There's so much hype these days about the healing powers of psychedelics that it’s easy to overlook their troubling history. Some of the most widely used plant medicines, like magic mushrooms and ayahuasca, have long histories in Indigenous sacred ceremonies. But over the past century, Western scientists and pharmaceutical companies have been collecting these traditional plant medicines and synthesizing their chemical compounds.
So is this another story of cultural theft and exploitation? I was recently at a psychedelic conference and mentioned to a leading scientist that I was doing a radio show about “decolonizing” psychedelics - talking about this history of cultural appropriation. And he was kind of incredulous. He said science is all about building on the knowledge of earlier discoveries - wherever they come from. So if new psychedelic medicines can really help people, scientists should tap every possible source.
I’ve been mulling over his argument ever since. This is a subject I’ve wanted to explore for years as I’ve dug deeper into the history of psychedelics for our Luminous series. And I spent months chasing after some of the interviews you’ll hear in this week’s show, "Can Psychedelics Be Decolonized?" It’s a complicated story about cultural heritage and intellectual property, Indigenous knowledge and Western science.
There’s also an incredible story at the center of this history. Two unlikely figures, the American banker Gordon Wasson and the Mazotec healer Maria Sabina, helped launch the modern psychedelic revolution. But their encounter practically ruined Sabina’s life. The story is both fascinating and disturbing, and one that I won’t forget.
— Steve