"It's not for everyone," Fielding agreed. "We know everyone doesn't want to
experience altered states."

[Dubious. It's probably instinctive, and very deep, powerful, as some investigators have maintained. Even animals seek ASC's, see Giorgio Samorini's book on the subject. I claim it is a 'human universal'. The problem, perhaps, is that many seem to seek ASC's in which they can ignore rather than expand. Why would Fielding say such a thing? -pw] 

Psychedelics conference describes the long strange trip to the lab

By Lisa M. Krieger


Posted: 04/18/2010 08:16:34 PM PDT
Updated: 04/18/2010 09:55:37 PM PDT

One speaker introduced his mom. Another thanked his wife and kids. And at the
closing ceremony of the Psychedelic Science conference in San Jose, the crowd of
1,000 stood up and applauded in appreciation of each other.

The "tune in, turn on" bacchanalian generation has matured into a gentler "take
care, take notes" cadre of therapists, nurses, social workers and spiritual explorers.
The sold-out conference, the largest gathering on psychedelic science in four
decades, was a forum to exchange news about small, preliminary and still
inconclusive studies to treat such problems as obsessive-compulsive disorder,
depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and end-of-life anxiety.

The happy crowd also swapped stories about the psychedelic drugs' "sacramental
use" — or, more formally, "The Betterment of Well People."

Decades after a virtual ban on medical research involving psychedelic drugs, some
scientists are urging a second look, convinced that psychedelics have significant
benefits.

The conference, improbably set between suburban freeways at a Holiday Inn, was
sponsored by the Santa Cruz-based nonprofit group Multidisciplinary Association for
Psychedelic Studies, which supports research into LSD, psilocybin and MDMA, also
known as Ecstasy.

"We are an irrepressible force for the good," said Amanda Fielding, an elegant and
grandmotherly figure who discovered psychedelics while studying religion. "It is a
very exciting time.

People are terrified of drugs. Drugs are linked to inner cities and crime — not
mystical states. But with diligent and serious science, we can learn about all the
wonderful ways that these compounds can help a stressed and troubled species."

Added Fielding: "Science is the best way forward. I always felt science is the key to
overcome the taboo of these substances. It opens a key to learn about consciousness
and transform us into more complete and happy people."

More cautious than the evangelists of the 1960s, the speakers summarized studies at
Johns Hopkins, UCLA, UC San Francisco, the University of Arizona and New York
University.

In Miami, researchers are giving heroin addicts a hallucinogen to see if it helps ease
withdrawal symptoms. In South Carolina, rape victims take Ecstasy to encourage
them to talk about their ordeal. At Boston's McLean Hospital, affiliated with Harvard,
Ecstasy is also being given to people with advanced cancer in an effort to ease
anxiety of dying.

Times have changed, said Stanislav Grof, a Czech psychiatrist and one of the first to
research therapeutic uses of LSD.

"I think the situation is very different from what it was in the '60s," Grof said. "Now
therapists are used to working with powerful emotions. And the people making the
decisions today were on the campuses of the '60s, and have a different image of
psychedelics than the older generation."

But Grof cautioned against careless use. "When something comes to let you look too
deep or fast, to open up a hot line to the divine, with flashbacks, and underground
materials of questionable purity, without supervision "... accidents happen."

"It's not for everyone," Fielding agreed. "We know everyone doesn't want to
experience altered states. But there's always a core group of people drawn to more
distant shores. And it's unbelievable that one's private exploration of consciousness
has been restricted by the government."

As the conference closed, participants exchanged hugs and business cards.

"We're not counterculture. We're part of the culture," said Randolph Hencken, the
conference organizer. "We want smart and loving studies that will make big changes
used for future generations to make their lives better."