The Gospel of Psychedelics According to Rick Doblin

Rick Doblin, Ph.D. founded the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) in 1986. He is now the Executive Director of an organization that studies and extols the role of psychedelics and marijuana in science, medicine, therapy, spirituality, culture, and policy.

Doblin has paid his dues and deserves to be listened too. He received his doctorate in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where he wrote his dissertation on the regulation of the medical uses of psychedelics and marijuana and his Master's Thesis on a survey of oncologists about smoked marijuana vs. the oral THC pill in nausea control for cancer patients.

His undergraduate thesis at New College of Florida was a 25-year follow-up to the classic Good Friday Experiment which evaluated the potential of psychedelic drugs to catalyze religious experiences. He also conducted a thirty-four year follow-up study to Timothy Leary’s Concord Prison Experiment. which administered psilocybin based meds to 32 prisoners in an effort to reduce recidivism.

His professional goal is to help develop legal contexts for the beneficial uses of psychedelics and marijuana, primarily as prescription medicines but also for personal growth for otherwise healthy people, and eventually to become a legally licensed psychedelic therapist.

MAPS is a 501(c)(3) non-profit research and educational organization that develops medical, legal, and cultural contexts for people to benefit from the use of psychedelics and marijuana. Using science to find solutions to mental health crises, MAPS is doing groundbreaking research into the development of psychedelic medicines to help heal people who suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other conditions using psychedelic medicines.