High-Powered Tools of Inner Exploration and Neuroscience, Part 1 of 2: The Basics

Matt and I were seated front and side at an overflowing event at the University of Washington; a researcher talking about a truly extraordinary piece of technology: Imagine if you had a device that could allow you to turn down your mental chatter and just allow yourself to experience the world more clearly in some ways.
` Your everyday assumptions could become visible. You would notice details about yourself and the world around you that you never noticed before. You'd find that you can see beyond your ordinary habitual, repetitive thoughts and emotions. It is possible for perception to expand so far beyond ordinary consciousness that dissolving and rearranging one's conceptual boundaries is universally accepted as among the most meaningful events in one's life.

This was a very large room, yet not enough chairs for everyone!

` Your own mind becomes seemingly transparent, and closing your eyes reveals an inner world of thoughts and impressive-looking computer graphics in real-time. These graphics can be scenes or simulations that you create for your own use. They also could be something else entirely, such as four-dimensional fractal geometry.
` Which you can see, because you're not viewing it with your eyes, you're experiencing it in your mind. It is like 'turning on' a whole new set of senses, as though you were using cybernetic implants to explore a virtual world. Concentrating on this inner reality, and turning up the intensity of the device allows one to sit back and have the most otherworldly experiences that seem to defy time and space.

As something of this magnitude should be, this device's importance from neurology to psychotherapy is compared to the telescope in astronomy, or the microscope in medicine and biology. Mathematicians, engineers, scientists, artists, musicians, and philosophers begin crediting a number of their achievements through abilities and perception they gained from the use of this 'mind-scope'. Culture changes dramatically and visibly from this tool's influence.

What some of you may not realize is, this "advanced technology" exists today.

If you haven't guessed, these possible states of mind are explored every day, via the use of psychedelic substances. They have been throughout recorded history, and long before.

The researcher speaking that evening was Albert Garcia-Romeu, from Johns-Hopkins University School of Medicine. His subject is the serotonin 2A receptor agonist known as psilocybin (SILL-o-SY-bin), a psychedelic alkaloid found in hundreds of species of mushrooms worldwide.
` In years past, I'd thought that these fungi made people "go crazy", but in general, psychedelic use seems to improve mental health (Johansen and Krebs, 2015) and reduce the risk of suicide (Peter Hendricks 2014).
` As Johansen and Krebs state: "We failed to find evidence that psychedelic use is an independent risk factor for mental health problems. Psychedelics are not known to harm the brain or other body organs or to cause addiction or compulsive use; serious adverse events involving psychedelics are extremely rare. Overall, it is difficult to see how prohibition of psychedelics can be justified as a public health measure."
` I will explain in this article and Part 2 how they can be used to help break addictive habits, from alcoholism to obsessive compulsive disorder. This is part of how they can be used to catalyze remarkably rapid and profound healing, which is the entire subject of Part 2.

For pure psilocybin, the common "trip-level" dose is about 6 mg, and a "heroic dose" is more like 35 mg. The median lethal dose in humans is unknown, but based on animal studies, it's probably about 1 gram per kilogram of body weight.
` Caffeine is more toxic (lethal at less than 0.2 g/kg), so remember that if you should get closer to a fatal overdose by drinking a few cups of coffee (50-300 mg).

There is evidence that psilocybin grows new cells in the hippocampus and erases fear conditioning in mice (Catlow, et al 2013). It is used to beneficially change human brains as well, as I will describe in some detail.
` One could say that psilocybin, LSD, mescaline, and some others, are practically as innocuous to one's body as some kind of futuristic device which temporarily alters brain activity, no surgery required. (Assuming those would be innocuous.) So, exactly what  do psychedelics do, subjectively and objectively?

"Psychedelic" versus "Hallucinogen"

What exactly does 'psychedelic' mean? The word is a combination of the ancient Greek terms psychē (ψυχή, "spirit", "mind") and dēloun (δηλοῦν, "to reveal, to manifest"). As we shall see, psychedelics reveal one's mind to oneself in ways impossible to imagine without doing firsthand.
` Garcia-Romeu uses the word 'psychedelic' rather than 'hallucinogen' for a few reasons. For one, not all hallucinogens are psychedelic in nature. As his Venn diagram illustrates, psychedelics are only one type of hallucinogens (lower circle):

(Note: THC and CBD are both found in cannabis, but they are far from one another on this map.)

