2023-06-24 07:00:25
While in Colombia the reform that sought to legalize the use of adult cannabis was sinking; In Denver, Colorado, a movement of 12,000 was brewing around psychedelic science. Psychedelics Science 2023, the largest congress ever held on this topic, ended yesterday. In this city, 500 speakers talked about business, the latest clinical studies, the impact on society, the advances in science, and the regulation and legalization of these substances that promise to revolutionize the world of mental health and well-being.
Rick Doblin, the president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), opened the meeting with a vision for 2027: “Net Zero Trauma”. This charismatic man imagines a society that does not transmit pain from generation to generation, without traumas to inherit. Such a vision could only come from someone who has spent more than five decades trying to change the way people think, talk, and consume psychedelics through research, education, and advocacy. And the evidence begins to support his work. It is enough to look at the growth curve of scientific publications around the therapeutic use of psychedelics such as MDMA, LSD, magic mushrooms or ayahuasca, to understand why the United States is experiencing this revolution. While in 1990 there were only 200 publications, by 2020 there were more than 700. The evidence shows that, with the correct accompaniment, these substances are safe and not addictive. He says that they are used for eating disorders, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, to remove the existential fear of those who are approaching death, but he also says that they are used to live better.
“You are here because you have felt that your reputation is not more important than the lives of many…” said Rick Perry, the former Texas governor, a Republican who became convinced of the potential of psychedelics when he saw how they improved lives. of war veterans. And those words he spoke while I was part of that massive audience. There I felt that the hearing project that I have been working on for so many months made sense. It’s called Mental Shortcuts, a podcast about science and psychedelia, which I’m just launching this week to join this movement. I did the podcast with the producers Akorde and True Story, to tell the stories of those who have changed their lives, minds and souls using these substances. It can be heard on the Spotify and Apple podcast platforms. Shortcuts is my commitment to the dissemination of knowledge that, like the thousands who came to the congress, we believe will be critical for mental health and for those of us who believe that it is possible to give another meaning to life.
#psychedelic #science #revolution