Understanding Newly Legalized Psilocybin Means Looking Ahead

An anthropological approach can help us understand the applications of psychedelics and mental health.

As Colorado celebrates the 10th anniversary of legalized marijuana, the state looks to be one of the first in yet another realm — psychedelic-assisted therapy. In 2022 voters approved the Natural Medicine Health Act, decriminalizing and regulating certain fungi such as psilocybin mushrooms for medicinal use.

The use of psychedelics as a conduit for mental healing has deep roots in many cultures. Navigating the use of this newly legal form of therapy will require us to look abroad to successful practitioners, consult with local mental health professionals, and listen to non-Western sources on how to integrate psychedelics and mental healing.

With such a prevalent and growing mental health crisis, it is of critical importance that we try to do something to help our fellow human beings. The use of psychedelics in an assisted therapy setting with experienced guides may offer a path forward from the trauma and blockages of our modern lives. Use of psilocybin is still not fully legal yet in the state, but there are places like Jamaica and the Netherlands that do allow it.

“It went from wildly taboo, it seemed like a few years ago, to now my dad’s 80-year-old friends are coming to Jamaica to experiment with mushrooms. It seems like it’s changed dramatically, but there’s still some skepticism, and there’s still some hesitation,” Neil Markey, co-founder and CEO of Beckley Retreats, shared.

“I’m a former veteran. I was in from like, 2005 to 2012. I went to Iraq once Afghanistan twice  lot of benefit out of these treatments over the last 10 years.” – Jesse Gould

“I think education is paramount in the realm of psychedelic medicines and that people need to be educated on what an actual professionally guided journey actually is — that it can be a deeply transformational experience,” Robert Grover, one of the founders of The Journeymen Collective, told us.

To be clear, licensed therapy while using psilocybin is not permitted in Oregon and Colorado allows for unregulated practitioners, so due diligence is needed when researching who to trust.

It all goes back to Nixon

Psychedelics such as psilocybin mushrooms have been used in what is now the Americas for thousands of years by numerous indigenous communities yet, like so many non-pharmaceutical drugs, it was not until the 1971 War on Drugs that their use became a legal issue rather than just a social one.

The use of marijuana, mushrooms, or any other now-illegal drugs in the 1970s also became a sign of rebellion against authority rather than mainly a way to connect to oneself. Most mainstream sources found the use — even discussion of them — unacceptable. Physicians and scientists were prohibited from conducting experiments with or studying the effects of them.

This led to repression of entire classes of citizens in society as well as repression of understanding the benefits and dangers of psychedelic drugs. The war on drugs oppressed minorities through the legal system and simultaneously repressed knowledge about the healing properties of plants like psilocybin and marijuana.

The effects of these Nixon-era policies are felt today. Mainstream Americans overwhelmingly accept that marijuana has medicinal properties, but the same is not yet true for opinions on psilocybin, although some polls have reported that 1 in 3 people believe it has medical value. One of the main battles proponents of psilocybin legalization face is de-stigmatization.

“This is not tripping balls.” – Gary Logan

“This is not tripping balls. Some people do adventure on their own, and they eventually come around and say, ‘I shouldn’t have done that on my own. Maybe I should seek out a guide or somebody to assist me during my journey.’” Gary Logan, co-founder of The Journeymen Collective, clarified.

“There’s kind of like a cartoonish characterization of what mushrooms do and the type of people that use it,” Matthew Williams, co-founder of Boulder’s Kairos Wellness Collective shared the false stereotype many proponents still face.

Even for those who have recreationally used mushrooms before, Williams sees a huge benefit. “I’ve noticed when people do this in a therapeutic setting, it’s almost like doing it for the first time.”

“Psychedelic is less than half the experience. The majority of it is: why you’re doing it, where you’re doing it, who you’re with,” Markey explained.

The war on drugs also led to a stigmatization of anyone who used these substances. In many cases, the healing properties and mental health aspect of their use was forgotten in mainstream society, and the label of “lazy stoner” or “drugged-out hippie” overshadowed medicinal benefits. Consequently, many people have experimented with psychedelics without any guidance whatsoever, sometimes with poor or even disastrous results. The role of a healer — be it shaman, therapist, or doctor —  is crucial in navigating the worlds of mental health and psychedelic use.

