ESG investors in 2021.

DISCLOSURE: The writer holds shares in MindMed Inc, Numinus Wellness, Cybin Corp and Mind Cure Health. Mind Cure Health is a client of Psychedelic Stock Watch.