As you can see in the green circle, some hallucinogens are grouped as 'psychedelics', and others are called 'dissociatives'. Dissociatives cause feelings of detachment, and some of them elicit cognitive and memory impairments, particularly the subset labeled 'deliriants'.
` Deliriants, like scopolamine, are notorious for causing one to become helpless to stay aware of what is happening around oneself. I used to imagine (as many still do) that this also typified psychedelics, but nothing could be farther from the truth:
` Garcia-Romeu explained that the problem with the word 'hallucinogen' is that it is often taken to mean 'causes hallucinations that can't be distinguished from reality'. On the contrary, psychedelic sense perceptions are sometimes called 'non-psychotic hallucinations' or 'pseudo-hallucinations', to disambiguate them from psychotic episodes.

When discussing psychedelics with others, I find that those who have done them affirm this is plainly obvious, but there's an entire range of reactions for those who haven't: Some are curious about the sensory effects, especially if they are open to taking them.
` Others believe so deeply in the psychosis myth that they are reluctant to consider that something that "creates a departure from reality" could help anyone enhance their conscious awareness or mental health. In either case, this seems like a useful, if unconventional place to start:

What Really Happens to Your Senses

Psychedelic sensory effects are generally considered as easy to distinguish from reality as a game of Pokémon Go. I have often explained to people that one's surroundings don't 'disappear' at any time unless one has taken a heavy dose.
` It's not merely like being in a Star Trek holodeck, because your brain itself is your own personal holodeck, right now: It processes your senses into a coherent simulation of the world around you, which allows you to interact with reality.
` Psychedelics expand your normal sensory 'program' to include more than what is normally possible, allowing multiple 'channels' at a time. One can discover the existence of two distinct visual fields -- humans have eyes, plus an inner eye:

Typically, one's vision starts to seem especially bright, vivid, detailed, and clear, as changes occur in visual processing areas of the brain. As the effects increase over the next couple of hours, what are called 'visuals' usually appear to some extent.
` Paying attention to them can make them stronger, whereas focusing on other mental activity causes them to fade into the 'background'. With some concentration, one can change their appearance. There are two kinds of visuals -- open-eye (OEVs) and closed-eye (CEVs):
` With eyes open, nearby objects generally look the same, except there may be obvious distortions that catch one's attention. A common example is that familiar tile-work teems with gracefully-moving patterns beneath its reflective sheen.
` This occurrence generally invites a closer look at the intricacies of the patterns. Partly because it is such a startling illusion, it is easy to become mesmerized by this phenomenon. How is it possible to see something so remarkable even though it isn't there?
` Distant objects may appear to transform more dramatically, so a cloud can more than just vaguely resemble a shifting block of Mayan carvings. But the most extensive sights, farthest beyond anyone's intellectual capabilities, are usually to be seen by closing one's eyes, thus revealing a virtual reality world in your head:

Closed-eye visuals start out two-dimensional, but the higher the dose, the more spatial dimensions you can direct your personal expedition into. As with eyes open, you can turn your head to look 'around'. That is, unless you get to a place where you can "see" in multiple directions at once so that rotating your head isn't necessary.
` Yes, really.
` This 'world' tends to change and morph rapidly, with mathematically-accurate precision, so a brief video is more useful than a picture. This is a realistic example of the level of detail your own brain is capable of rendering in real-time, with similar 3-D fractals and indirect lighting, except the real thing is generally more colorful and fast-moving.
` Brain-based graphics can do much more, not only visually, but it is possible to feel as though one's mind has expanded through and saturated this world of 3-D geometry, and to feel the shapes with an inner tactile sense. Sometimes one can hear (via their "inner ear") music or a chorus-like drone similar to the one in the video, although silence seems to be the norm.



