The psychedelics movement has come a long way in a hurry

A report from MAPS Psychedelic Science 2023 conference.

Historic is a word much overused in journalism, so we’ll leave it to others to say whether Psychedelic Science 2023 will be long remembered. But the gathering staged last week in Denver by the nonprofit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Science (MAPS) certainly felt momentous: It showcased the size, strength and diversity of the fast-growing movement to bring psychedelics into mainstream America.

Some 12,000 people — 12,000 people! — converged on the Colorado Convention Center. They were scientists, physicians, therapists, activists, investors, entrepreneurs, philanthropists and, yes, psychonauts who toured an exhibit hall where vendors sold books, T-shirts and grow-kits allowing anyone to propagate psilocybin mushrooms at home. They endured long days of panels and PowerPoints and enjoyed long nights of partying and partaking in mind-altering chemicals.

The conference offered plenty of serious conversation but a playful and mildly subversive vibe was never far from the surface. Carl Hart, a drug-reform activist, a heroine user and tenured professor of psychology at Columbia, warned that he might not be his best self as he took the stage for a 9:45 a.m. interview. “I don’t usually see the day…