We must work to create a culture of transparency and accountability, and establish structures and support systems to ensure that victims of abuse are heard, supported, and given a voice. It is only through these efforts that we can hope to create a truly inclusive and responsible psychedelic community.

Psychedelic therapy is unique and unlike any other type of psychological or psychiatric therapy. And that is because true psychedelic medicines such as LSD and psilocybin have the potential to introduce a whole new spiritual, transpersonal or entheogenic dimension of human experience into this work. Now that doesn’t always happen, but when it does the effects can be profound.

As Dr Stephen Bright points out, ‘This decision makes Australia the first country in the world to recognise MDMA and Psilocybin as medicines.’ This means people who would benefit from these therapies have a chance at accessing them through legal channels.

Read on to learn the facts of the TGA decision as well as the implications for patients and people who use psilocybin and MDMA in non-clinical settings.

Experts have long advocated for alternative approaches to the policing led policies that currently exist. These evidence and health based approaches must be adopted as a matter of urgency to reduce the harms associated with the current policies and lessen the unnecessary burden of ineffectively attempting to enforce existing policies where resources could be better spent elsewhere by law enforcement, the justice system and public health agencies.

The Victorian Goldfields branch of the Australian Psychedelic Society, working in conjunction with Castlemaine’s historic Theatre Royal, recently featured the rural Victorian premiere of the Canadian Documentary, Dosed 2: The Trip of a Lifetime. After the sold-out screening, there was a lively panel discussion with some of Australia’s leading figures in the use of psychedelics in medicine.

At least as far back as 1919, a certain number of Masons believed that an extract of Acacia is the philosophers’ stone. But where did this idea come from?

As we have probably all heard by now, the Australian Capital Territory has passed the Drugs of Dependence (Personal Use) Amendment Act 2022. The act will come into effect on 28 October 2023, a delay intended to facilitate the approval of diversion programs and train police on the new amendments. The Australian Psychedelic Society believes this is a positive step in moving towards a fairer, more rational and health centred approach to the regulation of psychoactive substances in Australia… but there are caveats.

Alejandro Tuama's first-person account of a young man's journey of self-discovery through plant medicines is highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the subject, regardless of what stage they are at in their own journey.

APS Sydney's Cactus Day 2022 was something really special. The event showcased ‘old school’ expert cactus cultivators Mark Camo and Liam Engel.

Donate to the Australian Psychedelic Society!

“… some of the issues raised are highly relevant to the Australian Psychedelic Society’s mission & purpose and close to the hearts of everyone who volunteers with us. So, we would like to take the opportunity to re-state our positions on these general issues, and how we think the situation can be improved.”

With what seemed like the first APS book club meeting in some time convening at Newtown’s Rigpa ‘Temple on the Park’, despite almost none of the nearly 20 attendees having even read the book(!) there was a mild group contact high that soon electrified the room as author Rak Razam recounted his intrepid expedition into the Peruvian Amazon in 2006, when he attended the second ever Annual Shamanic Conference in the bustling jungle port-city of Iquitos.