Through PRISM, Martin and his colleagues have been advocating since 2011 for mental health research using psychedelic compounds in Australia, and in doing so, have established connections with researchers in the USA, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. In the course of planning and seeking approvals for two clinical trials, one of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of PTSD and the other of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of anxiety and depression associated with terminal illness, Martin has become familiar with the Australian regulatory and research governance landscape.

“It was here that my journey to true, lasting healing began… but first I had to find a drug dealer. “

The fourth seminar in Perth’s Altered States series took place in June at the University of Western Australia and was led by Tobias Penno and Dr. Chris Letheby, both of whom have conducted academic research into connections between psychedelics and contemplative practices such as mindfulness meditation.

We travelled from places all over Sydney to converge on the Giant Dwarf, a Surry Hills boutique theatre with lovely staff which we filled to full capacity (the theatre, not the staff) for the first ‘full capacity’ APS event since lockdowns began last year.

It’s an attitude that has rubbed some people in psychedelic communities the wrong way: that it’s OK for organizations developing psychedelic therapies to have nothing to do with reforms like decriminalization, and generally not care about the opinions of anyone other than investors. I think people are right to object to this. What's more, organizations indulging in this behaviour are ultimately asking for trouble.

Companies will only advocate for reform of non-clinical use of psychedelics if they feel it is in their commercial interest. This is why it's so essential for activists and advocates to remind them that it's not just investors who are impacted by their decisions.

This was how our book club meeting around The Cosmic Serpent by Jeremy Narby (1998) unfolded. The overarching question became: when we hear of shamans inter-dimensionally ‘fishing’ for knowledge that is useful for the tribe (in the sense that Terence McKenna spoke of), what is this strange fish that Narby has brought back from his own adventures upon the entheogenic ocean?

So you’ve used Psychedelics, what now?

The term ‘Set & Setting’ refers to the importance of ‘context' when choosing to consume a psychedelic compound.

It is clear from this text that the mushrooms - which she refers to primarily as “little saints,” “saint children,” or just “children,” - held great spiritual and religious significance for Sabina. She repeatedly describes the mushrooms as being “like God”- Maria Sabina

DMT is a short-lasting (20 minutes at a maximum) psychedelic drug which has long garnered respect, love, and fear from the psychedelic community due to its powerful effects.

The people who choose to consume psychedelic substances and the reasons they do so are as varied as the effects they produce, which are unique for every individual and rarely the same twice. The people that take psychedelics fit all demographics of age, gender, race, ethnicity, class, etc and the various motivations people have for their psychedelic use in modern society is equally as diverse.