SUMMARY
Substance abuse disorders shackle users to a life devoted to reliving a fleeting euphoria or avoiding a deep abyss. Psychedelics hold promise for people who suffer from those disorders, as well as others such as depression or post-traumatic stress. Science certainly should continue its recently reinvigorated investigation of the potential benefits of this category of drugs, but we must be sure not to let our desire to learn whether psychedelics truly are therapeutic, at a cost that society is willing to bear, blind us to what the results of those inquiries reveal or don’t yet tell us. Here, as elsewhere, we should remember that there might have been eminently sensible reasons why a particular category of drugs was outlawed.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Science should continue to investigate the potential benefits of psychedelic drugs in treating disorders like depression and post-traumatic stress.
We must be sure, however, that our desire to learn whether psychedelics truly are therapeutic does not blind us to what the results reveal or do not yet tell us.
Here, as elsewhere, we should remember that there might have been eminently sensible reasons why a particular category of drugs was outlawed.
