Summary

“A Renaissance.” Pollan traces the rebirth of scientific and cultural interest in the benefits of psychedelic drugs to three events in 2006. First, a celebration of the 100th birthday of Albert Hoffman, a scientist who accidentally discovered the LSD molecule and whose experiments on himself (the only such experiments, Pollan notes, conducted without any preconceived ideas) revealed both the possible positive and negative results of the use of the drug. Second, a decision by the United States Supreme Court legalizing the use of a particular psychedelic substance (ayahuasca) as part of the religious practice of a small but recognized religion. Third, the publishing of a scientific paper written by respected researcher Roland Griffiths and notable for its scientifically rigorous, peer-reviewed, positively regarded documentation of thoroughly planned experiments into the effects of LSD. The paper was accompanied, Pollan adds, by an editorial written by...