“Under the present brutal and primitive conditions on this planet, every person you meet should be regarded as one of the walking wounded. We have never seen a man or woman not slightly deranged by either anxiety or grief. We have never seen a totally sane human being.” –Robert Anton Wilson

Since the initial experiments with psilocybin, mescaline, DMT, and LSD in the 1950s and 1960s, which involved enthusiastic laymen (e.g., Gordon Wasson, Henry Luce), and trained scientists (Drs. Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert), neuroscience has come a long way in understanding how entheogens (another term for psychedelics) affect the brain at the neural level. Some liken it to a kind of “reset” of the brain, a suppression of conditioned responses, allowing a reexamination of said responses and an evolution of novel reactions to stimuli that could have therapeutic effects on conditions ranging from anxiety to PTSD. Specifically, the primary action of many entheogens is to dampen the amygdala’s reactions, the seat of emotions in the brain, allowing patients to access and process traumatic memories without being overwhelmed. But as is true with so much about the brain, there is still much to learn.

More research is urgently needed. For example, how and why do entheogens like ayahuasca and MDMA suppress the actions of the amygdala, and how does that allow trauma survivors to be more able to access and process those memories? What are safe and unsafe doses for entheogens? Additionally, why do people with schizophrenia not respond well to treatment with these substances? Add in that there are currently at least a dozen companies developing proprietary formulae and “set and setting” modes (basically where to take them, how much, and who with–at raves with strangers is considered suboptimal) for psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) treatments, which could lead to dramatically lowering or raising costs of treatment, depending on what or who meets with the approval of the US Patent Office. Enter Senate Bill 1012, authored by State Senator Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, and Assemblymember Marie Waldron, a San Diego Republican, which would allow adults 21 and older to use psilocybin mushrooms, MDMA, DMT, and mescaline in a controlled setting and under the supervision of a licensed and trained facilitator. Governor Newsom had vetoed a bill submitted in October 2023 that would have pro forma legalized entheogens while signaling that he would consider legislation based on therapeutic models.

This bill would satisfy that condition, placing the critical “set and setting” modes under the control of the therapist and patient. Wiener’s advocacy seems well thought out, and he understands the immediacy needed to implement access to this novel treatment.

“I want California to be on the leading edge of psychedelic access for people seeking therapy. I also want California to be on the leading edge of public education and safety around psychedelics, and this bill will point us in that direction…We are not waiting for the federal government to bless us. We are addressing California’s legal obstacles to this therapy.”

There are no miracle cures here, no wands to be waived. PAT has helped a lot of people. It may not be able to help everyone with a mental disorder. But when you look at the past solutions–chemical and physical lobotomies, forced hospitalizations, and institutionalizations–using entheogens is a lot more humane and efficacious. Also, it is much less expensive and traumatic.

What is the best thing the Federal Government can do? Stay out of it.

That libertarian attitude has ostensibly been part of the Republican playbook since caveman times, but we all know how good conservatives are at talking out of both sides of their mouths. States’ rights to govern as you see fit? Sure, unless you want to end slavery, give a hand up to LGBTQ+ people, and give everyone bodily autonomy. Hypocrisy is so normalized on that side of the aisle that it has no semantic meaning. There is no more room anywhere for the hypocrisy that now thoroughly dominates the Grand Old Party.

Currently, psilocybin and LSD are still on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, along with cannabis and heroin. That makes it difficult, if not impossible, for them to be accessed and used in medical studies. That’s why the DEA must be edged out of the process: they’ve already set medical science–specifically neuroscience–back decades by restricting access to those entheogens. It is arguable that when LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, etc., were still legal, we were looking at potential treatments for alcoholism, pervasive trauma, chronic depression, and a myriad of mental disorders until Nixon got in the way and gave the DEA the power to decide what we could put in our bodies. Of course, we do have treatments that work–cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has done wonders for people with depression and anxiety since it was introduced in the late 1970s. Numerous studies indicate that CBT, in conjunction with medications such as SSRIs and SDRIs, is even more effective, so imagine what CBT could do in conjunction with PAT. Perhaps we won’t have to imagine much longer.