What is at stake in the psychedelic renaissance?

Abstract

What is at stake in the psychedelic renaissance? Professor Erika Dyck, Canada Research Chair in the History of Health & Social Justice, discusses the extensive history and growing medical application of psychedelics known as the psychedelic renaissance. British psychiatrist Ben Sessa re-introduced the concept of the psychedelic renaissance in 2011, suggesting that it was perhaps time to rethink the role of psychedelic drugs in medicine. The idea has gained momentum, especially in places like the United States and Europe, where psychedelics had been part of psychiatric reforms in the middle of the twentieth century. However, the focus on the global north and western biomedicine does not capture the diversity of psychedelic history that has led to this moment.