Psychedelics: stoned pilot and throwback – 11/07/2023 – Psychedelic Turn

Recently, attention was drawn to the case of an American pilot who, even while off duty, created a risky situation in the cabin of an Alaska Airlines flight. He tried to turn off the jet’s engines and later claimed he had consumed psychedelic mushrooms. Psilocybe.

That was enough to revive the specter of a sociocultural reversal of psychedelics, now that these consciousness-modifying substances are beginning to regain prestige in the eyes of the public. Two decades of promising clinical research using them, for example to treat depression, would be threatened with another collapse.

The memory of counterculture trauma always surfaces in psychedelic science. In the 1960s/70s, after LSD, marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms became popular with the hippie pacifist movement, the conservative reaction came with the infamous War on Drugs by Richard Nixon, then president of the USA.

The growing restrictions, starting in 1966, ended up eradicating studies with psychedelics from research institutions. They had been around since the 1950s, in the treatment of alcoholism and psychotherapy, among other applications, and progressively became an academic taboo, like the end of a career.

After the turn of the century, the research topic returned with some more courageous pioneers, such as David Nutt, in the United Kingdom, Rick Doblin and Roland Griffiths (recently deceased), in the USA. Based on the research they led, today MDMA (ecstasy) is on track for FDA approval to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and in its wake comes psilocybin for depression.

Until now, clinical trials have been small, rarely involving more than a dozen volunteers. The controlled tests that numbered one or two hundreds can be counted on one hand.

Funding is scarce. Federal prohibition and scientific prejudice make it difficult for strong US institutions, such as the NIH (National Institutes of Health, in English), to allocate resources to psychedelics.

Definitive rehabilitation would come with FDA authorization for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies, but these depend on continued controlled clinical trials. The NIH has made exceptions, but they will be subject to political pressure if the image of these substances is tarnished by episodes like the one with the stoned pilot.

Not to mention the potential for psychological and sexual abuse. There was already a rumored case of carnal relations between patient and therapist, in 2015 in Canada, in the MDMA/PTSD study by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (Maps). There is no shortage of reports of abuses in ayahuasca tourism taking place in Peru.

Cases like this serve as a warning against the tendency, including in journalism, to treat psychedelics as harmless substances. They are not.

Although the toxicological profile is low risk and the ability to generate dependence is almost zero (with the exception of ketamine), they make people very suggestible, therefore vulnerable. Furthermore, they can trigger outbreaks in individuals with a personal or family history of psychosis.

Driving cars or flying planes under the influence of LSD, mushrooms or ayahuasca has never been and will never be a good idea, starting with the visual changes and changes in space and time that they cause. Furthermore, MDMA and ibogaine can cause cardiac changes.

One of the ways to circumvent federal prohibition in the USA has been popular initiatives. States such as Oregon and Colorado, in addition to several cities, already support services in which registered facilitators offer mushroom sessions.

In California, decriminalizing legislation was approved in the state Parliament, but ended up vetoed by Democratic governor Gavin Newsom. Weeks later, the popular Treat initiative went into reverse, which intended to submit the US$5 billion proposal for research into psychedelics to a referendum in 2024.

The brake was pulled after an unfavorable public opinion poll. Although 74% of respondents supported scientific investigation of alternatives to the mental health crisis, 60% would not trust a government agency to fund such an effort.

Based on this, the movement withdrew the proposal and renamed itself Treat Humanity. From now on, he will dedicate himself to developing treatments, studies, education, access and therapies for mental health.

“This movement is bigger than any single electoral initiative,” said Guy McDermott, a former Marine and now a firefighter, in the statement. “Safe and effective psychedelic-assisted therapies are needed to help us get through this mental health crisis.”

Referring to veterans with PTSD seeking alternative treatments in Jamaica, Mexico or Costa Rica, he said: “Our service members should not have to leave the country to receive life-saving therapies. We will not stop until the people suffering receive the help they need and deserve.”

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NOTICE TO NAVIGATORS – Psychedelics are still experimental therapies and, certainly, do not constitute a panacea for all psychological disorders, nor should they be the subject of self-medication. Speak to your therapist or doctor before venturing into the area.

About the trend towards legalizing the therapeutic and adult use of psychedelics in the USA, see the report “Free Mushrooms” in the December 2022 edition of Piauí magazine.

To learn more about the history and new developments in science in this area, including in Brazil, look for my book “Psychonauts – Travels with Brazilian Psychedelic Science”.