The Psychedelic Beat: Journalism and a Rapidly Shifting Story

The psychedelics field is in flux. Last August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD. Now, President Donald Trump’s Secretary for Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Secretary for Veterans Affairs Doug Collins have both signaled their support for psychedelics for mental health treatment. At the state level, psychedelic “healing centers” are beginning to open in Colorado, New Mexico became the third state to create a state-regulated psilocybin access program, and state legislators across the country continue to introduce new bills that would expand access to psychedelics. Meanwhile, scientists are churning out papers on these substances; thousands of jobs at the Food and Drug Administration have been eliminated; and hundreds of new churches now use these substances as sacrament, claiming protection under the Free Exercise Clause of the Constitution.What is it like to be a journalist covering this story where the stakes—and the narratives—are shifting so rapidly?This panel assembles leading journalists reporting on psychedelic science, policy, law, and culture around these substances. They will reflect on how they approach their reporting about psychedelics, how they cultivate sources, how they look to history, and where they think rigorous journalism is most needed in the psychedelics field. By sharing their insights, the panelists will offer a snapshot of how journalism shapes—and is shaped by—the “psychedelic renaissance.”