“It’s opening up that, and it’s prevented sort of the blacklisting. Back in the day if you’re in a university and even mentioned it, that would be sort of the end of your career,” Jesse Gould, founder of Heroic Hearts,  said.

Anthropology Bridges the Gap

Because legal research on psilocybin in the U.S. is a very new phenomenon, to gain a deeper understanding of the uses and properties, we need to turn to other cultures. Straddling both these worlds is the field of anthropology.

Instead of approaching topics of shamanic healing, the power of journeys, and the use of psychedelics from a mystical standpoint, anthropology offers a somewhat more grounded point of view. As applied to the use of psychedelics and healers who use them, anthropologists would argue we should not disregard the thousands of years of the history of their use just because Western medicine has not fully accepted them into their processes.

“Western medicine is still very much stuck on the medicated model. How long did it take our systems to figure out like, ‘Oh, meditation could be helpful.” – Jesse Gould

“If we take a historical perspective on this and look back into the past, when men lived in the village, only those who he [the shaman] felt were truly ready to step into a journey — the medicine would prepare that person to live in the village. So they actually help people integrate into the village,” Grover said.

“Journeys have been taking place for thousands of years, but it’s been sort of stuffed away in the closet, and it’s been made to be viewed as something that you’re going to lose your mind, and you’re not,” Grover expanded on the idea of healing through a guided journey.

It’s not just psychedelics. Everyone we spoke to emphasized that psilocybin and other psychedelics are part of a larger pathway to healing. Setting intentions, acting on new revelations, and using non-psychedelic techniques are all key components to a successful experience.

“I’m a big believer in teaching mindfulness practices alongside the use of these compounds, and that’s true to how they’ve been done in indigenous communities for quite some time,” Markey stated.

“I do believe that Western medicine hasn’t caught up to these intangibles around how we treat these sorts of things. Western medicine is still very much stuck on the medicated model. How long did it take our systems to figure out like, ‘Oh, meditation could be helpful.’ You know, when I was growing up, it was just a ‘woo-woo’ thing to do without any sort of basis,” Gould recalled.

While anthropology is not specifically interested if the spiritual aspects or the shamanic journey is rooted in physical reality or not, the fact that so many cultures practice forms of mental healing in this way lends credibility to the tradition. It is not important to prove or disprove that shamans actually connect with another spiritual world, rather the importance lies in the process.

Additionally, it is important to learn from, not appropriate the cultures we draw from. Executive Director for the Naropa Center for Psychedelic Studies, Joe Harrison, told us that “the Center’s programming is conducted under a commitment to anti-oppression. Trainees are introduced to several Indigenous sacred plant medicine traditions, are educated on the harms of colonial extraction and appropriation, and explore what it means to be in [the] right relationship to Native American and Indigenous stewards of sacred plant medicine traditions.”

Western Medicine

Traveling to someone who specializes in healing, going through a ritual, and believing the person can heal you, are all aspects of shamanic healing. Western medicine acknowledges the power of belief when it comes to healing. Patients seeing improvement when given a placebo is well documented. Nearly half of the total healing effect can be traced to belief in the drug and doctor administering it.

Additionally, there is support growing among the Western medical community that psilocybin and other alternative drug therapies have medicinal benefits. A Los Angeles Times op-ed compiled a substantial amount of evidence via medical studies that psilocybin can help lower depression and fight anxiety, reduce tobacco and alcohol dependence, and reduce suicidal thoughts.

Williams pointed towards the recent Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies conference in Denver in June 2023. “I just was overwhelmed. I had no idea. The amount of research and the amount of information that’s available now, it blew my mind.”

Criticisms of this new form of therapy point towards a lack of medical certification or license needed by instructors and that not every center provides pre or post care.

