The Repression and Support of Psychedelic Experience
Ted M. Clark, Dennis T. Jaffe
September 24, 2018 DOI: 10.4324/9780429460586-5 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Commentary |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that rising psychedelic use among college students, reported by Gallup as up 1,800 percent in four years, reflects a calculated, healthy, and adaptive response to a conflict of values, and that positive experiences are both causes and results of a new youth culture. The author also contends these drugs are powerful and unpredictable and can require medical or crisis intervention. |
Abstract
A Gallup Poll reports that the nation&s;s college students have tried psychedelic drugs — an increase of 1800 percent in the past four years — at a time when the government has halted most research on the uses of these drugs as too dangerous and spends millions of dollars to control their use. Psychedelic drugs are powerful and unpredictable, and sometimes result in difficulties which need medical or crisis intervention. The growing use of psychedelics would be explained if experiences with these drugs help young people to reach their goals. The frequency of positive reports by young people, and the similarity in accounts of psychedelic therapy with certain aspects of the youth culture, suggests that positive results of psychedelic use are causes as well as results of the development of a new culture by youth. The use of psychedelics is a calculated risk by young people — a healthy and adaptive behavior in the current conflict of values.