The Causes of and Concerns with the Psychedelic Renaissance

In recent years, a widespread interest in the use and therapeutic application of psychedelics has emerged in what has been called a “psychedelic renaissance.” The primary purpose of this thesis is to lay out the reasons behind the psychedelic renaissance. Though research in the form of conducting interviews as well as analyzing a plethora of varied sources, I have concluded that the psychedelic renaissance is the fruit of five driving factors: 1) the mental health crisis in the United States; 2) widespread skepticism of Big Pharma; 3) the pathbreaking example of marijuana; 4) a revaluation of psychedelics through the figure of the “responsible drug user;” and 5) the emergence of wellness culture. As such, the availability of legal psychedelics is no longer an absurd concept. In laying out both the dystopic and exciting possibilities that psychedelics present, it becomes clear that a straightforward answer as to whether or not the benefits of psychedelics outweigh the harms of making them widely available does not necessarily exist.