This post was originally published on Sofie’s Medium.
If you’ve been online in the last few years and are inclined to hang out in the more spiritual or self-improvement-focused communities, you may have seen a trend in the form of an uptick of conversations around psychedelics — namely, their benefits. Whether we’re talking about micro or macro-dosing, there’s sure to be someone around you who has an opinion to share. With overwhelmingly positive rhetoric surrounding psychedelics online, it’s no wonder that stigma around magic mushroom, LSD, and even DMT use is dissolving and folks are feeling more comfortable than ever to share their experiences and sing the praises of these substances. But things aren’t always rainbows and butterflies: Everything has a dark side, including the seemingly happy and enthusiastic psychedelic community.
Psychonauts
“Psychonaut,” listed as a slang term on Dictionary.com, is a word with unknown origins, usually used to refer to somebody who experiments with altered states of being or consciousness through the use of psychedelic and mind-altering drugs and substances. You may have heard this word used to describe psychedelic pioneers such as Terence Mckenna and Albert Hoffman, among others, or even used by modern users to self-describe themselves today. The first known use of “psychonaut” was in a 1965 issue of Group Psychotherapy magazine, but it’s possible it has been around since the 1950s — the history on this is somewhat foggy, and I plan to do a deep dive on this in the future.
The word “psychonaut” itself is not the issue. The issue is the psychedelic exceptionalism that comes along with the use of it.
What is psychedelic exceptionalism?
Psychedelic exceptionalism is the belief and ideology that some drugs — specifically cannabis, various psychedelics, and ayahuasca, that tend to be less addictive and less harmful, are inherently better and more useful for humans — while others are worse.
Why is it harmful?
As psychedelics gain popularity and social acceptance in the form of FDA-approved clinical studies, celebrity storytelling, and more, the effects of the War on Drugs are still seen and suffered. Now, instead of lowering stigma and opening the conversation around all drugs, there is a divide between drugs that we label — consciously or not — as “good” and “bad.”
Back to psychonauts: The term itself has some fairly positive connotations. A psychonaut is seen as an explorer of internal mysteries, a mystic, someone on a deep quest to know themselves and the world. There is no word like that for other drug users, further separating psychedelic users from other drug consumers and alienating them from the drug reform conversation. Psychedelics are now seen as healthy, beneficial, and in a positive light — folks can feel comfortable revealing that they have or do take psychedelics, and with workplaces increasingly becoming more and more aware of mental health struggles and care, it likely won’t be too long before psychedelic therapy becomes something mainstream, or even covered by employee benefits or insurance.
Change and progress is good, but we cannot raise the validity and move towards the de-stigmatization of psychedelics at the expense of other drugs and drug users — and that’s exactly what psychedelic exceptionalism does.
Psychedelic exceptionalism helps to legitimize the classification of drugs and perpetuates the American War on Drugs. Even if all drugs aren’t evil and terrible and some are even beocming FDA-approved, some still are, and those people are bad and doing something wrong — but not us. We’re not drug users — we’re psychonauts.
“Privileging psychedelics as deserving of exclusion from the classification scheme behind drug criminalization creates problems for decriminalization advocates,” Elias Dakwar, MD, an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University, says in an interview with Filter.
Separation creates a divide in the drug space and encourages a sort of “us vs. them” mentality wherein psychedelics users can see themselves as unique, edgy entrepreneurs — different from party users, different from people with drug dependencies.
Furthermore, the separation of drugs from each other often comes from misinformation or misunderstanding of substances: For example, ketamine is now widely heralded as a psychedelic with major therapeutic benefits, but PCP is not given the same treatment. Why? PCP is also a fellow psychedelic, and ketamine is a derivative of the drug. Ketamine can be bought legally online for at-home consumption. PCP is called “dangerous” and is “linked to violent and aggressive actions.” Ketamine can cause bladder issues after prolonged use and is addictive. Both are dissociative drugs, both have the potential to be abused.
While the slow, ongoing process of cannabis legalization helped to pave the way for psychedelics law reform today, will this in turn pave the way for other drugs, especially ones with strong negative associations such as meth, heroin, or cocaine?
Drugs are drugs are drugs
The truth is, psychedelics are drugs, and can be abused just like any other substance when used inappropriately or by someone who shouldn’t have access to them. All drugs can have positive, life-affirming effects if used with specific intent, care, and the correct pre- and post-care. Yes, even meth and heroin, drugs we don’t often see as having therapeutic benefits.
Drug researcher and widely respected educator Dr. Carl Hart documents and defends his casual heroin use, noting in his excellent book Drug Use For Grown-Ups that he continues to be a responsible parent, husband, and educator. Also in his book, he notes that the main issue around drugs has been the scourge of stigmatization and ongoing misinformation — not the drugs themselves.
The conversation around psychedelics in the media has turned heavily to hype and massive support. This is, frankly, dangerous. Not everything is for everyone, and especially not psychedelics. People are being sold healing through magic mushrooms and ayahuasca, but the solution isn’t in the drugs — it’s in the intent and use and journey.
Final thoughts and a call to action
Drugs have been, are, and will continue to be a part of human life. Psychedelic exceptionalism goes against the principles of harm reduction. Decriminalization and legalization of all drugs will save lives. I urge you to think about this in the context of your life, if you are a psychedelics user: What makes you so different? What makes you so special? What is really the difference between your microdosing protocol and someone’s recreational cocaine habit? And why?
Harm reduction is the work of reducing risks around drug use, and this looks like education, advocacy, and policy reform. It is is not only about changing the conversation around psychedelics, but removing the stigma and advocating for the decriminalization of all drugs and the people who use them, from recreational consumers to those with dependencies who need access to rehabilitation programs. “[W]hen the conversation about harm reduction […] includes everything from heroin to LSD, everyone benefits,” writes Madison Margolin in Double Blind.
Moreover, as the conversation around psychedelics continues to rely very heavily on their therapeutic benefit, I want to remind you of one thing: There’s nothing wrong with just getting high for fun. Recreational doses are still possible. Not every trip has to be a deep internal dive.
I’ll end this with a quote from the admirable Dr. Hart: “We have to guard against drug elitism, the thinking that your drug is better than someone else’s drug. Whatever works best for you is fine.”
Sofie Mikhaylova is a psychedelics, pop culture, and travel writer, among other things. She has a long background in the music industry, and is overall a bit of a multi-hyphenate. Her work has spanned numerous mediums and industries, from mushrooms to experimental electronic music. Her writing has appeared in Vice, leafie, Psychedelic Spotlight, The Washington Post, Fodor's Travel, Double Dot Magazine, and more. Find her on Instagram, her newsletter Sofieland, her podcast Sofieland, and her website.