Just about everyone who has chosen the path of sobriety/recovery, particularly those on the 12 step path, would agree that their lived experience of sobriety runs far deeper than a mere avoidance of a beverage or pill. They’ve consciously chosen to put aside certain substances or practices that had become compulsive, wrecking their peace of mind, and dimming their vitality. They yearned not for mere abstinence but for a different experience of life, a new way of being that values thoughtful intention over compulsiveness, serenity over chaos, and vitality over depression (many people refer to this as a ‘spiritually-oriented’ way of life - semantics matter little!) Those deeply-held personal values are arguably the true litmus test for whether using psychedelics is aligned with our personal concept of sobriety: is it intentional and mindful, rather than compulsive? Is it supporting my serenity, or the opposite? Is it stoking my vitality, or robbing me of it? We can trust that the same innermost compass that led us toward sobriety can continue to guide us. It can be hard to trust this compass when there’s so much stigma and misunderstanding about psychedelics woven through the recovery community and the world at large, but if we remember that we’re the ones who sought and defined our sobriety (way of being) in the first place, it becomes much easier to avoid using other peoples’ concepts of sobriety as a measuring stick for our own. And beyond all this deep personal reckoning stuff, it’s worth remembering that in AA, the third tradition states that ‘the only requirement for membership is the desire to stop drinking.’ Period. AA exists to help people put down alcohol and then cultivate a vital, connected, joyful way of being that naturally insulates us from craving booze, such that in AA language: "the obsession has been lifted.” AA simply is not and never was a program of blanket abstinence. Some people in AA feel that using psychedelics or any mind-altering substance would feel contrary to their personal sobriety. But this decision is just that: personal. As is each of our decisions about what feels aligned with our sobriety and what doesn’t.

The Psychedelic Sobriety Project is fueled by a passionate curiosity about this very question - and a deep belief that its ever-unfolding answer lies in the principled pursuit and sharing of personal experiences. We can’t theorize our way forward. We must be willing to transcend the stigma about psychedelics in the recovery community so that we can, as the poet Rilke urges, “live the questions.” And whether we’re in engaged in psychedelic-assisted therapy or participating in ayahuasca ceremonies or microdosing for consciousness expansion, we must have the courage to speak of what we find: as the cultural narratives about psychedelics and recovery are being actively formed, they will default to dogma unless we choose to imbue them with the truth of our lived experience. Whether the recovery community confronts the Psychedelic Rennaisance proactively or sits by passively, we are making a choice via our action or inaction. The Psychedelic Sobriety Project advocates for a thoughtful, intentional reckoning that has the power to not only transform the culture of 12-step recovery, but widen the tent of sobriety culture to be inviting not only to those of us who have recovered from addiction, but to those who opt to live in a spiritually-grounded way that keeps potential addiction at bay. The term ‘psychedelic’ was made up by two people in the 1950s, as they grasped for language that might begin to convey the profound and rather unusual effects of certain plants on human consciousness. ‘Psychedelic,’ which means ‘mind-manifesting,’ points to the power of plants such as peyote cacti and psylocibin mushrooms (and their synthetic-yet-nature-derived cousins like LSD) to effectuate profound and lasting shifts in the human psyche: shifts that are not only profound but heavily shaped by the conscious intentions of the person or group partaking of these substances. Many of the plants we’d now characterize as ‘psychedelics’ have been used by humans for thousands of years, often in the context of societal rituals, healing, or rites of passage: experiences that are intentionally-orchestrated to promote the well-being and success of individuals and collective societies. While our species’ meaningful relationship with ‘psychedelic’ plants is ancient and far from new, what is new is our quest to define our relationship with psychedelics in the current cultural moment. The reality of their transformative potential has broken back through into the mainstream mind, and now we’re aflutter with reckoning: Spiritually-affirmative preventative folk medicine or tightly-regulated cutting-edge mental health treatment for sickest among us? An illuminating catalyst for our exploration of the nature and potential of human consciousness for the betterment of the individual and the world? Or a verboten, psychosis-inducing drug of which possession could land one in prison for years? Amidst this noisy, impassioned din of curiosity, controversy and creativity that is shaping our cultural relationship with psychedelics, there is one particular debate that begs for our urgent attention and conversation while the clay of culture-making is still wet: Will we choose to view psychedelics as fundamentally dangerous and addictive, thus setting psychedelic use in direct opposition to sobriety, or will we choose to see psychedelics as fundamentally natural, life-affirming gifts from nature that can be used to cultivate clarity, creativity and connectivity - the qualities that are the very essence of sobriety? How we choose to culturally frame psychedelics vis-a-vis sobriety has profound implications not just for individuals in the recovery community but for the social frameworks related to drinking, drugs and recovery that will guide generations to come. The Psychedelic Sobriety Project cultivates this critical collective cultural conversation, with the great hope that as we gradually reclaim and reinvent our relationship with these ancient medicines, we walk forward with deep intentionality, clarity and connectedness - in a spirit of sobriety.

