About

My name is Aaron Cohen. I'm a software engineer, startup founder, and the person behind Off-label Insight.

I also happen to be a psychonaut with panic disorder and ADHD who spent years trying to figure out how the substances I was prescribed, recommended, or otherwise encountered actually worked. Doctors gave me scripts with no context. The internet gave me scare tactics or sales pitches. Nobody would just explain the pharmacology in plain language and let me make my own decisions.

Why this site exists

I've been homeless. I've been through rehab. I've had a substance use disorder that nearly destroyed everything I built. And after all of that, I found a healthy, functional relationship with psychoactive substances that actually improved my life. That's not the story anyone tells you is possible, but it's mine.

This site exists because I believe the information gap around drugs is dangerous. Not the drugs themselves, necessarily, but the fact that people can't find honest, accurate information about what they're putting in their body. The war on drugs failed. DARE failed. The "just say no" approach created a generation of people who don't trust anything they're told about substances, and they're right not to.

What to expect

Every post here is written with the goal of giving you the information your doctor won't, your friends can't, and the internet usually gets wrong. I'm not here to tell you what to take or what to avoid. I'm here to make sure that whatever you decide, you're making that decision with real information.

I care about drug policy reform, harm reduction, and helping people live functional lives. If that resonates with you, start reading.