At Chacruna: Psychedelic Justice: Disrupting the Cultural Default Mode Network

Jae Sevelius

The psychedelic science movement is facing a crossroads. People want accountability from the science and the funders around equal access and open science. Tangible tension is arising between those who are seeking to profit from the science and those who prioritize healing and social justice. Navigating fraught lines between the mainstream and the marginalized is never easy.  I work in academic medicine, leading federally-funded research in collaboration with transgender communities on issues related to health disparities. We strive to put social justice at the center of our science. As an academic, I came to the renaissance in psychedelic science fairly recently; I was honored to be included among the very first graduates of the Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research at the California Institute of Integral Studies. This training was completely and positively transformative. However, as I digested the scientific literature and engaged in dialogue with my cohort, I was surprised by the lack of social justice analysis in the field as a whole... continue reading.