Psychedelic Cup Public Statement

Given the continued public statements by the Psychedelic Club of Denver, we now feel obligated to clear the air regarding the Denver Shroom Cup and the 2023 Psychedelic Cup. We had hoped to avoid this situation, but the facts of the entire development deserve to be shared.

Going back to early February 2023, Altitude Consulting had an interest in performing a data collection event for the potency analysis of mushrooms in Colorado, as had been done in various places across the country. We were approached by several groups with a desire for Altitude to complete the analyses. To be clear, the Psychedelic Club of Denver was not one of these parties. Altitude decided to join forces with a close client and friend of the lab in March 2023 due to our shared values. The purpose of this event was to provide education and data collection at an affordable and inclusive rate, combined with a physical event to be enjoyed by the public. The name "Psychedelic Cup" was born, and Altitude has a current trademark pending for that convention. Additionally, the employees of Altitude personally funded the purchase of the domain copsychedeliccup.com and began working on the event.

A few weeks later, our partner, who had connections to the then-president of the club, reached out to gauge their potential interest in hosting the event. Altitude and our partner were eager to help raise money for a charitable cause.

The Psychedelic Club wrote a contract with our partner three months later, in June 2023, which stated his role in obtaining sponsorships, leading marketing efforts, organizing the in-person party, and maintaining a relationship with Altitude.

By November, our partner had put in an enormous effort and can largely be credited with the event's success. At the end of the night, we were notified that the president of the club was stepping down and a new executive board would take the leadership role moving forward.

In March 2024, the new executive board and Altitude had a meeting to discuss the potential future 2024 Psychedelic Cup. At this time, the board unilaterally dictated that they were unwilling to work with our partner moving forward and attempted to remove him from the group.

The reason for his removal was due to a disagreement on floral arrangements during the 2023 Psychedelic Cup event as well as animosity because of the contract between the club and our partner.

Altitude tried to reason with the board, but our efforts were ineffective.

As such, Altitude could not, in good faith, organize submissions, perform analyses, or compile data with a board that did not appear to uphold our original values. Altitude and our partner agreed to move on and create a separate event from this past cup. During our internal discussions, we decided to change the name out of respect for the Psychedelic Club of Denver as a whole. We did not feel the recent decisions of the executive board reflected those of their members.

The Psychedelic Club of Denver then began posting statements on social media and distributing a newsletter that do not represent the facts. Nevertheless, Altitude and our partner chose not to escalate the situation, hoping that cooler heads would prevail.

However, the club then threatened Altitude and our partner with legal action. At this time, Altitude had no choice but to defend itself, which is the purpose of this statement. During the review of the facts, events, and ownership of intellectual property by counsel, it became evident that the Psychedelic Club of Denver was demanding ownership of property they had no claim to. We have responded to their letter but have not heard back.

Altitude will continue to provide field-leading analytics, accredited analyses, laboratory tours, public research studies, and strive to positively impact psychedelic science. Furthermore, the Denver Shroom Cup will provide affordable data analysis and extrapolation for the benefit of community. We have no interest in matters other than that.