Introduction
This textbook was compiled during the “Psychedelic Renaissance.” It has been a long road since Richard Nixon’s 1971 DEA drug scheduling and “War on Drugs” changed the political climate regarding psychedelic drugs and put an end to research. When I was an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois in Chicago in 1970, LSD Psychotherapy was listed as a legitimate treatment modality in my Introduction to Psychology textbook. Transpersonal Psychology, an outgrowth of the Humanist movement with a more spiritual approach to mental health, was gaining momentum and psychedelics were embraced as a way to study consciousness and use this knowledge to heal. I remember hearing that psychedelics would function for psychologists like microscopes did for scientists, giving us greater insights.
Psychedelics in plant form have a long history of healing and spiritual use in indigenous cultures. The primary religious experience facilitated by psychedelic plants predates the written word of religious texts. Despite the failed war on drugs, psychedelic drug use continued underground and in religious ceremonies around the world. Then, in 1990, Dr. Rick Strassman kicked off the psychedelic renaissance with his DMT research. This opened the doors to the psychedelic research that continues to this day.
Much more work needs to be done to bring Psychedelics into the mainstream. This includes the dissemination of information based on science, not politics. With the increase in suicides, drug addiction and overdoses, something different needs to be done to move the dial.
It is my hope that this textbook will help dispel myths and help restore psychedelics to their rightful place as a healing modality in society. I am just a humble messenger of the plants that have been healing for centuries and am honored to contribute to this much needed renaissance.
Watch
The “Heroic Dose” of Psychedelics (11 min)
Can Psychedelics Cure? NOVA (53 min)
Focus on Clinical Research Episode 1: The Johns Hopkins Story (41 min)
