What is the relationship between plant medicine and traditional Western medicine – and what does it mean for the future of mainstream, regulated psychedelics treatment? 

Health journalist and former Cambridge University neuroscientist David Cox joins us today to talk about big picture psychedelics use. From the stigma of plant medicine to the role of big pharma’s involvement to the therapeutic value of tripping, today’s episode is all about how the decades-long controversy behind psychedelics is rapidly giving way to acceptance in Western medicine – and what a world of regulated psychedelics use might soon look like. 

In This Episode

• (4:50) The stigma of alternative medicine and psychedelics 
• (07:41) The psychedelics “gold rush”: Why now? 
• (10:01) The double-edged sword of big pharma’s involvement in psychedelics 
• (15:03) Plant medicine vs herbal remedies
• (17:27) The impact of regulatory superstructures in the psychedelics experience 
• (19:56) What does a “clinical trip” look like?
• (23:56) The therapeutic value of tripping
• (26:03) The scientific community’s resistance to psychedelics as a treatment
• (30:04) The future of mainstream psychedelics 

Guest

David Cox is a freelance health journalist for The Guardian, BBC News, Wired, TIME and more. He is also a former Cambridge University neuroscientist and mental health researcher.

Resources & Links

David Cox

• https://twitter.com/DrDavidACox
• drdavidcox.contently.com

Webdelics

• https://www.webdelics.com/