During the peak and plateau of a trip, it is common for one to sit or lie down with eyes closed, immersed in this virtual sensory ocean. Mental and physical stillness reveals a dazzling, rapidly-moving, non-Euclidean world of endless novelty.
` A number of themes are prevalent, including fractals, molecules, plants, animals, scenes in outer space, landscapes, architecture, higher mathematics, and bizarre, colorful combinations thereof. (The background image of this blog is based on actual CEVs with many of these characteristics.)

Seen without the annoying filter of eyeballs to cloud up the image, CEVs can seem especially sharp and hyper-realistic. This is especially convenient to people with very poor vision, or who have none left at all: People who have gone blind can still 'see' psychedelic visuals to some or full extent, according to Krill et al,1963.
` This study of 24 blind subjects also found that those considered 'congenitally blind', whose brains never developed the ability to see, did not perceive visuals. In all the subjects, their other 'hallucinatory senses' were more active than in sighted people (including taste and smell).

On top of this, experiencing synesthesia or "crossed senses" is common. Most typical is when sounds create or enhance colorful, moving geometric shapes and motifs, especially with CEVs. The exact appearance of these varies, even within the same trip, but they are generally reported as intricate, kaleidoscopic, and fluid.
` Hence, music creates highly-ordered and quickly-moving patterns of many types, which may even be felt on, or flowing through, one's body. There are other somatic effects, especially when one keeps perfectly still. Without stimulation to the body, it may feel as though it has completely disappeared.
` Or, perhaps, one may perceive a "virtual" body: In one's own inner adventures, one can take any form; human, octopus, geometric tessellations, something novel. Light/sound devices and/or isolation tanks can enhance an experience to something out of psychedelic-inspired movies like The Matrix, or James Cameron's Avatar.
` But be forewarned: One may encounter intelligent and startlingly real "entities" in one of these other "worlds". They can communicate "telepathically", through speech, or even sound/visual synesthesia. Whatever their appearance, they are usually described as friendly, sometimes with a clear message.

Even at a heroic dose, it is possible to stay fairly coherent and marvel at the astonishingly complex worlds made by the human brain, the most powerful computer known.

As near-miraculous as all this may sound, it's just the beginning: Some psychedelics, such as 5-MeO-DMT (and quasi-psychedelics as MDMA), don't produce much in the way of visuals, yet they are powerful and incredibly useful in other ways:

Different Qualities of Consciousness

There is more than one way for consciousness and the mind to function coherently, but as with dreaming, meditation, or sex, the psychedelic state is not always practical. One recent placebo-controlled fMRI analysis of functional brain networks (Petri et al 2014 - full text), found that the brain uses alternate circuits while in the psychedelic state.
` The graphic below shows a ring of different-colored dots representing different regions of the cortex. Compared to placebo, when the subject was injected with psilocybin, there was a lot more communication between far-reaching cortical regions. This would explain the variable synesthesia, the authors wrote, and more:

A dark and blurred Garcia-Romeu and the slide he brought, describing this much better than I am.

"[T]hese functional connections support cycles that are especially stable and are only present in the psychedelic state. This further implies that the brain does not simply become a random system after psilocybin injection, but instead retains some organizational features, albeit different from the normal state..."
` Regions of the cortex become more integrated, they found, by a persistent functional change in brain activity. They found it to be "associated with a less constrained and more intercommunicative mode of brain function, which is consistent with descriptions of the nature of consciousness in the psychedelic state."

During this shift, the systems in the brain which create our automatic thought patterns become less active, allowing us to slow down to the present moment and think more deliberately. That is how these effects allow one to change habitual ways of thinking and help break up destructive rumination and addiction quickly and thoroughly, even permanently.
` The brain systems affected are called the "default mode network" (DMN), which gets its name because it becomes active "by default" when one is at rest in an fMRI scanner. These consist of a number of 'connector hubs' which connect far-reaching regions of the brain by a small number of neurons.
` The activity of these hubs creates the constant stream of mental chatter, sense of self, beliefs about others, a sense of meaning, and more. The DMN can be contrasted to the task-positive network (TPN), which is engaged during certain attention-demanding tasks. When the DMN becomes more active, the TPN becomes less active and vice-versa, even during psychedelic states.

