“San Francisco’s Mission district has become synonymous with well-paid tech workers displacing non-white longtime residents. It’s now the setting for a new battle, as the coming psychedelic-industrial complex threatens to strip hallucinogenic drugs of their historical and religious significance.”
drugs
Posted inReading List
A New Leaf: A Post-Legalization Cannabis Reading List
Five stories demonstrating how the green rush nurtured the best and worst that U.S. capitalism had to offer.
Posted inNonfiction
The Cult That Promises to Cure Addiction
For 50 years, Enthusiastic Sobriety programs have offered to help teenagers kick drugs and alcohol. But former followers say ES doesn’t save lives—it destroys them.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Can Tripping on Ketamine Cure PTSD? I Decided to Try.
“While the precise mechanism at play remains unknown, when ketamine is effective, it can be like flipping a switch.”
Posted inNonfiction
Postcard from the (Literal) Edge
In an excerpt from her recovery memoir, Erin Khar recalls the depths of her self-destruction as a heroin addict.
Posted inNonfiction
Addiction’s Seismic Effects on a Family
A mother confronts the painful truths of trying to save a son who’s a danger not only to himself, but to the rest of the family as well.
Posted inCrime, Highlight, investigations, Quote Posts, Quotes
The Alabama “Corrections” System: An American Horror Story
“When you lay down to go to sleep, you better be prayed up, because there’s no guarantee you’re waking up.”
Posted inNonfiction
Carrying Histories of Protest
Jaquira Díaz witnesses her father’s rebellious fight for a better life, and her homeland’s fight for its place in the world.
Posted inBooks, History, Nonfiction, Story
In the Age of the Psychonauts
Three psycho-spiritual “events” of the 1970s — involving Philip K. Dick, Robert Anton Wilson, and Terence and Dennis McKenna — had a strange synchronicity.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Nonfiction, Story
Riding the Highs and Lows with My Mom
On a night out in the Hollywood hills, Valentina Valentini’s lifelong role-reversal with her mother becomes upended.