Expanding Our Horizons – NYC’s Psychedelic Drug Conference

Story by Chiara Luxe
Art by Peripheral Media Projects

Evidence of a psychedelic renaissance continues to multiply, with the Horizons: Contemporary Perspectives on Psychedelics conference convening at Judson Memorial Church in New York City this past October. More than 300 people gathered at the artistic - and social justice - minded stained-glass landmark to hear eight speakers from around the country lecture on psychedelic research, which is seeing more active studies worldwide now than in the past 35 years. Many of the speakers integrated historical lessons with current findings, creating a wonderful opportunity for psychedelic enthusiasts to get their facts straight.

Many attendees were surprised to learn from Michael Mithoefer, MD, that there is a legal MDMA study in progress here in the US. Kenneth Alper, MD, discussed ibogaine, the psychoactive substance of the West Central African plant iboga, as an effective treatment for opioid addiction. The therapeutic potential of psilocybin was explored with Charles S. Grob, MD, and Ethan Nadelmann, PhD, analyzed efforts to include psychedelics in drug policy reform. Visionary artstars Alex and Allyson Grey rounded out the bill by describing the role of psychedelics in their spiritual and artistic quests.

Beyond academic analysis, the event featured a concurrent art exhibition that provided a non-verbal exploration of psychedelic ideas from mathematics to therapy and technology to self-reflection. The gallery, besides eliciting wonder and delight from those who wandered into the sensorial overload, created an exploratory salon-like atmosphere that also provided a place of convergence for the intellectuals, artists, libertarians and psychonauts - whose interests in psychedelics originate from many different sources - to interact and exchange ideas.

Precisely because of their illegal status, myths and misinformation on psychedelics abound, and the potential value of many of these substances has been buried due to fear mongering. Inspired by the Spirit of Basel, the international LSD conference on Albert Hoffman’s 100th birthday, Horizons aims to return annually, spreading knowledge, building community, and igniting change.

Audio and video of the event can be found at: horizonsnyc.org.