Different psychedelics have different characteristics, but are by and large very similar, and that is reflected in studies examining brain functionality. Here I will reference three neuroimaging studies which help to explain why psychedelics work so well for psychotherapy and much else.
` The first, an fMRI study (Carhart-Harris 2011 full text), demonstrated that the less activity is seen in parts of the DMN, especially the anterior cingulate cortex and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), the more the ego was reported to dissolve.
` During 'normal consciousness', two of these main functional hubs, the posterior cingular cortex (PCC) and the mPFC are around 20% more active than most other brain regions. Psilocybin was seen to decrease blood flow up to 20% in both regions, and partly decoupled them from one another.
` This team did another placebo-controlled study (2016) with LSD, full text, showing similar results in that respect, using three different functional imaging techniques; Arterial Spin Labeling, BOLD and MEG:

...and here are the obligatory fMRI images for this article.

They also found neural correlates for the visuals, which are similar to other studies: There is more instability and activity in the primary visual cortex, behaving as if there is external input when there is none. Alpha (wave) power across the visual cortex is thought to filter out "stimulus-irrelevant" information. Not surprisingly, it is diminished with psychedelics, allowing more visual activity.
` The effects on the visual cortex, however, did not correlate with the alterations in consciousness itself. So, the visuals themselves are separate from the other mental effects.
` Carhartt-Harris' team found that, "Rather, decreased connectivity between the parahippocampus and retrosplenial cortex (RSC) correlated strongly with ratings of “ego-dissolution” and “altered meaning,” implying the importance of this particular circuit for the maintenance of “self” or “ego” and its processing of “meaning.”"
` As for what this means in psychotherapy: "In many psychiatric disorders, the brain may be viewed as having become entrenched in pathology, such that core behaviors become automated and rigid. Consistent with their “entropic” effect on cortical activity (17), psychedelics may work to break down such disorders by dismantling the patterns of activity on which they rest."

A third study (Palhano-Fontes 2015 full text) investigated a type of Native American plant-based brew called ayahuasca, or yage. Its main active ingredient, DMT (N-N,dimethyltryptamine), is similar to psilocybin, and is produced by our own brains and other organs in small amounts.
` They found that ayahuasca caused most parts of the DMN to decrease in activity, including the Posterior Cingulate Cortex (PCC)/Precuneus and the medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC). Functional connectivity within the PCC/Precuneus also decreased. However, the PCC did not decouple from the mPFC as it was seen to do in psilocybin.

The psilocybin text mentions other studies which show the importance of elevated activity and connectivity of the mPFC in depression and pathological brooding. Not enough stimulation to the serotonin 2A receptors, especially in the mPFC, correlates to the trait of pessimism. Depression has been characterized as "overstable", as in rigidly pessimistic.
` But when you add psilocybin to the brain, "The results suggest decreased activity and connectivity in the brain's connector hubs, permitting an unconstrained style of cognition." Without the normal 'self' to harness in one's mental contents, they can tend to creatively spill into one another.
` They note: "Recent work has shown that psilocybin can increase subjective well-being (4) and trait openness (43) several months after an acute experience, and depression scores in terminal cancer patients were significantly decreased 6 mo after treatment with psilocybin (2). Our results suggest a biological mechanism for this: decreased mPFC activity via 5-HT2A receptor stimulation."
` Garcia-Romeu was involved in the study about trait openness, and others which we will see in Part 2. This study provides confirmatory evidence that psilocybin can permanently affect one's personality, and in a beneficial way. This goes for people who are already happy and well-adjusted.
` Whether one is using psychedelics to develop their mind to a higher state of consciousness, for creative purposes, to stop cocaine addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or recover from trauma, they are chemicals whose powers can be seen in the brain -- both from the inside and outside.

