2023-06-22 03:52:37
DENVER (AP) — An eclectic crowd turned out for a conference on hallucinogens in Denver this week to experience everything from a dimly lit room filled with kaleidoscope art to a wide array of speakers, including quarterback Aaron Rodgers. NFL star.
The conference, organized by a psychedelic drug advocacy group, came months after Colorado voters approved decriminalizing magic mushrooms, emulating their Oregon counterparts. While it is a sign of a growing cultural acceptance of substances that advocates say may offer benefits for conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism, medical experts warn that more research is needed on the efficacy of drugs and the extent of the risks of psychedelics, which can cause hallucinations.
Rodgers, who will soon be making his New York Jets debut after years in charge of the Green Bay Packers, spoke Wednesday night with podcaster Aubrey Marcus. Rodgers described taking ayahuasca with his teammates as a “radically life-changing” event, saying he has been approached by many other professional athletes.
“I found a deeper self-love,” Rodgers said of his ayahuasca experience. “It unlocked that whole world that I’m really here to connect, connect with those kids, create those bonds and inspire people.”
The conference’s host organization, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, is the largest advocacy group in the United States for this field. It has strategized to reach across the political spectrum, said Nicolas Langlitz, a science historian who has researched the rise and fall of psychedelic movements.
“The moment any issue becomes politically polarized, ironically, these superpolarizing substances get bipartisan support,” Langlitz stressed. Still, he added, the conference is “purely designed to create buzz.”
“Any kind of exaggeration is not good for science, because science should be accurate rather than force things,” he added. “It’s a give and take. (The conference) generates interest, ultimately generates more research, although this could be biased towards positive results.”
Psychedelics are federally illegal, although acceptance and interest in studying their potential benefits has increased. For example, some scientists believe that psilocybin, the hallucinogenic mushroom compound, changes the way the brain is organized and may help users overcome things like depression and alcoholism.
Drugs themselves—and the interest in them—is not new. In the middle of the last century, Aldous Huxley, Timothy Leary, and Ken Kesey helped fuel the use of psychedelics during the counterculture movement, and some psychologists were optimistic about their potential.
But the administration of President Richard Nixon criminalized the use of psychedelics, driving them underground.
“In both cases, you have this surge of exuberance that may or may not be justified,” said Michael Pollan, who has written a book on psychedelics and will be one of the speakers at the conference. “But I think a big difference (now) is that enthusiasm for the potential of hallucinogens crosses a much more representative portion of the population; It is no longer a counterculture.”
Republican strongholds like Utah and Missouri have commissioned, or are considering doing, studies on drugs, inspired in part by the stories of war veterans. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry spoke Wednesday about helping pass a bill through the Texas legislature in 2021 to fund a psilocybin study for veterans, though he does not support recreational use. In Congress, similar bills focused on veterans led progressive Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and far-right Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to form an unusual lineup.
Public interest also appears to be on the rise. Just six years ago in Oakland, California, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies held a conference with approximately 3,000 attendees and some lesser-known speakers.
This time, the organizers estimate at least 10,000 attendees. Other famous speakers will include former NHL player Daniel Carcillo, owner of a company specializing in psychedelic therapies; Olympic silver medalist figure skater Sasha Cohen; rapper and actor Jaden Smith; comedians Reggie Watts and Eric Andre; Andrew Huberman, one of the top 10 podcasters; and Carl Hart, who chairs the Columbia University School of Psychology.
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Bedayn is a staff member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that assigns journalists to local newsrooms to report on under-reported topics.
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