Facilitating the Sacred: The Role of Chaplains in Psychedelic Law and Policy

Summary

Psychedelic substances in the United States are becoming more accessible, with Oregon and Colorado passing laws that allow legal access without a prescription. Pharmaceutical companies are researching these substances for FDA approval, and some religious groups are permitted to use them spiritually. The primary method of access is described as a 'facilitated use model,' where individuals receive psychedelics in controlled settings under supervision. Currently, this is the only model for accessing regulated psychedelics in the U.S.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The law and policy surrounding psychedelic substances in the United States is in its infancy. At the time of writing, two states, Oregon and Colorado, have passed laws that create legal access points for regulated psychedelic substances and do not require a doctor’s recommendation or prescription for access. Several psychedelic substances are also being researched by pharmaceutical companies in the United States within the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) drug approval process. Additionally, there is federally permitted religious and spiritual use for certain psychedelic churches, as other authors in this volume discuss. Whether as a possible medicine at the federal level, a quasi-medicine/recreational substance at the state level or as a sacrament used in a spiritual community, psychedelics are administered in what I describe as a “facilitated use model.” In this model, an individual is given a psychedelic substance in a controlled setting under the supervision of a trained facilitator or clinician. As of now, there are no other models for access to regulated psychedelics in the United States outside of a “facilitated use model.”