Truer Self-Knowledge

The act of meditating is known to have a similar effect on the DMN, especially during profound, ego-transcending experiences. This change in activity is part what causes one's conceptual boundaries to dissolve, so that one can perceive that dividing the world into parts is merely an abstraction.
` This perception results in feeling that there is no separation between you and the rest of the world. The self-process, or ego, is what we use to create meaning and make personal narratives, and so it is also where we spin our neuroses. Seeing it for what it is helps us to keep it working for us rather than against us.
` Though it is an important perception for understanding yourself, it is only beginning to be talked about in the mainstream skeptic and atheist communities.

When I'm around atheist/skeptic types and ask them if they know who Sam Harris is, the famous neuroscientist philosopher, they (so far) have responded favorably. When I ask them if they know he's written a book about the importance of ego-transcending experiences in human life, where he discusses the power of psychedelics to induce them, I get a range of reactions from:
` "Yeah, that makes sense."
` To: "I'm shocked, because he is so articulate and well-organized!" They cannot reconcile how this scientist and godless heathen well-articulated author/speaker as someone who has ever been "way into drugs". Yet, Harris is the way he is because of these experiences, not in spite of them. He writes of psychedelics in his earlier years:
` "[S]ome of the most important hours of my life were spent under their influence. Without them, I might never have discovered that there was an inner landscape of mind worth exploring." Not only does he explore the brain scientifically, but he's very hard-core into meditation.
` Harris' book is called Waking Up, because it is about attaining a much more conscious state of consciousness. For a taste of this, here's one of the chapters of his book, you can read or listen, called Drugs and the Meaning of Life. In it, he touches upon the fact that a powerful psychedelic experience is generally agreed upon as one of the most significant events in a human lifetime, and a source of inspiration:

[I]f I knew that either of my daughters would eventually develop a fondness for methamphetamine or crack cocaine, I might never sleep again. But if they don’t try a psychedelic like psilocybin or LSD at least once in their adult lives, I will wonder whether they had missed one of the most important rites of passage a human being can experience.

This is one of the important points to take away from learning about these experiences. The other is, especially for a scientifically-minded person, the value of a more accurate perception of the world. To quote Harris on why he wrote this book:

Although such experiences of “self-transcendence” are generally thought about in religious terms, there is nothing, in principle, irrational about them. From both a scientific and a philosophical point of view, they represent a clearer understanding of the way things are.

I am glad to be in such company among non-believing psychonautical explorers. Since 2012, I have argued that psychedelics are the ultimate skeptic's head trip and give one insight into everything from one's own mental structure to the origins of religion and strange beliefs.
` In Seattle I have found many skeptic/atheist types who would agree with what I'm saying in this article. But elsewhere, they don't seem as common. At the last Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Conference, I discussed psychedelics with more people than at any previous skeptic conference. Several of them were quite on the same page as me, but not most:
` When I asked them whether they knew anything about psychedelics, some of them responded by telling me they 1) knew nothing of them, 2), had already decided that they would never take them, and 3), that there was no possible argument that could persuade them to change their mind. At a skeptic's conference.
` You know, people getting together to discuss how science helps us to objectively understand the world, and to understand our personal biases. Skeptical inquiry is a process, not a position. You accept new evidence and allow it to change your opinion, rather than starting with a conclusion and then defending it.
` At this conference, as elsewhere, I found that those who are most emotionally repulsed by the idea of taking such mind-altering substances were the least receptive to information about them. It didn't help that, during an onstage interview, James Randi himself said of psychedelics "I don't want to get sucked into that."
` This is all a clear sign that skeptic culture needs a lot of work before psychedelics are universally accepted as an important part of personal development, skeptical inquiry, and neuroscience. That spells out a lot of work ahead for me. I may not write as eloquently as Sam Harris, but here's my two cents:

What Do You Mean, "Spiritual Experience"?

