Children and Psychedelics: Using Indigenous Wisdom to Examine Western Paradigms

In Western culture, the idea of exposing children to psychedelics is rife with taboo. But in other cultures, this stigma does not exist, because exposing children to these substances is a part of their cultural and spiritual upbringing. They are both present during their ceremonial use and sometimes ingest small amounts themselves.

As we move towards medicalization of psychedelics, children will need to be a part of the research, and already some studies are looking at their effect on teenagers. And in an era of increased access through legalization, more children will be exposed to these substances. Now is an important moment to re-examine the paradigms that govern our thinking around how children and psychedelics. I wrote about this topic for Chacruna.