Temperance in the Psychedelic Renaissance
Psychedelic Exceptionalism and the Perpetuation of Drug War Stigma
The psychedelic renaissance has brought with it a troubling resurrection of temperance-era moralizing about drugs. This time, however, the moral crusaders aren't strictly sober - they're psychedelic users who see their own substance use as spiritually enlightened while condemning other drug users as morally deficient.
The pattern plays out with striking regularity across the psychedelic landscape. Within psychedelic spaces, it's common to encounter practitioners and advocates who celebrate their own use of consciousness-altering substances while simultaneously promoting rigid abstinence-based approaches for others. This cognitive dissonance often manifests in dismissive attitudes toward harm reduction and a tendency to moralize about which forms of substance use are legitimate or worthy of compassion.
These attitudes mirror a long history of drug prohibition being selectively enforced based on class, race, and cultural acceptance. When Gordon Wasson and his colleagues coined the term "entheogen" in 1973, they explicitly wanted to separate their own spiritual use of psychedelics from what they saw as profane recreational drug use (Letcher, 2007).
Today's psychedelic exceptionalists continue this tradition, drawing arbitrary lines between "medicine" and "drugs" based more on cultural bias than pharmacology. The same person who views their own use of novel psychedelic compounds as brave psychonautic exploration may condemn opioid users for lacking willpower or being spiritually bankrupt.
This mindset actively undermines harm reduction efforts. When influential voices in the psychedelic community stigmatize other drug users, they make it harder for people to seek help when they need it - including psychedelic users who may experience difficulties. The message becomes clear: only certain kinds of drug use are acceptable, and anything else is a moral failing.
The reality is that drug use exists on a spectrum. The same person might use psilocybin mushrooms in ceremonial settings, take MDMA at concerts, and struggle with problematic cocaine use. Creating rigid categories of good and bad drugs doesn't reflect lived experience and ultimately causes harm.
Instead of perpetuating these damaging attitudes, the psychedelic community needs to embrace truly evidence-based approaches to drug use and addiction. This means supporting harm reduction services, acknowledging that all drug use carries risks, and moving beyond simplistic moral judgments about different substances.
The psychedelic renaissance offers an opportunity to fundamentally reshape our society's relationship with consciousness-altering substances. But if we simply replace one form of drug war propaganda with another, we'll repeat the same mistakes in new packaging. It's time for psychedelic advocates to examine their own biases and work toward more nuanced, compassionate approaches to all drug use - not just the substances they personally favor.
The path forward requires moving beyond both the sweeping condemnations of the drug war and the magical thinking of psychedelic exceptionalism. Only then can we develop truly effective approaches to reducing drug-related harm while respecting human dignity and autonomy. The psychedelic community, with its emphasis on healing and consciousness expansion, should be leading this evolution - not standing in its way.
Letcher, A. (2007). Mad thoughts on mushrooms: Discourse and power in the study of psychedelic consciousness. Anthropology of Consciousness, 18(2), 74-98.
