In today’s Reason Interview, I talk with Joe Dolce, author of the excellent new book Modern Psychedelics: The Handbook for Mindful Exploration. He explains how psychedelics are moving from counterculture to mainstream, with new science, shifting laws, and surprising therapies that promise to change how we treat addiction, anxiety, and self-discovery.
If Michael Pollan’s How To Change Your Mind made psychedelics safe for polite discussion, Joe’s book gives more context and practical, hands-on advice and information. Whether you are an experienced psychonaut or simply curious about today’s psychedelic renaissance, I highly recommend his book. Psychedelics aren’t a panacea for all your problems or all the problems of the world, but they are substances that have been unfairly vilified, demonized, and prohibited. It will be a better world when we can use them more freely—and have better discussions of their merits and problems.
Years back, Joe was the editor of Details, back when that now-defunct magazine was setting the pace for hip coverage of downtown New York City. He brings a journalist’s edge and skepticism to mainstream coverage of drugs and the subcultures associated with them and we have a spirited discussion of Matthew Perry’s death, widely misattributed to ketamine.
Here’s the Reason writeup, followed by links to YouTube, Apple, Spotify, and SoundCloud versions. Please follow the link below to fill out a survey about the Reason Interview and get a chance to win a $300 gift card.
The Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie goes deep with the artists, entrepreneurs, politicians, and visionaries who are making the 21st century more libertarian—or at least more interesting—by challenging worn-out ideas and orthodoxies.
Today's guest is Joe Dolce, whose new book is Modern Psychedelics: The Handbook for Mindful Exploration.
Dolce argues that psychedelics aren't just the province of hippies or tech bros anymore. They are powerful and increasingly popular—and legal—tools for therapy, self-discovery, and play.
He talks with Gillespie about everything from the misunderstood role of ketamine in Friends star Matthew Perry's death to why ibogaine may be the only substance on Earth that can stop addiction cold, to how we went from "Just Say No!" campaigns to mail-order magic mushrooms in just a few short decades.
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0:00—Intro
1:25—What do psychedelics teach?
7:02—Psychedelic safety and ketamine myths
13:01—How psychedelics work and ibogaine effects
19:12—Microdosing
23:00—Psychedelics and altered states
28:10—Generational perceptions of psychedelics
30:59—Cultural acceptance of psychedelics
42:22—The future of psychedelics
48:34—Drug legalization and access
Previous Appearance:
"Brave New World of Weed: The Astonishing Potential of a Complex Plant," April 6, 2017
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