> Tripping at Horizons Psychedelic Conference

> http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brainstorm/200910/tripping-horizo...

> Is there a good side to psychedelics?

> October 1, 2009
> By Jen Kim

>   From the audience, a middle aged woman raised her hand and shared
> that she had recently come out of the "psychedelic closet" to her
> twenty something children. They had told her about their experiences
> with Ecstasy, so she was curious to try the drug herself. At 51 years
> old, she had experienced her first "trip."

> This was just one example of the unorthodox stories told at Horizons'
> third annual conference on psychedelics, which took place September
> 26-27, 2009 in New York City. Hosted by Judson Memorial Church, a
> venue that has long advocated social justice, free speech, and
> progressive politics, Horizons was founded by Kevin Balktick in New
> York City to share fresh perspectives on the role of psychedelics in
> medicine, culture, history, spirituality, and art. The conference
> invites experts, researchers, and scholars who all share an intimate
> knowledge of psychedelic drug use to discuss developments in
> research, debunk myths, and ultimately educate the public about this
> esoteric sub culture.

> Over the two-day event, speakers lectured on topics ranging from
> "Making Sense of Mushrooms" to "Psychedelic Harm
> Reduction--Rethinking the 'Bad Trip.'" Speaking on behalf of
> psilocybin, Andy Letcher, a writer, academic lecturer, and musician
> from Oxford, discussed his personal experiences while under the
> influence of "magic mushrooms" as well as explaining mushrooms'
> significance in the context of shamanism and mysticism over the last
> hundred years.

> Similarly, Valerie Mojeiko, from the Multidisciplinary Association
> for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a non-profit pharmaceutical company
> and educational organization which conducts clinical trials under the
> US FDA with psychedelic medicines like MDMA (Ecstasy), LSD, and
> psilocybin, shared her experiences with Ecstasy as a teenager, which
> inspired her present career choice. Mojeiko discussed being a guinea
> pig herself for certain drug trials, and advocated the beneficial
> uses of certain drugs, noting successful treatment of Post Traumatic
> Stress Disorder (PTSD) with MDMA as an example.

> Earth and Fire Erowid, co-creators of Erowid.org, a non commercial
> website that collects data and publishes original research on
> visionary plants and drugs, humorously discussed copy-cat legal drugs
> mostly available in Europe that mimic the effects of their illegal
> counterparts. One of the more notable copy-cats is "Spice," which was
> developed in 2006 in Germany and ostensibly emulated the effects of
> cannabis. The Erowids revealed that "Spice" was, in fact, produced by
> pharmaceutical drug company Pfizer, and was recently outlawed once
> researchers discovered its ingredients (particularly CP 47, 497) were
> more potent than cannabis, itself. Their website, which garners over
> one million hits monthly, is devoted to providing fair, honest, and
> current information about drug research.

> Part hippy-commune, part academic lecture, Horizons offered a weird
> but informative look into today's pervasive yet uncommercial drug
> culture. One that Letcher describes as the most available and
> accessible in history, thanks to technology and the Internet.
> Audience members were also encouraged to speak about their own
> psychedelic experiences and engage in thoughtful panel discussions
> with guests. Star speakers came from such venerable institutions like
> NYU and UCLA, where they actively work with FDA-approved psychedelic
> medical research programs.

> The general theme of the conference was to advocate an open
> mindedness to psychedelic drug usage. Speakers frequently referenced
> Native Americans and other cultures that safely used drugs as part of
> sacred rituals and cited examples where psychedelics successfully
> treated health problems. For instance, educational pamphlets
> available at the conference boasted LSD as curing founder of
> Alcoholics Anonymous Bill Wilson of alcoholism and described
> Psychologist Gary Fisher's success in treating childhood autism with LSD.

> In such a positive environment, it was difficult to see the downers
> of psychedelics, but Mojeiko's presentation did focus on how to deal
> with a "bad trip" and turn it into a good one. Furthermore, other
> speakers discussed general warnings, risks, and hazards regarding
> improper drug use. Perhaps the most surprising fact was learning that
> fatalites attributed to psychedelics are exceptionally rare. In fact,
> Balktick shares that there has been only one recorded LSD fatality,
> attributed to injecting 3,000 doses.

> Horizons definitely raised new insight and legitimacy to this
> otherwise notoriously vilified drug culture.
> --

> Jen Kim is a PT intern.