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Psychedelics and who should be able to use them
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 5:
A DC resident has an operation growing psilocybin mushrooms, including these Galindoi variation of Psilocybe mexicana mushrooms, two middle, and Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms, left and right, in Washington, DC, on Monday, February 5, 2020. With the legalization of marijuana, advocates are now pushing for other legalizations, like psilocybin mushrooms. Activists in Colorado, Oregon and California have pushed for approval of psilocybin mushrooms and now folks in the District are starting. Many claim medicinal uses - depression, PTSD and other disorders - as is the case in some European countries.
(Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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In the 1960s, tensions rose over who should have access to psychedelics.
There were advocates who thought everyone should be able to use psychedelics. There were also researchers who thought psychedelics should stay in the lab.
But when psychedelic drugs were banned by federal law in 1970, it ended the debate over who should have access to them.
Now, psychedelics are back. They’re growing in popularity, and the tensions around access, money and research are back, too.
Today, On Point: Psychedelics and who should be able to use them.
Guests
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Amy Lynn McGuire, professor of biomedical ethics. Director of the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine.
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Sandor Iron Rope, board member of the Indigenous Peyote Conservation Initiative, president of the Native American Church of South Dakota.
Brom Rector, founder of Empath Ventures, a venture capital fund that invests in psychedelics.
Brian Pilecki, clinical psychologist based in Oregon, psilocybin facilitator in-training.
Melissa Lavasani, CEO of Psychedelic Medicine Coalition, chairwoman of Decriminalize Nature D.C.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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