Whether or not to use psychedelics is an entirely personal decision, just like the decision whether or not to drink alcohol. The Psychedelic Sobriety Project advocates for thoughtful, open-minded dialogue and experience-sharing that will help people make those personal decisions on the basis of facts and intuition, rather than on misinformation and stigma. That said, The Psychedelic Sobriety Project does lean-in on the idea that the recovery culture is ripe for a Psychedelic (R)evolution!

Quite the opposite! What began as a passion project of a handful of desperate drunks in Brooklyn in 1939 has, in less than 100 years, grown to become the largest-scale mutual aid effort in all of human history. Millions of people around the world have a shared language and set of practices that offers a clear roadmap for those who wish to rise above their enslavement to alcohol or other harmful obsessions and live a satisfying life. AA and other 12-step spin-off programs welcome anyone who seeks support, without any requirement to contribute money or espouse any metaphysical beliefs. It’s a rare and beautiful expression of human goodwill and collaboration. The Psychedelic Sobriety Project is not at all aimed at dismantling AA - in fact it hopes to preserve and strengthen AA’s ability to catalyze good in the world, by helping it to evolve in line with the changing times. AA itself - as defined by its literature - does not prohibit its members from using psychedelics (or anything else); indeed it encourages each member’s pursuit of personal truth and growth, noting in its Traditions that AA has ‘no opinion on outside issues.’ But in any human collective endeavor, dogma is all but guaranteed to take shape: perspectives and ideas that gain cultural momentum can become hardened into ostensible ‘truths,’ and are presented as such. AA is no exception. The Psychedelic Sobriety Project not only advocates for the destigmatization of psychedelics in AA and the wider recovery culture, it invites personal and collective conversation about ways that psychedelics can contribute to the essential ‘Spiritual Experience’ described in the appendix to the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book. Bill Wilson, the founder of AA, explored LSD in the 1950s and passionately believed that it could be of great help to many members, particularly those who struggled to have the requisite spiritual experience. Some 75 years later, The Psychedelic Sobriety Project carries on with Bill’s curiosity, but with one fascinating difference: this time around, it’s not a mere theory based on personal experience: there are now a great number of AA members who have lived experiences to share about how psychedelics have transformed their 12-step spiritual journeys. From the very inception of AA, the practice of sharing deep, authentic personal experiences has been at the heart of the program’s appeal and effectiveness. The Psychedelic Sobriety Project very much embraces that spirit of camraderie and mutual support, and hopes that through our experience-sharing, we can help one another thoughtfully face and embrace this era of psychedelic zeitgeist.

Not at all. The vast majority people who got sober did so with the support AA or another 12-step fellowship, simply because that’s become the largest and most accessible platform at this moment in history. Anywhere in the world, alcoholics and addicts who are seeking help can walk (or log!) into a 12-step meeting and find people speaking a common spiritual language and supporting each other in practices like sponsorship, meetings and step work. It’s saved countless lives and done immense good in the world. Naturally there are plenty of people who choose to get and stay sober outside the 12 step model, and they confront the same cultural stigma surrounding psychedelic use: ‘how can you call yourself sober when you use psychedelic drugs?’ The Psychedelic Sobriety Project seeks to answer that question - not by providing a definitive blanket answer, because each person’s experience of sobriety is distinctive. Rather, the aim is to create space for open-minded exploration and experience-sharing. There are a growing number of sober-identifying people both inside and outside 12-step recovery who not only use psychedelics safely, but consider their psychedelic use to be an essential part of their 12-step spiritual practice and/or general spiritual well-being. The moment has come for those voices to surface and illuminate the path for others. And it’s time for us to have thoughtful collective conversations that have the power to re-shape cultural norms not only within recovery culture, but in the spheres of science, mental health, and beyond.

The National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) says that “Limited research suggests that use of psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin and LSD, does not typically lead to addiction.” (Source). Ketamine, which has similar effects but different neurological mechanisms than classic psychedelics, isn’t physically addictive, but does have meaningful abuse potential, mainly when used frequently, outside the context of psychedelic-assisted therapy. Even though psychedelics have proven remarkably safe relative to other drugs, they’re powerful substances that alter our consciousness and help us access deep aspects of our psyche. As such, it makes sense to be extremely mindful and intentional about whether and how to engage with them. The Psychedelic Sobriety Project exists in part to promote and cultivate this mindful approach to the use of psychedelics, which includes discussion of not just the beneficial aspects of psychedelics, but the challenging ones as well. Do your research, and seek out wisdom from other peoples’ experiences. When in doubt - don’t.

Cannabis is a part of the conversation at The Psychedelic Sobriety Project. While cannabis isn’t classified as a psychedelic in terms of its mechanism of action within the brain, it’s a psychoactive plant that, for many people both inside and outside the recovery community, lends itself to safe and spiritually-edifying use. It’s worth noting that while cannabis is considerably less toxic and harmful than alcohol, there are plenty of people in recovery who have had an unhealthy relationship with weed and choose to abstain from it as part of their commitment to a life of sobriety. Understanding our own red lines and respecting those of others is an essential aspect of psychedelic sobriety.