NICOLAS LANGLITZ, MD, PHD: You have to find a space for these wild psychedelics in a rule governed world

At ICPR 2024, we talked to anthropologist and author Nicolas Langlitz about the current hype around psychedelics, their place in medicine and culture, and why he sees them as holding the promise of moksha in the age of soma.



Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:05 Nicholas, can you talk about your professional background? 01:32 Some people say they are moving too fast. And there is an overhype of psychedelics. What do you think about that? 05:15 In your book, you write that psychedelics have the promise of moksha in the age of soma. 08:57 It seems nowadays the psychedelic movement has less ambitions, than in the 60s. So they don’t want to change the world, they just want to medicalize these substances. 11:17 Can we make psychedelics a standardized medical treatment? They come with so much spiritual and metaphysical baggage. 13:21 Unlike traditional antidepressants, in the case of psychedelics, it is very important in what environment you use drugs and in what mental states. Can you explain us the role of set and setting? 18:58 Some people would keep psychedelics under strict medical supervision. But do you think there is a room for psychedelics outside of the medical realm? 22:24 Is there no alternative to the biomedical model? 24:49 Timothy Leary has another idea about training people how to use psychedelics and giving out licenses such as driving licenses. That could be a secularized model to regulate these substances. What do you think?


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