News from Harvard’s groundbreaking research on psychedelics.
Latest News
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Blotter: The Untold Story of an Acid Medium
Center for the Study of World Religions
This event in the CSWR’s Psychedelics and the Future of Religion Series focused on Dr. Erik Davis’s book, “Blotter: The Untold Story of an Acid Medium.” Released in collaboration with Mark McCloud’s Institute of Illegal Images, the book delves into the complex world of LSD blotter paper and the art that adorns it.
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How to untangle ethics of psychedelics for therapeutic care
Harvard Gazette // Center for the Study of World Religions and Petrie-Flom Center
Experts from law, philosophy, spiritual care discuss issues surrounding research, safer use, kicking off Divinity School initiative.
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An Interdisciplinary Look at Psychedelics and Ethics
Center for the Study of World Religions
The event drew 400 attendees in-person and online to hear expert insights on key philosophical, legal, and spiritual issues in the field of psychedelics and ethics, including the contribution of bioethics, decolonial ethics, the role of informed consent, as well as the value of spiritual care approaches to psychedelics.
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Sacred Plant Biocultural Recovery Initiative Launched!
Mahindra Humanities Center
In an Earth Day lecture at the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard University, Dr. Gary Paul Nabhan reported initial results from a new assessment that underscores the globally unprecedented threats globally to plants traditionally employed by Indigenous cultures and religious faiths for centuries, if not millennia.
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As California Seeks to Legalize Psychedelics for Therapy, Oregon Provides Key Lessons
KQED // Petrie-Flom Center
Obtaining informed consent for psychedelics poses special challenges for practitioners, featuring Petrie-Flom’s Mason MarksCalifornia has an opportunity to massively expand places where people can use psychedelic drugs under supervision, according to a new bill proposing to legalize substances in approved service centers, including psilocybin, MDMA and mescaline for therapeutic use. By Sydney Johnson, featuring Mason Marks.
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What Patients Should Know Before Agreeing to Psychedelic Therapy
MedPage Today // Petrie-Flom Center
Obtaining informed consent for psychedelics poses special challenges for practitioners, featuring Petrie-Flom’s Mason Marks
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Unlocking Transformation: The Crucial Role of Psychedelic Integration
Center for the Study of World Religions
The event, part of the “Psychedelics and the Future of Religion, Transcendence, and Transformation” programming series, focused on integration, a pivotal aspect of psychedelic therapy and spiritual experiences. The panelists collectively addressed the diverse frameworks and methodologies used in integration, ranging from training models to ethnographic studies and psychometric scales.
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Treat addiction with psychedelics?
Harvard Gazette // Petrie-Flom Center
Despite promise of success stories from patients in recovery, Law School panel cautions that research is lacking on benefits vs. risks
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What psychedelics legalisation and decriminalisation looks like around the world
BBC // Petrie-Flom Center
Featuring Petrie-Flom’s Mason Marks in BBC: Psychedelics see increased legalisation and decriminalisation globally as treatment usages expand.
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Towards Intersectionality in Critical Psychedelic Studies: The Psychedelic Intersections Conference
Center for the Study of World Religions
The “Psychedelic Intersections: Cross-cultural Manifestations of the Sacred” conference, held at Harvard Divinity School on February 17, 2024, provided an unprecedented forum for the exploration of psychedelic spirituality across diverse cultural and disciplinary landscapes, and welcomed more than 230 in-person and 800 remote attendees. The conference sought to deepen the understanding of how psychedelics intersect with religion, spirituality, and medicine across traditions, modern and ancient, as well as across social stratifications, such as race, class, gender and culture.
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Why regulators may toss cold water on buzz over psychedelics
The Harvard Gazette // Petrie-Flom Center
The Gazette spoke with Mason Marks, a visiting professor at Harvard Law School who leads the School’s Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics. Marks wrote about the potential for collision between state and federal laws in a December opinion piece in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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FDA to review MDMA-assisted therapy, a milestone for psychedelics
The Washington Post // Petrie-Flom Center
By Daniel Gilbert & David Ovalle, featuring Mason Marks
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Massachusetts weighs the legalization of psychedelics — and the future of tripping
Boston Globe // Petrie-Flom Center
A proposed ballot measure stirs deeper questions about how we should approach hallucinogenic drugs. By David Scharfenberg, featuring Mason Marks
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Front of mind for Michael Pollan: psychedelics
Harvard Gazette
What is unique to the new Harvard project, Pollan stressed, is its integration of expertise from the Divinity School and Law School as well as disciplines from across the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Scholars at the University of California, Berkeley, will also contribute. This diversity of thought will enable researchers to pursue nonclinical applications including those in the religious realm.
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Psychedelic Assisted Therapy: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
HBO // Petrie-Flom Center
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Psychedelic Assisted Therapy, featuring Mason Marks and I. Glenn Cohen
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A Macro View of Microdosing
Bill of Health // Petrie-Flom Center
This symposium, along with its companion moderated panel discussion, gathered experts on the science, law, and business of microdosing.
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Psychedelics and America
Bill of Health // Petrie-Flom Center
This symposium, along with its companion Petrie-Flom Center moderated panel discussion, attempts to answer the following questions: Can psychedelics benefit those not helped by modern medicine? Can their benefits be accessed equitably, without leaving vulnerable groups behind and reinforcing patterns of oppression and exploitation? Can they revitalize the economy by creating new industries? Can they offer a model for harm reduction that could help address the opioid epidemic?
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