Completing the Circle: A History of Psychedelics and Harm Reduction.

Harm reduction, formally recognized in the 1980s during the HIV/AIDS crisis, has earlier roots in psychedelic use. In the 1950s and 1960s, early clinical psychedelic researchers incorporated people-first risk management approaches. During the war on drugs, community-based organizations at music festivals provided harm reduction for those using psychedelics. The Native American Church exemplifies Indigenous traditions that combine psychedelic substances with spirituality and healing in community settings to promote wellness. The authors argue that psychedelic risk management has deep historical roots in biomedical, cultural, and Indigenous communities, offering lessons for sustainable strategies going forward.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Harm reduction officially entered the public health lexicon in the 1980s as a response to the HIV/AIDS crisis and its spread amongst intravenous drug users, but risk prevention has been an important part of psychedelic consumption in ways that predate this formal conceptualization.We look at psychedelic drug trials in the 1950s and 1960s to consider how people-first perspectives informed those early clinical studies, and how pioneering psychedelic researchers themselves approached risk management at a time that predates the formal recognition of harm reduction. Next, we follow psychedelic drugs out of the clinic and into music scenes and festivals that proliferated during the war on the drugs, where community-based organizations stepped up to support music fans who chose to combine psychoactive substances with dancing and drugs at all-day festivals. Finally, we reflect on the longer history and traditions of the Native American Church as one specific example of how Indigenous ceremonies involving psychedelic substances combined spirituality and healing in a community setting curated to promote wellness. Ultimately, we argue that psychedelic risk management has deep historical roots in psychedelic communities representing biomedical, cultural, and Indigenous perspectives - we might heed these historical lessons as we consider how to promote sustainable risk management strategies with psychedelics going forward.