Jeffrey Blackwell, Harvard Gazette As part of the broader “Transcendence and Transformation” initiative, the CSWR’s third annual Psychedelic Intersections conference, “Psychedelic Intersections: Betwixt and Between Chaplaincy, Plant Medicine, and Aesthetics,” commenced on Feb. 15 with a one-day summit at Harvard Divinity School. Highlighting three research tracks — psychedelic chaplaincy, the traditions surrounding Indigenous plant medicines,…
“Just Call it Weed: On Arabic Edibles”
Adam Bremer-McCollum, CSWR, Research Reflection Drifters might call it “the Sufis’ well-known.” Women singers call it “branches of bliss.” Others call it “bush of rapture” and “bush of understanding.” The use of cannabis or “hemp” for rope making was long known, and rope makers, in fact, had their own moniker for weed, “the load-lightener,” as…
Legal battle rages over reopening a Detroit psychedelic mushroom-using church
The Detroit News // Petrie-Flom Center By Kara Berg, featuring Petrie-Flom Center Fellow in Psychedelic Law and Spirituality Victoria Litman…
A Decolonial Lens on Psychedelic Ethics Symposium
CSWR, Event Recording To conclude the ‘Psychedelics and Ethics’ series, visiting scholar Christine Hauskeller facilitated a symposium that explored material covered during the psychedelic ethics and decoloniality workshop. This symposium focused on the harm caused by colonizing practices in the psychedelic space, particularly their impact on plants and animals, Indigenous groups, and underground practitioners….
Lisa Bieberman and the Moral Challenge of LSD: Revising Harvard’s History of Psychedelics
Research Reflections // Center for the Study of World Religions CSWR Psychedelics and Spirituality Program Lead Paul Gillis-Smith illuminates the work and life of Lisa Bieberman, a figure from the history of psychedelics at Harvard in the ’60s. Bieberman’s memoir offers an alternate history of psychedelics in Cambridge at the time and a moral challenge…
“Science Standards Fail Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy”
Christine Hauskeller, CSWR, Research Reflection CSWR Visiting Scholar Christine Hauskeller argues that the methodological requirements for large-scale clinical trials attempt to standardize and control every aspect of a new treatment in order to derive generalizable data. More research is needed to calibrate psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies treatments and identify the best treatment for different patients….
Would You Sell Your Ancestors? The ethical paradigms of Ayahuasca (Part II)
Bill of Health // Petrie-Flom Center Daiara Tukano and Maria Fernanda Gebara consider paths forward to true ethical engagement, following the Petrie-Flom Center’s Law and Policy of Psychedelic Medicine 2024 Annual Conference…
Would You Sell Your Ancestors? The ethical paradigms of Ayahuasca (Part I)
Bill of Health // Petrie-Flom Center Daiara Tukano and Maria Fernanda Gebara highlight the ethical considerations surrounding the use of Indigenous medicines, following the Petrie-Flom Center’s Law and Policy of Psychedelic Medicine 2024 Annual Conference…
Possible paths for drug reform?
Harvard Law Today // Petrie-Flom Center At a Petrie-Flom book talk, panelists discuss the lost history of constitutional challenges to punitive drug laws and possible ways forward…
Introducing Petrie-Flom’s POPLAR and PULSE Affiliated Researchers on Psychedelics
Bill of Health // Petrie-Flom Center The Petrie-Flom Center is excited to announce our affiliated researchers for the Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation (POPLAR) and our new project, Psychedelic Use, Law, and Spiritual Experience (PULSE). Through research, writing, workshops, and other projects, POPLAR and PULSE affiliated researchers will provide expertise and a range of perspectives on psychedelics law and policy. We look forward to learning from them and sharing their…