I'm pretty convinced that it's got tremendous therapeutic potential like many other strong things around these lines. But group dosing like ~100 people in the way these people are doing it is just wrong on so many levels. The only way I see them going if they continue without being apprehended first is if they turn it into something like a cult, which would obviously be even worse.
I think you might be discarding your priors here. Alcohol use is extremely common, so even relatively uncommon negative effects will happen a lot. The important number to compare is how many people would see equivalently bad effects if the same number of people used <other substance X> as drank alcohol.
Great episode, but that scene is pretty disturbing.
1 - don't eat or drink for at least 4 or 5 hours beforehand, so there's nothing in your stomach to vomit
2 - lie in the recovery position ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recovery_position ) with one's mouth facing downwards to minimize the chance of aspirating any liquid
3 - don't move around
4 - be with a trained, trusted, and experienced practitioner, who you've vetted thoroughly and who you are sure can keep you safe
5 - again, don't mix substances!
I've yet to see any definitive evidence showing that 5-MeO alone caused anyone to die.
The handful of deaths I'm aware of have been from 5-MeO mixed with other substances like alcohol, and due to asphyxiation on vomit -- which can happen from alcohol alone.
If you drink too much alcohol you could choke on your own vomit and die. Yet people aren't generally freaked out when people drink alcohol. They should in fact be more concerned about alcohol, as it kills thousands of people every year, and is well documented to be involved in many deaths both alone and when mixed with other substances.
The lesson from this all this is don't mix 5-MeO with other substances. Also stay far away from practitioners who pour water down your throat while you're pretty much helpless and out of your body. That's incredibly dangerous -- but not because of the 5-MeO alone, but because some demented person is trying to drown you.
Also, there hasn't been enough human use of 5-MeO to know its long-term health effects, so that is an additional risk, as are its potential negative effects on mental health.
Everyone considering it should thoroughly educate themselves -- both on its risks and benefits, so they can make an informed decision.