During 'ordinary, alert' consciousness, we are unable to feel the self's weight pressing in on our minds, and are told that this is as 'conscious' as it is possible to get. It is only when the constraints are loosened that we can attain vast oceans of awareness, which show us how confining 'normal' consciousness really is.
` Aldous Huxley thought of it as opening a 'reducing valve' to let more information flow into consciousness. An intense release such as this is one of the most overwhelming experiences one can have, even moreso than sexual bliss. (Not to mention, combining the two!)
` Our brain's 'straightjacket' is indeed very narrow, and must have evolved in order to prevent us from constantly becoming distracted by "innerworldly" phenomena. Even the most vivid thoughts and imagination pale in comparison to what else is possible; and that's why you wouldn't see the lion coming.
` In a safe setting, free of lions, your brain is capable of attaining a state of consciousness from which 'regular' awareness seems extremely limited and feeble. It's like being used to seeing the entire world by the light of a flashlight, only able to see a handful of thoughts at a time.
` Psychedelic awareness is like a floodlight illuminating vast fields of concepts and meme-plexes, which one can perceive and manipulate all at once. This is good for processing massive amounts of information, whether it be scientific model, artistic vision, or traumatic memories, and creating something useful out of it.

Without the self-narrative in the way, nature is revealed as one process we are all equally part of. The concepts of flaws, labels, boundaries, and authoritarian power structures can be perceived as flimsy abstractions not connected to what exists "out there" in the world.
` Your egoic worries may seem trivial from a monstrously Saganesque cosmic perspective of life. It is possible to perceive that you are a living part of this planet, a very high primate, not defined by culture. Stop imagining there's countries? It's easy if you try.
` You find that what you've been conditioned to believe you are is not your whole identity, so taking into account a more complete self, you can change your values accordingly. What 'the ordinary self' is culturally defined as is seen to be quite puny compared to your larger nature.
` If you liken therapeutic change in a 'normal' state of consciousness to moving furniture up a set of stairs, then doing so from this state of consciousness would be like towering over a dollhouse and re-arranging the miniatures with your hands.
` This is all part of what is called a 'mystical' or 'spiritual' experience. Not surprisingly, the mystical experience correlates to long-lasting changes so important to psychedelic therapy, and even therapies involving similar states of consciousness, which is the entire subject of Part 2.

To some people, this description makes sense, whereas it does not for others -- particularly those who have had little to no experience with altered states of consciousness. This is one of those things one must do to understand.
` In the same way, a person who has never been able to see cannot understand the concept of color, and may even be mystified at how anyone can see many objects at once, much less drive a car without hitting anything.
` It is trivially easy for most people to do these things, but if you can't imagine how anyone could, you still live in a reality where this is so. In the case of psychedelics, using bizarre-sounding abilities that seem familiar and intuitively simple is just as real as people being able to see well enough to drive a car.
` Most people go from birth to death without ever suspecting this possibility. Your outer senses seem obviously useful, yet most people are scarcely aware, if at all, that another part of them exists. After one has had such a freeing experience, they see how imprisoning the ordinary egoistic state is.
` If you have no idea you're in that prison, you do not even have the freedom to know there is such a thing as escape. Which is why I am taking so much care to explain this in meticulous detail.

As a more prosaic analogy, it reminds me of how I lived with stifling chronic pain and physical disabilities for 20 years, but wasn't actually conscious of how severe any of it was until three years into physical therapy. That has caused quite an upheaval in the way I perceive myself, everyone else, and everything I've done over all that time.
` I'm still doing PT a year and a half later, and my body feels quite ecstatic at times, just from the relief in finally returning to a healthier state. You cannot imagine the thoughts and behaviors I had thought were part of my 'personality' that disappear as I physically heal and no longer constantly react to pain, losing my balance, trouble keeping food down, etc.
` That's a topic I will have more to say on in future, but my point is that when you are unaware of the internal processes controlling your thoughts and actions every second, you think of it as just part of "who you are" and are blind to see the 'true' self beneath the shell.

It is certainly worth mentioning that meditation is an exercise that literally changes the structure of your brain to the same end. That's why I'd say it's an essential pursuit, and the neuroscience and subjective effects are worthy of their own article. (I haven't written one yet, but here's one from someone who has.)
` Psychedelics can allow a level of so-called "ego death" that most never attain with meditation. Of course, combining them has a stronger effect than just one. Psychedelics can also enhance the brain changes associated with meditation practice (more on that in Part 2).

