Originally presented at the Capitalism and Mental Health Workshop, Birkbeck, University of London, Bloomsbury, 15 January 2026
Category Archives: Cannabis
‘Phantastica oder Halluzinatoria’: Louis Lewin, 1924 (2024)
In the 1924 seminal book known simply as ‘Phantastica’, Lewin talked about ‘Phantastica oder Halluzinatoria’.
November 5th: Trump and hallucinogens (2024)
Many of the figures close to Trump as major supporters both politically and in the media have a singular characteristic in common: they are public supporters, if not declared users, of hallucinogens. Substances such as ketamine, peyote or mescaline, magic mushrooms or psilocybin, LSD and the like.
What explains this incredible concentration of people in favor of powerful drugs like hallucinogens – including candidates for the coming second Trump administration – around the 45th and now 47th President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump ?
5 novembre: Trump e gli allucinogeni (2024)
Molti dei personaggi vicini a Trump come grandi sostenitori sia politici sia mediatici hanno una caratteristica singolare in comune: sono sostenitori pubblici, quando non usatori dichiarati, di allucinogeni.
Cosa spiega questa incredibile concentrazione di persone favorevoli a droghe potenti come gli allucinogeni intorno al 45mo e adesso 47mo Presidente degli Stati Uniti d’America, Donald J. Trump ?
Fentanyl, in Oregon è stato di emergenza. Ma c’è molto di più – ilGiornale.it (2024)
“La governatrice dell’Oregon ha dichiarato lo stato di emergenza per l’aumento di casi di overdose legati all’uso di questo potente antidolorifico oppioide. Nel 2020 un referendum depenalizzò l’uso di droghe. Abbiamo chiesto un commento all’epidemiologo Federico Soldani”
“The Hallucinogens”, 1967 treatise by Hoffer and Osmond (2024)
“It seems appropriate to continue using the term hallucinogens for a variety of substances which can produce reactions which may be psychotomimetic, psychedelic, or delirient, depending upon many other factors”.
Hallucinogens “may produce marked changes in our society”.
Hallucinogens: antidepressants hype, cubed (2023)
Such hype involves substances furthermore that by their very nature cannot be blinded or masked in rigorous clinical studies – think of masking or blinding a study participant for an hallucinogen – and about which the political hype is very high instead. At the end of each study, participants should routinely be asked a simple question, or a variation of it – entirely free of additional costs or time for researchers – which is not asked in major studies including the first randomised clinical trial published recently on this topic in the most prominent medical journal in the world, the New England Journal of Medicine, April 2021:
“What drug do you think you were given, the actual hallucinogen or the sugar pill?” Such type of question might perhaps help sedating the hype a little.
‘Amica psilo’. Fachinelli, 1989 (2023)
“Differenza rispetto ad altre ‘droghe’ – che gettano in un infinito galoppante, turbolento. Qui un addentramento lento, per piccoli spostamenti – oppure, ed è lo stesso, occhi che via via si aggiungono, altre visioni convergenti.
Non si tratta di ‘tagliare’ col mondo, con la realtà, violentemente. Per me, basta spostare dei fili, dei legami, come si spostano i rami di un albero per vedere il mare, una radura.
Lo spicco, lo splendore di ogni cosa nasce dalla sospensione dei suoi collegamenti – nel tempo, nello spazio, nell’ordine causale. Un rumore mi sorprende e mi fa sobbalzare, imprevisto, solitario: eppure è quello, familiare, di una porta che sbatte.”
“(Più tardi). I temuti flashback degli allucinogeni: ritorni di ciò che si è provato sotto il loro effetto qualche tempo dopo, in piena “sobrietà”. Come una via ormai tracciata – ritrovata.”
‘Entheogens’ and ‘The Road to Eleusis’ (2022)
“When the recent surge of recreational use of so-called ‘hallucinogenic’ or ‘psychedelic’ drugs first came to popular attention in the early 1960’s, it was commonly viewed with suspicion and associated with the behavior of deviant or revolutionary groups.”
“Not only is ‘psychedelic’ an incorrect verbal formation, but it has become so invested with connotations of the pop-culture of the 1960’s that it is incongruous to speak of a shaman’s taking a ‘psychedelic’ drug.”
“We therefore, propose a new term that would be appropriate for describing states of shamanic and ecstatic possession induced by ingestion of mind-altering drugs.”
‘Hallucinogens, not psychedelics’. A letter to the Editor of The New England Journal of Medicine (2021)
“Narcotics that induce hallucinations are variously called hallucinogens (hallucination generators), psychotomimetics (psychosis mimickers), psychotaraxics (mind disturbers), and psychedelics (mind manifesters).
No one term fully satisfies scientists, but hallucinogens comes closest. Psychedelic is most widely used in the United States, but it combines two Greek roots incorrectly, is biologically unsound, and has acquired popular meanings beyond the drugs or their effects.”
“Fuori di testa”, Peyote & Co. (2022)
“La musica e la psichedelia sono la mia cura” – Mace
‘Mario Draghi study group’, 2001. Venti anni dopo, sarà un finanziere a scortarci attraverso la pandemia nella matrix digitale e allucinogena? (2022)
Verso una Terza Repubblica cyber-psichedelica?
Un anno di PsyPolitics (2021)
Un rovesciamento del mito della caverna di Platone: anziche’ essere liberati dalla prigionia dei sensi e delle percezioni veicolate attraverso la cultura, la societa’, la storia, ovvero attraverso l’ego psicoanalitico, i cittadini trasformati in pazienti vengono sempre piu’ isolati tra loro, distanziati, fatti operare attraverso il digitale ovvero a distanza, e vengono cosi’ infilati in una caverna di isolamento digitale, virtuale e tra non molto allucinogena.
Sia ‘cibernetica’ che ‘psichedelico’ sono espressioni con una chiara origine politica.
Fino a che punto un capitalismo che si cinesizza puo’ vedere la convergenza teorica di ‘comunismo acido’ e ‘completamente automatizzato’ da una parte e di ‘cypsy capitalism’ o ‘capitalismo cyber-psichedelico’ dall’altra?
E’ possibile capire la caotica politica contemporanea attraverso lo studio della storia della psichiatria e delle psicodiscipline?
PsyPolitics intende continuare nell’analisi dei prepotenti fenomeni politici oggi in corso.
‘Pneumadelic’? Osmond, 1957: “my own preference being ‘psychelytic’, or ‘psychedelic’ ” /3 (2021)
“There is one golden rule that should be applied in working with model psychoses. One should start with oneself.”
“Our psychotomimetics resemble the hypothetical endotoxin that Carl Jung called toxin-X and that we have called M (mescalinelike) substance.”
Osmond views raise an interesting paradox of experience over logos: if in order to discuss rationally about such substances one has to use them and if using them disorganizes the psyche, would it ever be in fact possible to discuss rationally about them? Or the move to use them implies – a priori – an abandonment of human rationality?
‘Pneumadelic’? Osmond, 1957: “my own preference being ‘psychelytic’, or ‘psychedelic’ ” (2021)
The broader political meaning of these substances was stated by Osmond from the very birth of the word ‘psychedelic’.
‘Psychelytic’ would appear to be in line with a Gnostic worldview – as presented by Eric Voegelin – requiring the dissolution or disintegration of the psyche. However, instead of psychedelic, for the pneuma to be revealed or manifested a more appropriate term could be ‘pneumadelic’.