In June 2025, Texas approved a historical law, supported by former governor Rick Perry, who assigns 50 million dollars to support research on Ibogaine, one of the most powerful psychedelic, in the treatment of opioid addiction and post -traumatic stress disorder resistant to conventional therapies.
In May, Arizona approved a similar law to finance studies on the efficacy of ibogaine in the treatment of veterans and people with traumatic brain injuries.
These initiatives are added to those of states such as Oregon, Colorado, Kentucky and Georgia, which in the last two years have legalized ketamine – a psychedelic used as anesthetic in emergency rooms – for therapeutic purposes.
In general terms, psychedelics are psychoactive substances that alter perception, cognition and mood through their interaction with neurotransmitters such as serotonin.
The medical anthropologist, Pardis Mahdavi, I have dedicated 25 years to the study of alternative approaches for mental health treatments, and in the last four it has focused, specifically, on the impact of psychedelics on consciousness and spirituality.
The impulse to legalize these substances in the US is not new. However, what distinguishes this last support wave is the support of a kind of “Holy Trinity” of supporters: scientists, political and clergy. Historically, various religious groups used psychedelic for spiritual healing purposes, and some religious leaders who had recent contact with these medicines advocate their use to obtain mystical revelations.
What does science say?
There are different types of psychedelics. Classics include lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin (active component of hallucinogenic fungi) and mescaline, present in peyote and San Pedro cactus. Another is the N-Dimethylectamine (DMT), active substance in ayahuasca and other plants.
Beyond classic psychedelics, other psychoactive substances associated with this group include MDMA, capable of inducing feelings of love, empathy and connection. A 2021 study showed that, after three sessions of assisted therapy with MDMA, PTSD symptoms were reduced by 67% in a sample of 104 participants, which marked a turning point in its consideration as therapeutic modality.
To this category are added dissociative agents such as ketamine, which can induce altered states of consciousness. Although it was developed as anesthetic, today it becomes relevant in mental health, particularly for its antidepressant effects.
Ibogaine, derived from the Iboga plant originally from West Africa, produces intense visions and dreams. It was used for centuries by traditional healers to deal with problems such as anxiety and depression.
A review of 24 studies published in 2022 by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) revealed that Ibogaine significantly reduced depression, PTSD and opioid addiction in at least two thirds of 743 participants. These findings coincide with a 2024 Stanford study, which recorded a 88% reduction in PTSD symptoms after use in 30 military veterans.
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The clergy and the psychedelics
Backed by this evidence, several mental and scientific health professionals defended assisted therapy with psychedelics. The novelty is now the adhesion of high profile clergy to this movement.
A recent study from the University of New York and Johns Hopkins included episcopal ministers, Catholic priests, rabbis and Zen monks: 24 of the 29 participants agreed that psychedelics can lead to deep spiritual experiences.
An article of The New Yorker May 2025 stressed that several of these religious leaders became defenders of the use of psychedelics such as spiritual medicine. Although the sample was small and mostly made up of Christian leaders, the results are notable: 96% described the consumption of psychedelics as one of the five most significant spiritual experiences of their lives.
Another study, conducted by the NIH in 2019, focused on the effects of the DMT and revealed that 75% of the 42 participants reported an “intense mystical encounter” that brought them closer to the divine. They said to have seen flashes of white light, heard angelic sounds, a tingling in the body and experienced an overwhelming feeling of God’s love.
A ‘contact with God’
In churches that use psychedelic as a sacrament, leaders describe these substances as facilitators of a deeper connection with the divine. During the services, psychedelics are administered and then chants, prayers or meditations are sung. Several leaders with whom I talked describe their function as a means to intensify concentration in God for a longer time.
The American Native Church, considered the largest indigenous organization in the United States, has legally used the peyote in its rituals since the 1990s. The Law of Religious Freedom of the American Indians of 1994 allows the use and transport of Peyote in ritual contexts, despite being a substance of list 1, which implies that, in principle, it is illegal except for the exemptions contemplated in the law.
More recently, churches emerged that employ ayahuasca as a sacrament. In May 2025, the Gaia church, in Spokane (Washington), became one of the first to receive an exemption from the DEA for the ritual use of this drink.
A shaman who leads a ayahuasca church in Hawaii told me last year that psychedelics are a “tesilla towards God”, given the number of people in their congregation that report having perceived the divine after consuming it.
“There is no doubt that psychedelics can induce deep spiritual experiences,” explains a priest who now defends psilocybin. “If this is what can unite people and return to church, then harmonize ancestral customs with medicinal plants, modern technologies and religion could be the way of healing social evils.”
Proceed cautiously
Although most classic psychedelics are considered safe and do not generate addiction, they also carry risks. Its use can induce acute anxiety, panic or paranoia attacks, and even in extreme cases, psychotic episodes or suicidal thoughts, especially in people with a history of schizophrenia or other serious mental diseases.
In addition, they can temporarily affect judgment and coordination, increasing the risk of accidents or dangerous behaviors if consumed in recreational contexts. These risks are aggravated by the variability in the dose, the adulteration of substances and the absence of trained facilitators.
Therefore, most mental health professionals and defenders of these therapies recommend that their consumption be carried out under the supervision of doctors or spiritual guides with training in preparation, accompaniment and subsequent care.
For indigenous shamans and practitioners, these substances are sacred medicines used in healing processes. Modern science begins to confirm some of its benefits, both in the treatment of trauma and addiction and in their ability to offer mystical experiences that allow people to connect with the divine.
Continue reading: Legalization of drugs to debate: Reflections from mental health
*Pardis Mahdavi She is a professor of Anthropology, University of La Verne.
This article was originally published in The Conversation
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