The more extreme the ego death, the more it is apparent that the "real you" is the conscious observer of the self, which is present even when the filters of your personal biases and assumptions clear out of the way. This helps one challenge one's assumptions in a powerful way.
` It is a bit like me realizing that "I" am not these disabilities, nor the pain; these are just what "I" have been associating with myself all this time. They are not due to my 'attitude' or my 'imagination'. Pain is just a feeling, and limitations don't define me. Neither does my own knowledge or opinions, because those are subject to change.
` In contrast, our culture teaches us that we "are" our beliefs, roles, and distributes labels generously (i.e. doctor, Catholic, libertarian) rather than who we are beneath all that. Loosening up your life story and being able to view and rearrange it according to what is most important to you personally, is best described as empowering and healing.

The "Secret" History of Psychedelics in Psychiatry

Garcia-Romeau (that's too many syllables, I'll call him Albert) did not have the luxury of describing psychedelic effects to nearly this extent. He did use a helpful quote from pioneering researcher Lester Grinspoon, Associate Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and much else (bold is to break up the run-on sentence):

"A psychedelic drug is one which has small likelihood of causing physical addiction, craving, major physiological disturbances, delirium, disorientation or amnesia, produces thought, mood, and perceptual changes otherwise rarely experienced except perhaps in dreams, contemplative and religious exaltation, flashes of vivid involuntary memory and acute psychoses."

Grinspoon didn't start out thinking so kindly of mind-altering substances: In the 1960's, he sought to demonstrate how dangerous he believed marijuana was. Except, when he looked over the scientific evidence, he found that the real danger is in spreading false information.
` In the 70's, he used it as anti-nausea medicine to relieve the suffering of his terminally ill son. Not only did he find that cannabis is beneficial and fairly benign when used properly, but that the same is true for many psychedelic drugs. Or should I say, psychedelic medicines?

Some other psychedelics, such as LSD, mescaline, and ayahuasca, have long been known to have similar effects, safety, and efficacy, when used properly: They started to attract scientists' attentions in 1943, after the Swiss chemist Alfred Hofmann was synthesizing an ergot alkaloid for medical research with animals, one that had had been written off years ago.
` It had been dismissed as not having any medicinal use in humans, but had never actually been taken by any. That is, until a few micrograms somehow escaped into his body and he soon discovered the remarkable effects of D-Lysergsäure-diäthylamid, LSD. Brand-named "Delysid", this potent and inexpensive pharmaceutical was given away to psychologists and psychiatrists around the world for study.
` Because a chemical could have such an impact on consciousness, it became apparent that chemists might be able to develop mind-altering drugs to benefit those struggling with alcoholism or even schizophrenia. By the early 50's, psychopharmacology began to take off with other types of psychiatric drugs. (Tangentially, Grinspoon was the first American physician to prescribe lithium carbonate for bipolar.)
` Unlike other medications, psychedelics work by revealing the mind and facilitating change, for which one requires guidance. Evidence began to build that LSD could help stop destructive alcohol habits, and was considered for use in Alcoholics Anonymous. (For more about this, see Erika Dyck 2006.)
` Mescaline and DMT had already been discovered, but it was only now that their value was really understood. In 1955, Gordon Wasson was the first anthropologist to take part in a mushroom-taking ritual, and Hofmann was the first to isolate psilocybin and psilocin (which psilocybin converts into).

Psychedelics were studied as a promising branch of mainstream psychiatric research throughout the decade, and their therapeutic results seemed too good to be true. Many of the experiments also lacked proper controls, casting further doubt onto whether they could be trusted.
` The CIA studied them in Project Mind Kontrol Ultra, but found that psychedelics are better used for freeing and empowering minds than weakening them. Giving LSD to soldiers resulted in the soldiers recognizing that there is no power structure or separateness between people and laughing at orders.
` By the early 60's, the anti-authoritarian counterculture was all too eager to employ these substances for their purposes, thanks to such advocates as psychologist Timothy Leary. As psychedelics spilled out into the general populace, more people began to use them less responsibly.
` The Nixon administration seized this opportunity to sensationalize "bad trips" and ban the very substances that were helping to fuel the anti-war movement. Nixon also tried to imprison Leary, declaring him "the most dangerous man in America."

