The Outlaws of Psychedelic Research Revolutionizing Modern Medicine

Joanna Kempner shares five key insights from Psychedelic Outlaws: The Movement Revolutionizing Modern Medicine.

Have you ever had a really bad headache? I mean a really bad one, the kind that doesn’t respond to standard treatments like aspin or ibuprofren? For people who suffer from what are called cluster headaches, the pain can be excruciating and unrelenting.  In fact, with no cure on offer, a number of sufferers have turned to alternative treatments, including unregulated ones like psilocybin mushrooms. The surprising tale of how unlikely drugs are being used to treat a variety of ailments is told in the new book Psychedelic Outlaws: The Movement Revolutionizing Modern Medicine by

Joanna Kempner

. Joanna is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Rutgers, and she joins us now to share 5 of her key insights.

1. Psychedelics are back in a big way.

And I’m not just talking about the latest Dead & Company tour. The buzz is real: every day, new studies highlight the therapeutic potential of psychedelics for conditions ranging from depression and addiction to severe pain. Early on, private donors (many from the tech and corporate world) funded most of this research. But it’s now grown into a billion-dollar industry. You can even buy stock in dozens of psychedelic companies.