Psychedelics – Research and Exploration – 1) CHARLES GROB MD(2012) 2) JAMES FADIMAN (2012)

Written on April 24th, 2026

In “even-a-broken-clock …” news this week, Donald Trump did something I applaud. He signed an executive order to accelerate research and access to psychedelic drugs for medical use, particularly to treat serious mental illness. Psychedelic substances have been used for ceremony and as medicine for millennia. Such properties were being cultivated and studied in the US in the 1960s and early ‘70s till widespread and careless use of psychedelics – think Timothy Leary –  and sensational media reports produced a backlash. Here’s my 2012 episode in which I talk first with CHARLES GROB MD about the scientific research, including his own ground-breaking studies. And then with JAMES FADIMAN about the ideas, the vision, and the advice in his book, PSYCHEDELIC EXPLORERS: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys.