I first interviewed Roland Griffiths in 2010 at a conference on the new science of psychedelics. Back then, the idea that psychedelic therapy might someday go mainstream – let alone revolutionize the treatment of depression, addiction and PTSD - was just a pipedream. There were only a few scientists studying these mind-bending drugs and even fewer universities willing to greenlight this research. But Griffiths, a psychopharmacologist at Johns Hopkins, had an impeccable reputation as an expert on drug addiction, and more than any other scientist, he gave the field of psychedelics the credibility it had lost decades earlier.
Over the years, I would see Roland at various conferences as I reported on the emerging psychedelic movement. We’d stop and chat and occasionally do a new interview about his latest research. Tall and rail thin, he gave off an aura of calm authority that might have resulted from his many years of meditating. And maybe he’d also soaked in some good vibes from his research subjects. Among his various studies, he showed that a single dose of psilocybin could eliminate the end-of-life dread of people dying from cancer.
Then Roland got his own diagnosis of terminal colon cancer. Our last interview was in January of 2023 during his third round of chemotherapy, and he was ready for a more intimate conversation. Remarkably, he described his diagnosis as a gift – “an awakening into the gratitude and wonder and curiosity of what we’re doing here.” He also talked about his personal history with psychedelics – which he'd never been willing to discuss before – and how he’d been in dialog with his cancer during a recent 12-hour LSD journey. “I asked, what’s going on here? Do I have to die? And the answer was, yeah, this is the way it’s supposed to be.” This was a conversation I’ll never forget.
Roland Griffiths died four months ago at the age of 77. You can listen to our final interview here.
– Steve