Rick Doblin: Psychedelics and Psychotherapy

The criminalization of psychedelic drugs did little to stop casual use, but did make it nearly impossible to do legitimate research on their effects and medicinal potential. Rick Doblin has spent most of his life trying to change that. Now, he and the organization he founded, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), may be on the verge of a breakthrough: the first FDA approval for therapeutic use of psychedelics. On today's show, I spoke to Rick about the long road from proscription to prescription; where the previous generation of psychedelic advocates went wrong and what's going right this time; how psychedelics might work to assist psychotherapy for conditions such as PTSD, severe anxiety and drug and alcohol addiction; and how that model differs from conventional psychopharmaceutical approaches. Also Rick talks about his own psychedelic experiences and why mind-altering drugs can be so life-altering.