In 1970, with the "War on Drugs" going strong, the Nixon administration formed the DEA and enacted the Uniform Controlled Substances Act. Psychedelics and cannabis were classified as Schedule 1 substances, the same category as heroin.
` That means 1), they are not federally recognized as having any accepted medical use; 2), that they're federally considered to have a high potential for abuse, and 3), unsafe even when used under medical supervision.
` Though this was not based on the science at the time, this ruling is why there are such enormous restrictions on research today. What studies are being approved continue to show high levels of safety and efficacy when used under proper conditions. Psychedelics are not even very harmful compared to other mind-altering substances, even cannabis.
` To help illustrate the relative harms (to others and self) of various illicit drugs, Albert brought this slide (Nutt et al, from The Lancet). It's limited and flawed, although many different studies have shown similar results. If anything, it seems to confirm that alcohol, heroin, and crack take the lead in harms, while ecstasy, LSD and mushrooms are at the bottom. (And Albert is on the right):

This represents the UK population, but it isn't that different from other parts of the world.

The potential for harm from psychedelics is mostly a matter of what is called "set and setting": The direction of the psychedelic journey mostly depends on your state of mind and your environment. This is basic protocol, for therapy or research, and for anyone who does them. (For more, see Johnson, et al 2008.)
` Some of the skeptical community have balked at my insistence that psychedelics were ever important in science, or ever could be again. For more info, here's an article from The Psychologist entitled A Brief History of Psychedelic Psychiatry.
` For those of you who would like a treatise on the science and history of psychedelics from Albert Hofmann himself, you can read his entire 1980 work LSD: My Problem Child. This is a good introduction to the reality that I'm talking about.
` He even discusses ancient Greek and other traditional use of psychedelic substances, and how important they have been to humans through the ages. According to LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug? Hofmann said on his 100th birthday:

It gave me an inner joy, an open mindedness, a gratefulness, open eyes and an internal sensitivity for the miracles of creation. [...] I think that in human evolution it has never been as necessary to have this substance LSD. It is just a tool to turn us into what we are supposed to be.

In the past few decades, psychedelic research has resumed and is picking up momentum in the mainstream circle. An article in The Pharmaceutical Journal called Psychedelics: Entering a new age of addiction therapy discusses several modern studies which show that psychedelics can be used to have an enormous effect on one's thoughts, feelings and behavior.
` One of Garcia-Romeu's trials, one to help people quit deeply-entrenched tobacco habits, is the first study that is mentioned in that article. He has also taken part in research into spiritual experiences and their effect on personality and mental health, which I will discuss in detail in Part 2.
` The very latest study I've heard of is called Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy: A Review of a Novel Treatment for Psychiatric Disorders Thomas 2017. I doubt Hofmann would have considered this to be 'novel', having studied and regularly taken LSD for most of his 102 years.

I hope that in this article I have shown, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that these molecules are worth our attention in skepticdom, science, art, and medicine. And this is only Part 1. I have plenty more evidence for anyone who dares scoff in Part 2.

Until then, I'll leave you with another reminder that your own brain is most likely capable of graphics far beyond Mandelbulb, and that I've never heard of anyone who was afraid of seeing Pokemon on their cell phone. It's another video, and the animation starts at 30 seconds.
` First I would like to note that there are different characteristics among psychedelic visuals (among other effects). LSD visuals are considered to include more bright primary colors and regular geometric patterns, so it's safe to say that these are more "LSD-like" than the previous video clip.

 
Psilocybin and ayahuasca visuals are considered to have a darker, almost underground feel, with more organic-looking fractals and curved forms which often take on a 'living' quality. Mescaline tends to have a combination of both these characters, with bright colors, angular corners, curves, and organic-looking geometric forms.
` Mescaline visuals can also have a beaded appearance, which is represented by peyote stitch in Native American ceremonial items. It amazes me that humans have had access to this type of power, and awesome graphics, for thousands of years, but have scarcely been able to represent them beyond stone carvings and beaded figures.
` How this knowledge has become lost over time is another topic for Part 2, so stay tuned!