The Story of Psilocybin: Western Society’s Struggle with the Unknown

The use of psychedelics within Western Society has been plagued by controversy since the very beginning. The moniker ‘psychedelic’ translates etymologically as psyche- (the mind) + -delom (to show or reveal).

Despite millennia of deep-rooted cultural & historical use of entheogens in countries around the world, these mind-altering substances have earned a tainted cultural reputation in the Western world. Albert Hoffman’s accidental discovery of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) in the 1940s catalyzed a nation-wide movement of psychedelic use within the United States. This movement was further popularized by musicians such as The Beatles, Scott McKenzie, and Pink Floyd, as well as pro-use scientists, whose embracement of the drugs posed a threat to the structural integrity of the U.S. government.

Under pressure to respond to counterculture sentiments, the U.S. Congress (led at the time by President Richard Nixon) signed into law the Controlled Substances Act. This legislative enforcement aimed to hinder the psychedelic movement by criminalizing the production, sale, and use of these drugs across the country.

In one sweeping declaration, Nixon started the war on drugs.