Standing in the Gap: Psychedelic Advocacy, Communities of Color, and the Politics of Knowledge Production
Anthropology of Consciousness December 1, 2025 T. Reuter, Fanicy Sears, Lisa L. Gezon
Advocates for psychedelic medicine face institutional resistance even when proposing academic panels on the topic. This case study examines efforts to include a panel on psychedelic therapies in a university symposium on substance use and social justice in the Southeast United States. Mental health professionals sought to discuss safe use of psychedelics, which remain illegal and have been disproportionately enforced against people of color. Organizers resisted due to legal concerns and limited clinical trial data. The paper argues that such resistance reflects knowledge politics and structural power imbalances in academic spaces, and warns against tokenism in community-engaged research. It calls for more inclusive and equitable approaches to these conversations.