Mental health professionals are still learning how to navigate this world as well. The Harm Reduction Journal states: “It is argued that therapists can meet with clients before and after their own personal psychedelic experiences in order to help clients minimize risk and maximize benefit.” Locally, Naropa University offers a psychedelic-assisted therapies certificate program to help lend credibility and advance research in the new field.

Harrison, described Naropa’s program: “Our flagship training program, the Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies (CPAT), is an 8-month, 150-hour, non-degree certificate program that provides postgraduate level training for advanced professionals working in relevant therapeutic areas including mental health counseling, psychology, medicine, chaplaincy, and social work.”

As Williams notes: “There are limitations of talk therapy. You can plateau in your journey for help and then the neuroplasticity that comes with psilocybin is great because it gives you a different perspective.”

Mushrooms and Masculinity

Some of the most powerful and compelling testimony for the legalization and regulation of psilocybin have come from veterans. There are abundant signs that mental health resources for veterans are severely lacking. Continuing to take the same approach will only lead to the same results: lack of effective help for veterans. Gould spoke on the ineffectiveness of care for veterans, especially in the realm of PTSD.

Our society encourages the repression of feelings, especially among men, and especially among those who go into lines of work like military service. Psilocybin can help. “[Veterans] can be vulnerable with these other people that are going to have the similarities of that unique experience that even their family might not have, that allows new layers of depth,” Gould shared.

Gould, himself an Army Ranger veteran, founded Heroic Hearts in 2017 with the aim to help veterans with mental health via psilocybin-assisted therapy in ways that current mental health pathways could not.

Doors of Perception

It’s not just for complex trauma or PTSD. Logan and Grover report that many of their clients at the Journeymen Collective are seeking something more out of life. Psychedelics and psilocybin will not be the answer for everyone, but they will be the answer for someone.

“People have a lot of depression and anxiety and grief, and they’re looking for that deeper level of purpose that’s calling them to create, and they don’t know how to access it because the lenses of their perception are muddled,” Grover said.

The potential benefits are enormous, including “clarity and calmness of mind. There’s an emotional component that plays into it as well, whereby people are no longer triggered by what someone else says or does to them unless it’s, of course, abusive,” he shared.

It really is more than just taking the mushrooms. “[There’s] preparation … [and] integration support, which we believe is obviously the most important,” Grover expanded on the crucial pre and post care provided.

Williams noted the importance of the process. “Without action, you go back to your life situation, that caused you [stress], and there’s no change,” he said.

Having an experienced guide you trust is possibly the most important aspect. “It’s important to have quality guides that have seen all the different positive outcomes, all possible outcomes, and knows what to do if it’s challenging, so you don’t freak yourself out and get to a traumatic experience,” Markey said.

“We are beacons of light that create more beacons of light that go out into the world to draw people into more connectedness. There’s more lighthouses — we’ll call us that — that are popping up around the world. The growth of the medicine man or the shaman — it’s happening globally,” Logan shared.

You Can Lead a Human to Mushrooms

“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink” is an old adage that is quite applicable. Handing someone mushrooms is not the same as guiding them through the journey. It can lead to new perceptions, but it is up to each individual to actually walk the new pathway.

Simply having a mind-opening revelation during a psychedelic experience will not itself lead to change. As each healer stressed, it is a journey, not a one-stop shop. New ideas can be formed, but old habits are hard to shake. The psychedelics are a door, but each person must walk the threshold themselves.

“If you don’t lay in new patterns, you’ll revert back, you know. But you have this kind of opening, and that’s where you can really make some progress. It’s helpful to have some support from people that have done a lot of this and know how to guide that,” Markey explained.

He continued: “You’ll hear a lot of skepticism around psychedelics because, you know, people are like, ‘Well, it’s not a one-and-done type of thing.’ Well, nothing is. There is incredible potential for this newness and this new perspective.”

“You know, you can go to Peru or Costa Rica or Mexico and go work with a shaman there, but we’re thinking, well, has that shaman really lived in North America to know what the Western anxiety and mental health actually is, and will they be there with you after the journey?” Logan explained the importance of connecting on a cultural level.