Culture


What the heck happened to Reality Sandwich?


Reality Sandwich was sold to a group called Delic Corp. Now there's a lawsuit.

An open letter to the newly founded Center for Psychedelic Research at Johns Hopkins


With the recent creation of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, we must remember that, while industrialized medicine has never attempted to serve all people, institutional histories vary from one organization to the next.

Young People of Color As Leaders in The Movement To End the War on Drugs


How do you center the needs and perspectives of people of color in your activism—not because you want to fill a quota, but because the success of your work depends on it?

Considerations for Engaging with Amazonian Ancestral Practices, People, and Places


If we truly believe in the positive transformational power of visionary plant experiences, we must support each other to make real social change happen, less this transformation stagnates at the individual level.

Shipibo Women Healers on the Challenges and Opportunities of the Ayahuasca Boom


After the murder of a Peruvian healer in 2018, traditional healers, local political figures, and nonprofit allies gathered to address the complexities that come with the influx of foreigners seeking ayahuasca in the Amazon.

This is what psychedelic mainstreaming looks like…in Arizona


As psychedelic medicalization and the potential profits of a “virgin market” loom large, new organizations are increasingly looking to gain legitimacy within the field. Mainstreaming means the doors of this field are being thrown wide open.

The First Step Act is not the criminal justice reform we need. But it’s a start.


Trump signed into law the First Step Act, which makes modest reforms that ease the federal prison population.

Bunk Police Drug Testing

The Bunk Police is looking to destroy dishonesty in the drug market


If there are other harm-reduction organizations, such as DanceSafe, that are able to distribute test kits, then we won’t attend that event....the ones that refuse DanceSafe, we come in and do it anyways.

I Survived Sexual Abuse In The Amazon And Victim Blame At Home


The controlled narrative goes something like this: ayahuasca is good, and we need to control how people perceive it because this is a controlled substance we want to see legalized, a medicine we want to see legitimated. And if we have to sacrifice a few women who get themselves raped to keep ayahuasca’s name clean, so be it.

Time’s Up for “Silencing” Tactics


A few years ago, I witnessed the systematic silencing and shaming of Lily Kay Ross for having dared to call attention to severe abuses of power in the psychedelic space. Her extraordinary bravery in sharing her own experience with abuse was met with victim blaming and accusations of selfishness. Key members of the psychedelic research community turned on her for “jeopardizing” the entire field of psychedelic science with her “negativity” and “theatrics.”

Hey Psychedelic Science Community, We Need to Talk About Consent


Consent is really pretty simple but also apparently complicated, due to our inheritance of a messed up culture.

Intentionally-diverse MDMA research at University of Connecticut Cut Short


The research team at UConn studying MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD is now defunct.

It’s time to debunk prohibitionist narratives and calls for monopolies within psychedelic science


As venture-capital-backed, for-profit companies barrel into psychedelic therapy, the potential for the widespread privatization of psychedelic knowledge and profits looms large. Some researchers are so enthusiastic about medicalization by “any means necessary” that they’re resorting to prohibitionist historical narratives and calling for monopolies to push the agenda forward.

Pulitzer Prize winner Terry DeMio on life as a heroin beat reporter


Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Terry Demio talks about reporting on heroin for the Cincinnati Enquirer.

After 26 years in prison for LSD, and clemency from Obama, Timothy Tyler is a free man


What’s it like being sentenced to life in prison for selling LSD? Timothy Tyler, a Deadhead convicted of selling LSD and granted clemency by President Barack Obama, talked to Psymposia about his 26 years in prison, and the challenges of adjusting to a brave, new world.

Ayahuasca and the Global Marketplace


Narratives which gloss-over the history and socioeconomic dynamics of ayahuasca’s globalization may, despite good intentions, actually do more harm than good.

Some colleges just don’t understand harm reduction


Clashes between SSDP and New College administrators represent growing confusion about handling harm reduction on campuses

A Conversation about Intersectionality in the Psychedelic Community


A conversation between two (white) activists to further the dialogue around inclusivity in the field of psychedelic research and culture.

Reclaiming Your Identity As A Drug User


Today, we have a world where we can say: “I’m proud to be a woman” and “I’m proud to be gay.” But we can’t say: “I’m a drug-user.”

