Why Cultural Context Matters When Using Psychedelics

In psychedelics, we talk about set and setting: the idea that your mindset and your surroundings impact the experience you have with the substance. As writer Michelle Janikian wrote, we don’t often talk about how these concepts impact cannabis, but of course they do. 

When we spoke to a Plant Parent who grew up outside the US, she explained how cultural setting was very different where she grew up.

“Back home, most of the parents that are around us are active smokers. And they smoked while they were pregnant, and while they were nursing,” she said. 

It was so normalized, in fact, that many of her friends assumed that she was still smoking during her pregnancy and brought her weed. She had elected to stop, though, and saved the gifts for a later time. While cannabis use in her country is not legal, enforcement is very lax. In the US where she currently resides, the context is very different.

“There’s a lot of very open-minded people, a lot of artists. But also, I feel that if you mess up, things can go bad quick,” she said. “I wouldn’t tell everyone that I smoke, just because I wouldn’t want it to be used against me in any situation.”

Cultural context makes a big difference. In indigenous traditions worldwide, children are regularly included in ceremonial usage of psychedelics. Substances are ingested in their presence, and in some cases, they are even given small amounts. While Americans might balk at the thought of children taking psychedelics, it’s helpful to remember that these traditions been using plant medicines for far longer than we have. 

Some of the most pervasive harms that come to psychedelic and plant medicine users are the feelings of shame induced by social stigma. If we change the cultural context, either by shifting the legal status of these substances, sharing our stories with others or adopting a more inclusive outlook on how other cultures use these substances, perhaps we also begin to shift the stigma. So…how has cultural context impacted the way you think about psychedelics?