Entheogens?

A reader emails: "A local 'institute' steps into the New Age mumbo jumbo." She links to the website of Usona Institute, "a medical research organization." Its "affiliates and collaborators" include The University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics and University of Wisconsin – Madison School of Pharmacy. The first link goes to a page headed "about," which has a fuzzy photo of a woman silhouetted against a mountain ridge and the following text:

When those we love are in pain, human nature compels us to help. We try conventional methods to show our compassion, but sometimes they fall short. So we search for answers outside traditional boundaries to respond to those situations that are deeply challenging.

Our immediate goal is simple. We want to help people with a life-threatening cancer diagnosis lift their anxiety and depression with the therapeutic, guided use of entheogens* which can serve as a potential adjuncts to currently available treatments. We’ve witnessed this unique experience and have seen how many patients have attained a richer, more meaningful quality of life. It’s an experience that may help them achieve what every person desires before they breathe their last breath—closer interpersonal relationships and inner peace.
Rigorous studies suggest entheogens are a safe, successful treatment in a clinical environment.

Usona was founded by Bill Linton, CEO and Founder of Promega Corporation “Our objective is to find new and effective methods to relieve anxiety and suffering, and contribute to understanding of neuroscience and the relationship of the mind and body. This is a frontier of research that will shape our future in important ways that we are just beginning to appreciate.”

*The term “entheogen” is frequently used in historical and anthropological literature to describe plant medicines used in sacred practices. In medical contexts, the term “psychedelic” is more commonly applied as an accurate descriptor of hallucinogenic and consciousness-expanding medicines.

Entheogens, eh? I see "theo" in there, and that means God. What kind of "historical and anthropological literature" are we talking about? Studies of Native American religion? Wikipedia's entry for "Entheogens" begins:

An entheogen ("generating the divine within") is a chemical substance used in a religious, shamanic, or spiritual context that may be synthesized or obtained from natural species. The chemical induces altered states of consciousness, psychological or physiological (e.g. bullet ant venom used by the Satere-Mawe people). Entheogens can supplement many diverse practices for transcendence, and revelation, including meditation, yoga, and prayer, psychedelic and visionary art, chanting, and music including peyote song and psytrance, traditional medicine and psychedelic therapy, witchcraft, magic, and psychonautics.

And now I'm remembering that New York Times article from last March: "LSD, Reconsidered for Therapy." I blogged that under the post-title "Beyond medical marijuana, psychotherapeutic LSD."

So what do you think — New Age mumbo jumbo or acceptable psychotherapy with drugs? If LSD or other psychedelic drugs are helpful in dealing with the anxiety and depression of cancer patients, would you want to demand that therapists speak only in terms of science or would you allow them to get a bit religion-y? Does your answer depend on whether any public money pays for the therapy — a separation of religion-and-state principle? Religion certainly helps some people deal with illness, and we don't even need to believe in religion to believe that.

Do you want a separation of religion and medicine? If yes, why? You might say because religion isn't subject to the regime of science, but the question isn't whether religion is true, but whether religion is useful to the patient — and that can be studied scientifically. You might say it's because the religion that would be concocted by these therapists won't be true religion, but only what works to relieve the suffering of the patients. If that's your argument, you need to examine why you want to deprive people of a psychological treatment that works. Is it because you care about true religion and want to clear false religions from the marketplace of ideas? Is it because you care about truth so much you don't want other people to be tempted to embrace beliefs that are not true?

In the comments section of my post from last March, The Godfather wrote:

We all face death. We shouldn't need LSD to ease the realization that we're about to die. If we are blessed with awareness of imminent death, we can make plans for those we leave behind, make peace, and prepare our souls. In my last days, I would prefer to be as aware as possible, not stoned. I might have to reconsider if I'm in serious pain, but even then I doubt that LSD is the drug of choice.

That's a statement about personal choice, imagined (admittedly) at a point before any choice needs to be made. The question is what drugs, delusions, illusions, and visualizations should be in the array of choices available to individuals who are suffering? But once we get that far, why do we have to be suffering? If we're all free to have our own religion — true, semi-true, false, or ridiculous — why can't we all have our entheogens?

In the imagined future world of Freedom of Entheogens, you may be thinking what will I choose? Is bullet ant venom right for me?

The Satere-Mawe people of Brazil use intentional bullet ant stings as part of their initiation rites to become a warrior. The ants are first rendered unconscious by submerging them in a natural sedative, and then hundreds of them are woven into a glove made of leaves (which resembles a large oven mitt), stingers facing inward. When the ants regain consciousness, a boy slips the glove onto his hand. The goal of this initiation rite is to keep the glove on for a full 10 minutes. When finished, the boy's hand and part of his arm are temporarily paralyzed because of the ant venom, and he may shake uncontrollably for days. The only "protection" provided is a coating of charcoal on the hands, supposedly to confuse the ants and inhibit their stinging. To fully complete the initiation, however, the boys must go through the ordeal a total of 20 times over the course of several months or even years.

Oh, come on. It's like acupuncture!