MAPS' budget for its last fiscal year is reported below. As noted, the main item was the Swiss conference, followed by the standard costs of putting out the newsletter. No salaries were paid.
Though MAPS has in the past supported animal research, no funds were spent last year on animal studies and none are planned for the foreseeable future. This issue has generated a great deal of soul searching for MAPS and some of its members. In fact, several potential donors decided not to join MAPS due to their opposition to animal studies on ethical grounds. In order to respond to the moral dilemma faced by some potential donors, MAPS will never use membership fees or unrestricted donations for animal studies. If such studies are to be undertaken, and none are planned, a special fund-raising campaign will be conducted specifically for that research.
The current fiscal year's main activities have been the development of the MDMA protocol. Funds have been spent on administrative expenses such as postage, phones, office, copies, and on meetings to bring together the various psychiatrists and researchers working on the protocol, all of whom have donated their time. In addition, MAPS has sent $250 to Dr. Krupitsky to help with expenses incurred in preparing the protocol for submission to the Russian authorities. MAPS has also repaid the loan from Rick Doblin, which was made so that a larger than originally planned number of psychiatrists from Russia could attend the Swiss conference.
If the MDMA Protocol is Approved
If the MDMA protocol is approved, either in the US or the USSR, funds will be directed toward training the experimenters and conducting the experiment. A week-long training program on "Psychedelic Therapy in the Terminally Ill" would focus both on work with terminal patients and with psychedelics. Participants would include a few researchers from the US, Russia, and other countries. The session might be taught by Ram Dass and Stan Grof and others. It might be possible to videotape this both for research purposes and as a special offering to MAPS members. As a special benefit, MAPS' Patrons would also be invited to attend the training program.
In conducting the experiment in the US, there will be significant costs even though much of the psychiatric time involved will be donated. Total costs are estimated to be $70,000 or so for medical tests, independent raters, nurse and clinic time, data analysis, etc. In the USSR, the experiment is liable to be less than half that price. A special benefit conference/concert will be arranged, similar to the MAPS benefit of February, 1990 (with speakers Laura Huxley, Ram Dass, Tim Leary, Ralph Metzner, Terence McKenna, Andrew Weil, and others), to help raise funds for any studies which get approved.
If the Protocol is Not Approved
If the protocol is not approved this time around, funds will be directed toward the continual revision of the protocol through the use of consultants and it will be resubmitted. If necessary, lawyers will be secured. International collaborations will become even more of a MAPS priority.