Horizons: Pseudo-Science and Religiosity in the Realm of Drug Research

I wrote this small essay outlining my experience at the Horizons Psychedelic Conference. The Conference was really fun! However, parts of it left me a bit unsatisfied, as I explain in the paper.

            In downtown New York, scientists, philosophers, spiritualists, and curious minds congregated in Judson Memorial Church for the Horizons conference. The Horizons Conference focuses on providing “a forum that examines the role of psychedelics in science, healing, culture, and spirituality.” By setting up a platform for intelligent discussion, the conference organizers aim to help establish psychedelic drugs as a legitimate topic of interest.

            Psychedelic drugs have long been plagued by the stigma of the 1960’s, where hallucinogens fueled the often incoherent spiritual ravings of the free-love era. Long after the burnout of the hippies, LSD and other hallucinogens continue to be disregarded as a trivial recreational drug for those seeking a fun, colorful experience. However, a vocal community of supporters have been advocating for the benefits of psychedelic drugs, especially in the fields of science and medicine. In the 1950’s, before the explosion of recreational use, LSD and psilocybin were frequently researched at major universities. Stanford and Harvard were leaders in the field, and researchers such as Doctors Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, and Richard Alpert performed a large body of psychological experiments on these drugs. This research was rigorous but short-lived. After several controversies regarding psychedelic drugs appeared in universities and the media, research was soon defunded, and the government was quick to label these drugs as restricted substances (later as Schedule I substances after the Controlled Substances Act of 1970). However, over the last 20 years, there has been somewhat of a “psychedelic renaissance,” a renewed interest in studying psychedelics in a research setting. Organizations such as the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) have pushed for a widespread acceptance of the potential benefits of psychedelic drugs, which range from substance abuse therapy to treating PTSD. By promoting research, encouraging drug education, and working with government substance regulatory authorities, MAPS hopes to push the field of psychedelics past the stigma of recreational use and into the world of science.

Although I am already interested in the field of psychedelic research, I still maintain a great amount of skepticism when it comes to psychedelics in science. My experience with learning about psychedelic drugs has often been frustrating, since the field is plagued with many pseudo-scientific and mystical interpretations of the drug experience. Although spiritual and mystical writings have a place in their respective fields, this approach is often presented in lieu of scientific fact in order to offer an understanding of these drugs that always falls short of the rigor that is possible in research. I understand that the psychedelic experience can be very emotional and moving, but when these passionate interpretations are presented as fact, the true potential of psychedelic science is disregarded.

Thus, I went into Horizons with skepticism. I had never attended the conference before, and I did not know whether the atmosphere would be rigorous and scientific, or if the talks would be shrouded with mysticism and pseudo-scientific assertions. Additionally, since I am interested in the scientific side of psychedelics – psychology, neuroscience, and chemistry – I hoped that these talks would be valuable sources of information, not simplified and made accessible for the general audience and the media.

However, once the conference began, I was extremely impressed by the intelligent and informative nature of the talks. The first speakers at the conference were Earth and Fire Erowid, the founders of the massive online drug information resource, erowid.org. Although I knew about the website beforehand, I did not know much about the famous founders, the Erowid couple. Prejudicially, I felt like I expected some sort of vague spiritual talk from two people with names such as Earth and Fire. To the contrary, they presented one of the most insightful and conscious talks of the weekend. Their lecture, entitled “State of the Stone 2013: New Drugs, New Laws, and a New Generation Wisdom Cycle,” focused on giving the audience a debriefing of the rapidly evolving drug scene, both in the US and around the world. The Erowids track the trends and developments of the drug landscape, which is constantly changing with advances in the fields of chemistry and communications, as well as law enforcement efforts to keep up. One of the main focuses was on the many new psychoactive drugs that are legally being sold stores across the US. As new drugs are constantly being synthesized and sold in obscure packaging (methoxetamine is one example), law enforcements struggle to learn about and ban the sale of these substances (in 2013 alone, the DEA has identified 80-100 new substances). These drugs are usually untested, and thus, the health effects are widely unknown and potentially dangerous. Additionally, the labels on these drugs are often not correctly, as Erowid had proven with legal synthetic drugs (although the packaging had specifically said the drug did not contain a certain illegal chemicals, the Erowid lab found that the drug was primarily made up of this specific chemical!). Overall, the Erowids proved that they were keenly aware of the complex, shifting drug environment.

Another talk that interested me greatly was the update from the Johns Hopkins University MDMA-assisted tobacco cessation research. This research especially caught my attention because of its adherence to the rigorous standards of experimental psychology. With data obtained from his research, Dr. Garcia-Romero made an argument about the potential benefits of MDMA with authority and precision. The experimental setup consists of 15 otherwise-healthy adults who are addicted to nicotine, have tried to quit, and currently want to quit. The mean age of the smokers was 51 years old, and the mean years smoking was 30 years. The experiment consists of a combination of regular and MDMA-assisted therapy sessions, during which a patient would attempt to stop smoking cigarettes. After the sessions are over, there are several follow-ups with the patients in order to gauge the lasting effect of this research. The first round of this study has shown an incredible 80% success rate in terms smoking secession, with 20% of the patients relapsing into their smoking addiction. Dr. Garcia-Romero expressed his goal to replicate these promising results in phase two of this experiment.

Although these two talks demonstrated the legitimate nature of the conference, the overwhelmingly positive attitudes about psychedelic drugs hinted towards a bias in the presentation of the material. All of the speakers expressed optimism and success in the field of psychedelics, promising that the field would soon blossom. However, none of the presenters displayed skepticism about psychedelic science, whether that is in the effectiveness of the treatments, the potential harm of using the drugs, or the legitimacy of the research. The unchallenged positive attitude at Horizons made the general sentiment of the conference less persuasive, since the solely positive attitude made the general atmosphere seem almost like a pep rally for those who are already convinced of the benefits of the drugs.

Given the state of psychedelics in mainstream science and media, this sort of attitude is understandable. The pioneers of the field know that psychedelic science is still in its infancy, and there is a long road ahead before the subject attains widespread acceptance. Many people have a negative opinion of psychedelics and have not been convinced towards any potential benefits of using psychedelic drugs. These people are already armed to the teeth with arguments and facts that the media has been communicating about the dangers of psychedelic drugs. At this point, it may be safest to promote the subject with upmost optimism, in order to avoid giving the opposition more reasons to be concerned. Thus, solely broadcasting the positive aspects of the field and its research would help inspire people to keep pushing the field forward until the field gets to the point where critical evaluation of the drugs are more valid. From an educational perspective, I am disappointed that this approach was taken. I would have loved to get a better understanding of the totality of psychedelic drug use, which not only includes its benefits, but also its dangers. Before psychedelics can go on towards becoming a legitimate field of science, these scientists must overcome their fear of rejection. By allowing a free dialogue of what the full implications of psychedelic drugs, the field will be taken as legitimately and seriously as a topic of science and medicine.