Culture


What the heck happened to Reality Sandwich?


Reality Sandwich was sold to a group called Delic Corp. Now there's a lawsuit.

An open letter to the newly founded Center for Psychedelic Research at Johns Hopkins


With the recent creation of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, we must remember that, while industrialized medicine has never attempted to serve all people, institutional histories vary from one organization to the next.

Young People of Color As Leaders in The Movement To End the War on Drugs


How do you center the needs and perspectives of people of color in your activism—not because you want to fill a quota, but because the success of your work depends on it?

Considerations for Engaging with Amazonian Ancestral Practices, People, and Places


If we truly believe in the positive transformational power of visionary plant experiences, we must support each other to make real social change happen, less this transformation stagnates at the individual level.

Shipibo Women Healers on the Challenges and Opportunities of the Ayahuasca Boom


After the murder of a Peruvian healer in 2018, traditional healers, local political figures, and nonprofit allies gathered to address the complexities that come with the influx of foreigners seeking ayahuasca in the Amazon.

This is what psychedelic mainstreaming looks like…in Arizona


As psychedelic medicalization and the potential profits of a “virgin market” loom large, new organizations are increasingly looking to gain legitimacy within the field. Mainstreaming means the doors of this field are being thrown wide open.

The First Step Act is not the criminal justice reform we need. But it’s a start.


Trump signed into law the First Step Act, which makes modest reforms that ease the federal prison population.

Bunk Police Drug Testing

The Bunk Police is looking to destroy dishonesty in the drug market


If there are other harm-reduction organizations, such as DanceSafe, that are able to distribute test kits, then we won’t attend that event....the ones that refuse DanceSafe, we come in and do it anyways.

I Survived Sexual Abuse In The Amazon And Victim Blame At Home


The controlled narrative goes something like this: ayahuasca is good, and we need to control how people perceive it because this is a controlled substance we want to see legalized, a medicine we want to see legitimated. And if we have to sacrifice a few women who get themselves raped to keep ayahuasca’s name clean, so be it.

Time’s Up for “Silencing” Tactics


A few years ago, I witnessed the systematic silencing and shaming of Lily Kay Ross for having dared to call attention to severe abuses of power in the psychedelic space. Her extraordinary bravery in sharing her own experience with abuse was met with victim blaming and accusations of selfishness. Key members of the psychedelic research community turned on her for “jeopardizing” the entire field of psychedelic science with her “negativity” and “theatrics.”

Hey Psychedelic Science Community, We Need to Talk About Consent


Consent is really pretty simple but also apparently complicated, due to our inheritance of a messed up culture.

Intentionally-diverse MDMA research at University of Connecticut Cut Short


The research team at UConn studying MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD is now defunct.

It’s time to debunk prohibitionist narratives and calls for monopolies within psychedelic science


As venture-capital-backed, for-profit companies barrel into psychedelic therapy, the potential for the widespread privatization of psychedelic knowledge and profits looms large. Some researchers are so enthusiastic about medicalization by “any means necessary” that they’re resorting to prohibitionist historical narratives and calling for monopolies to push the agenda forward.

Pulitzer Prize winner Terry DeMio on life as a heroin beat reporter


Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Terry Demio talks about reporting on heroin for the Cincinnati Enquirer.

After 26 years in prison for LSD, and clemency from Obama, Timothy Tyler is a free man


What’s it like being sentenced to life in prison for selling LSD? Timothy Tyler, a Deadhead convicted of selling LSD and granted clemency by President Barack Obama, talked to Psymposia about his 26 years in prison, and the challenges of adjusting to a brave, new world.

Ayahuasca and the Global Marketplace


Narratives which gloss-over the history and socioeconomic dynamics of ayahuasca’s globalization may, despite good intentions, actually do more harm than good.

Some colleges just don’t understand harm reduction


Clashes between SSDP and New College administrators represent growing confusion about handling harm reduction on campuses

A Conversation about Intersectionality in the Psychedelic Community


A conversation between two (white) activists to further the dialogue around inclusivity in the field of psychedelic research and culture.

Reclaiming Your Identity As A Drug User


Today, we have a world where we can say: “I’m proud to be a woman” and “I’m proud to be gay.” But we can’t say: “I’m a drug-user.”