![]() ![]() Recruiting that celebrity support for psychedelics is part of MAPS' public relations strategy, founder Rick Doblin said. Other famous speakers will include former NHL player Daniel Carcillo, who owns a company specializing in psychedelic therapies Olympic silver-medal figure skater Sasha Cohen rapper and actor Jaden Smith comedians Reggie Watts and Eric Andre, top-10 podcaster Andrew Huberman and Carl Hart, the chair of Columbia University's psychology department. This time, organizers estimate at least 10,000 attendees. Just six years ago in Oakland, California, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies held a conference with roughly 3,000 attendees and a smattering of lesser-known speakers and die-hard proponents. ![]() Public interest also appears to be growing. Matt Gaetz from Florida into an unlikely alignment. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York and far-right Rep. In Congress, similar veteran-focused proposals brought progressive Democratic Rep. Rick Perry spoke Wednesday about helping get a bill passed in the Texas legislature in 2021 to fund a study of psilocybin for veterans, though he doesn't support recreational use. Republican strongholds, including Utah and Missouri, have or are considering commissioning studies into the drugs, partly inspired by veterans' stories. "But I think a big difference (now) is that the enthusiasm for the potential of psychedelics cuts across a much more representative slice of the population - it's not about a counterculture." ![]() "In both cases you have this upwelling of exuberance that may or may not be irrational," said author Michael Pollan, who wrote a book on psychedelics and will be speaking at the conference. RELATED: 'Final Jeopardy' response leaves guest host Aaron Rodgers speechless Mid-last century, Aldous Huxley, Timothy Leary and Ken Kesey helped spur the use of psychedelics during the counterculture movement, and optimism brimmed among some psychologists over the drugs' potential.īut the Nixon administration criminalized psychedelics, pushing them underground. The drugs themselves - and the interest in them - are not new. For example, some researchers believe psilocybin, the compound in psychedelic mushrooms, changes the way the brain organizes itself and can help users overcome things like depression and alcoholism. Psychedelics are illegal at the federal level, though acceptance and interest in studying their potential benefits has grown. (The conference) generates interest, it generates ultimately more research, even though the research might be skewed toward positive results." "Any kind of overselling is not good for science because science should be accurate rather than pushing things," he said. Still, he added, the conference is "purely designed to promote the hype." "At the time when any topic gets politically polarized, ironically, these super-polarizing substances now get bipartisan support," Langlitz said. It has strategized to reach the full political spectrum, said Nicolas Langlitz, a historian of science who's researched the boom and bust of psychedelic movements. The organization hosting the conference, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, is the largest U.S. "It unlocked that whole world of what I'm really here to do is to connect, to connect with those guys, and to make those bonds and to inspire people." "I found a deeper self love," said Rodgers of his ayahuasca experience. Rodgers described taking ayahuasca with his teammates as "radically life-changing," and claimed many other pro athletes have reached out to him. Rodgers, who'll soon debut with the New York Jets after years with the Green Bay Packers, spoke Wednesday night with podcaster Aubrey Marcus. While it's a sign of growing cultural acceptance for substances that proponents say may offer benefits for things like post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism, medical experts caution that more research is needed on the drugs' efficacy and the extent of the risks of psychedelics, which can cause hallucinations. The conference, put on by a psychedelic advocacy group, took place months after Colorado's voters decided to join Oregon in decriminalizing psychedelic mushrooms. The New York Jets' Aaron Rodgers, who is a former NFL Packers QB, talked about taking ayahuasca at a Denver psychedelics conference.ĭENVER - An eclectic crowd of thousands - podcasters, vendors, startups, seekers - swarmed a psychedelics conference in Denver this week to experience everything from a dimly lit hall packed with kaleidoscope art and a wide-ranging lineup of speakers from a former Republican governor to NFL star quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
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