The biggest news, arguably, this millennium for the psychedelic field is that, this summer, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rejected MDMA therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. Since the dawn of psychedelic science’s second wave, the industry projected that MDMA would be the first federally legal psychedelic in the U.S. and that this would not only pave the way for a new paradigm of clinics and treatments domestically, but that other countries around the globe would follow. Now, the psychedelic movement is having a reckoning as advocates look to alternate routes to provide access, from reform at the state level to black market products in smoke shops and a largely unregulated, but booming ketamine industry.
In this issue, we look at what all this means for the future of psychedelics. Meanwhile, we honor the indigenous stewards who continue, regardless of what the psychedelic industry is doing, to fight for the biocultural preservation of their ancestral ways. We walk along the sacred black sands of the Southeastern shore of Hawaiʻi, currently at risk of development, and travel to the state of Campeche in southeastern Mexico, where Mayan beekeepers are going up against industrialized farming to protect hives they believe are critical to the survival of the planet.
We also detail the intimate stories of people who are carving out their own healing paths, from a rise in folks sitting in complete darkness as a spiritual practice to a woman who journeys on iboga to treat her OCD. Through these stories, a theme of resilience emerges: Resilience on the part of psychedelic advocates who won’t be deterred by the FDA; people who are determined to heal whether or not the medical system supports them in doing so; and indigenous leaders who, after generations of exploitation and neglect, are still fighting to protect delicate ecosystems worldwide. In this moment, there is much despair, but we also find cause for hope.
