Using 2010 data derived from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, EmmaSofia’s Teri Krebs (Dept Neuroscience, Norwegian University of Science and Technology) and Pål-Ørjan Johansen (clinical psychologist), from Oslo, Norway, published a peer-reviewed study in 2013, Over 30 million psychedelic users in the United States. Their study of data revealed “[t]here were approximately 32 million lifetime psychedelic users in the US in 2010…”
That is a startling and yet unsurprising figure. It means that ten percent of the total United States population voluntarily, albeit anonymously, self-identify as psychedelics users.
Ten percent is not an inconsequential demographic. Putting this in perspective, as of 2010 (the same year the study data was pulled) African Americans comprised twelve percent of the total United States population. Or, in contrast, consider that people who identify as Jewish in the United States make up two percent of the population. Psychedelics users comprise a massive 32-million-person demographic. Yet, unlike religious groups or races, psychedelics users are mostly invisible.
Why don’t we hear about these people? Stigma. The price to pay by coming out of the psychedelics closet is way too high.
Look at the price venerable rocker Neal Young almost paid for his mere marijuana use. In November 2019, the New York Times reported that Young’s quest for United States citizenship could get derailed, simply due to his marijuana use. Neal Young has lived in the United States for decades and has lived a reasonably crime-free and respectable life. But his engagement with cannabis could have cost him dearly. [In a January 2020 report on CNN, Young was ultimately granted dual citizenship.]
Neal Young is a millionaire and can afford to hire good lawyers. What about you? Coming out of the psychedelics closet could cost you immigration status, employment, personal relationships, insurance benefits, medical coverage, and a confession could lead to possible criminal entanglements. Small wonder people – especially those in high profile places or in positions of leadership – clam up about psychedelics.
Ten percent of the population is worth listening to. More important, if it were known that this ten percent existed – and even more important, who comprises this ten percent – the conversation on psychedelics would extend to a broader audience than the echo chambers in which the conversation is presently trapped. The catch is that wanting people to come out of the closet is wholly different than asking them to come out of the closet. But be clear, it is rude and reckless to ask someone to out themselves. Yet, a solution is needed if rational public discourse is to take root.
The question of psychedelics requires a human face, because it is a human story. That story needs attribution to high-profile people who can give honest voice to a greater truth, and reassurance to the public. There is a nexus between Huxley’s approach and Leary’s approach, where rational and trustworthy community leaders join the masses in common dialogue. That moment is now. In the coming months, I will be building into this website a place for people’s stories, where community leaders might volunteer their experiences. [You are invited to contribute.]
As we saw in movements like marriage equality and #metoo, bravery begets bravery, and as leaders step forward more are apt to find the courage and selflessness to join them in the sunlight.
Gary Michael Smith is an attorney and arbitrator and founding member of the Phoenix Arizona-based Guidant Law Firm. He is also a founding director and current president of the Arizona Cannabis Bar Association, board member of the Arizona Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, and contributing author to GreenEntrepreneur.