Why We Need Psychedelic Ethics

Responsible Use Applies as Much to Business as it Does to Molecules

The venerable psychiatrist and psychonaut, Stanislav Graf famously wrote: “Psychedelics, used responsibly and with proper caution, would be for psychiatry what the microscope is for biology and medicine or the telescope is for astronomy.”

There is another scientific analogy that demonstrates the promise and also the peril of psychedelic medicine: the discovery of penicillin. The use of antibiotics has fundamentally enhanced human safety, longevity, and wellbeing. Yet through overprescription, we are breeding new generations of antibiotic-resistant superbugs. Unforeseen consequences are a feature of breakthrough technologies, but with psychedelics, some of the troubles ahead can be avoided if we have the will to act as a community. These medicines have a unique ability to alleviate mental suffering, but if they are thoughtlessly woven into a system and worldview which is itself responsible for alienation and mental illness, not only will we have squandered one of humanity's most potent transformational technologies just at the moment we need it most, we will create more inequality and human suffering.

Psychedelics must be used responsibly and with proper caution. This applies to the business of psychedelics as much as the molecules themselves. This is why the psychedelic medicine movement needs to prioritize a strong ethical stance, now and moving forward.