Regulatory backlash and media attention

Herbal Ecstasy & The Billion Dollar Smart Drug Boom

In this episode of The Psychedelic Podcast, Paul F. Austin sits down with entrepreneur Shaahin Cheyene, creator of the controversial 1990s supplement "Herbal Ecstasy," which helped launch the legal smart-drug movement.

Find full show notes and links here: https://thethirdwave.co/podcast/episode-348/?ref=278

Shaahin shares how he built a multimillion-dollar business at just fifteen by creating a legal herbal alternative to MDMA during a shortage in the rave scene.

The conversation explores 1990s rave culture, the ethics of prohibition, and how natural supplements intersect with psychedelics, entrepreneurship, and personal freedom. They also discuss his later ventures in Amazon commerce, podcast media, and YouTube.

Shaahin Cheyene is the creator of Herbal Ecstasy, a supplement that helped spark the legal smart-drug movement in the 1990s. He built the business as a teenager into a multimillion-dollar company.

Over the past three decades, Shaahin has become an award-winning entrepreneur, Amazon expert, inventor, author, and filmmaker whose ventures have generated over a billion dollars in revenue. He is the founder of PodcastCola and Viral Mirage.

Through his businesses, Shaahin continues to mentor entrepreneurs and develop health and wellness products focused on optimizing human performance.

Highlights:

• Creating Herbal Ecstasy at age fifteen
• The MDMA shortage that created opportunity
• Rave culture and the 1990s club scene
• Natural supplements as legal alternatives
• Freedom, regulation, and drug policy debates
• Health and wellness entrepreneurship
• Building product brands in emerging markets
• Podcasting and YouTube as influence platforms

Episode Links:

• Shaahin's website
• PodcastCola
• Billion: How I Became King of the Thrill Pill Cult – Shaahin Cheyene

Episode Sponsors:

• The Microdosing Practitioner Certification at Psychedelic Coaching Institute.
• The Practitioner Certification Program by Third Wave's Psychedelic Coaching Institute.
• Golden Rule - Get a lifetime discount of 10% with code THIRDWAVE at checkout

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