I never thought we'd ever see the day when Vogue magazine and the Miami Herald are talking about psychedelics like it's going to the juice bar or something. Psychedelic-assisted therapies are the latest mental health craze, and it's a good time to pay respect to all the men and women who worked so hard in the past to get us to where we are today.
Just as gay pride owes a debt to all who lived and died through Stonewall, cognitive liberty movements like the psychedelic renaissance owe gratitude to Rick Doblin, the Grofs, the Shulgins, the McKennas, Dr. Weil, and yes, even Tim Leary and the Beatles.
To the Grateful Dead and the following they inspired in fans was, I believe, a lot more important than many people realize. Through that phenomenon arose the festival culture and it could even be argued that were it not for the Dead, we might not have had Burning Man.
Yeah, that counterculture provided justification for the drug war and prohibition. Extricating ourselves from that mess has been hard, but let's not blame the victim. The military-industrial complex, corporate America, imperialism, bigotry--these were and many still are huge problems. It takes a lot of guts to stand up to that nonsense. Therefore, I choose to cheer counterculture heroes whole-heartedly. Especially today, which is 4/20 and yesterday was Bicycle Day, which is a cute little holiday commemorating Hoffman's groundbreaking LSD trip report.
An aside, I'm not big on manufactured holidays but in this case it matters to me. Building community is important right now. Holidays are one of the best ways of doing that because you don't need to buy into anything. It's a good gateway to making deeper connections in the community.
Ironically (fittingly so!) the psychedelic renaissance is going to be the catalyst for ending prohibition worldwide. Just let that sink in a bit. Then say it to yourself every single day with power, feeling, and conviction.
With our collective will focused and laser sharp, we can achieve anything.