Plant Medicines, Healing and Psychedelic Science

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xviii

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2. Who Is Keeping Tabs? LSD Lessons from the Past for the Future

   • Erika Dyck

   Pages 1-17

3. Peyote’s Race Problem

   • Alexander Dawson

   Pages 19-35

4. Undiscovering the Pueblo Mágico: Lessons from Huautla for the Psychedelic Renaissance

   • Ben Feinberg

   Pages 37-54

5. The Use of Salvia divinorum from a Mazatec Perspective

   • Ana Elda Maqueda

   Pages 55-70

6. Examining the Therapeutic Potential of Kratom Within the American Drug Regulatory System

   • O. Hayden Griffin III

   Pages 71-85

7. Bubbling with Controversy: Legal Challenges for Ceremonial Ayahuasca Circles in the United States

   • Kevin Feeney, Beatriz Caiuby Labate, J. Hamilton Hudson

   Pages 87-111

8. Integrating Psychedelic Medicines and Psychiatry: Theory and Methods of a Model Clinic

   • Jordan Sloshower

   Pages 113-132

9. Whole Organisms or Pure Compounds? Entourage Effect Versus Drug Specificity

   • Sidarta Ribeiro

   Pages 133-149

10. Placebo Problems: Boundary Work in the Psychedelic Science Renaissance

    • Katherine Hendy

    Pages 151-166

11. Psychedelic Naturalism and Interspecies Alliance: Views from the Emerging Do-It-Yourself Mycology Movement

    • Joanna Steinhardt

    Pages 167-184

12. Plant Knowledges: Indigenous Approaches and Interspecies Listening Toward Decolonizing Ayahuasca Research

    • Laura Dev

    Pages 185-204

13. Gnosis Potency: DMT Breakthroughs and Paragnosis

    • Graham St John

    Pages 205-222

14. Back Matter

    Pages 223-227

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This is a book about the intersections of three dimensions. The first is the way social scientists and historians treat the history of psychiatry and healing, especially as it intersects with psychedelics. The second encompasses a reflection on the substances themselves and their effects on bodies. The third addresses traditional healing, as it circles back to our understanding of drugs and psychiatry. The chapters explore how these dimensions are distinct, but deeply intertwined, themes that offer important insights into contemporary healing practices.


The intended audience of the volume is large and diverse: neuroscientists, biologists, medical doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists; mental health professionals interested in the therapeutic application of psychedelic substances, or who work with substance abuse, depression, anxiety, and PTSD; patients and practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine; ethnobotanists and ethnopharmacologists; lawyers, criminologists, and other specialists in international law working on matters related to drug policy and human rights, as well as scholars of religious studies, anthropologists, sociologists, and historians; social scientists concerned both with the history of science, medicine, and technology, and concepts of health, illness, and healing. It has a potentially large international audience, especially considering the increasing interest in “psychedelic science” and the growing spread of the use of traditional psychoactives in the West.

• Psychedelics
• Psychedelic Science
• Psychiatry
• Ethnography
• Ethnobotany
• Plant Medicine
• Healing
• Ayahuasca
• Mushrooms
• Psilocybin
• Iboga
• Ibogaine
• Peyote
• LSD
• Kratom
• Cannabis
• DMT
• Placebo
• Plant Teacher
• Funghi

“Readers ranging from medical doctors, anthropologists, ethnobotanists, patients and practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine to those who work in law, drug policy, and human rights will find utility in this work. … Plant Medicines is a fascinating and timely work on the topic of current cultural research associated with psychedelic plants and fungi. It’s engaging, accessible to a broad audience, and appropriate for both enthusiasts and professionals who are looking for new information about these intriguing and engaging organisms.” (Esther Jackson, Economic Botany, Vol. 73 (1), 2019)

• East-West Psychology Program, California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), San Francisco, USA

  Beatriz Caiuby Labate

• Psychiatric Alternatives, San Francisco, USA

  Clancy Cavnar

Beatriz Caiuby Labate has a Ph.D. in social anthropology from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil. Her main areas of interest are the study of psychoactive substances, drug policy, shamanism, ritual, and religion. She is Adjunct Faculty at the East-West Psychology Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco and Visiting Professor at the Center for Research and Post Graduate Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS) in Guadalajara. She is co-founder of the Drugs, Politics, and Culture Collective, in Mexico (http://drogaspoliticacultura.net), and co-founder of the Interdisciplinary Group for Psychoactive Studies (NEIP) in Brazil, as well as editor of NEIP’s website (http://www.neip.info). She is also Chief Editor at Chacruna (http://chacruna.net). She is author, co-author, and co-editor of seventeen books, one special-edition journal, and several peer-reviewed articles (http://bialabate.net).

Clancy Cavnar has a doctorate in clinical psychology (Psy.D.) from John F. Kennedy University in Pleasant Hill, CA. She currently works in private practice in San Francisco, and is an associate editor at Chacruna (http://chacruna.net), a venue for publication of high-quality academic short texts on plant medicines. She is also a research associate of the Interdisciplinary Group for Psychoactive Studies (NEIP). She combines an eclectic array of interests and activities as clinical psychologist, artist, and researcher. She has a master of fine arts in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute, a master’s in counseling from San Francisco State University, and she completed the Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She is author and co-author of articles in several peer-reviewed journals and co-editor, with Beatriz Caiuby Labate, of eight books. For more information see: http://neip.info/pesquisadore/clancy-cavnar

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