In this special interview, we bring you a rare and moving interfaith conversation between two spiritual leaders who are helping to reshape the relationship between religion and psychedelics. Hunt Priest is an Episcopal priest and the founder of Legatum, a Christian psychedelic society. Sughra Ahmed is a British Muslim scholar and community leader, and one of the first Muslims to participate in the silent psilocybin study designed for religious professionals. We sat down with both of them at Psychedelic Science 2025 in Denver, where they reflected on their personal journeys, the challenges and promises of psychedelic use within religious traditions, and how these experiences can open doors for deeper understanding — not just within their faiths, but between them.

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Bessel van der Kolk, MD, is a world-renowned trauma expert and the author of the groundbreaking book The Body Keeps the Score. As a principal investigator in MAPS’ MDMA-assisted therapy trial for PTSD, he bridges neuroscience, somatic therapies, and psychedelics. In this interview, filmed at the Psychedelic Science 2025 conference in Denver, we discuss how trauma is stored in the body, how psychedelics can unlock healing, and what an ideal trauma-informed psychedelic therapy could look like.

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In Drugreporter’s new interview, German author Norman Ohler explores how psychedelics became entangled with war, power, and propaganda. Norman Ohler is a German author and investigative journalist, best known for his bestselling book 'Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich', which explored the hidden history of drug use in Nazi Germany. In this interview we delve into the lesser known stories of how psychoactive substances shaped war, power and propaganda, and discuss the darker sides of psychedelic history, including their potential for misuse.

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Dominique Mendiola is the Senior Director of Colorado’s Natural Medicine Division, leading the state’s groundbreaking effort to regulate psychedelics for healing. In this interview, she shares the story behind Colorado’s Natural Medicine program, lessons learned from Oregon, and how her state is working to balance safety, equity, and inclusion while licensing facilitators and centers.

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The true pioneer in the field of psychedelic research, Bill Richards has been working with psychedelics since the 1960s. Trained as both a psychologist and a theologian, he played a key role in the revival of psilocybin research at Johns Hopkins. In this interview, filmed at the Psychedelic Science 2025 conference in Denver, we look back on the early days of psychedelic science, explore the healing power of mystical experience, and reflect on what it means to walk the paths of both science and spirit.

Rick Doblin is the founder and president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, MAPS. He has been a leading voice in advancing psychedelic research and therapy for decades. In our conversation, filmed at the Psychedelic Science 2025 conference in Denver, he shares his vision for integrating psychedelics into mainstream culture and mental health care. We discuss how he sees the state of the movement after 40 years of activism, and what the future may hold following the FDA rejection of MDMA assisted therapy approval. | |

At ICPR 2024, we spoke with Ethan Nadelmann, founder of the Drug Policy Alliance, about how psychedelics fit into the broader landscape of drug policy reform.

  Ethan Nadelmann, JD, PhD, is a longtime ally and friend. He founded the Drug Policy Alliance in the United States and hosts the Psychoactive podcast. In our conversation, we explored the psychedelic renaissance and the risks of backlash, the challenge of ensuring access beyond the wealthy, and what fair regulation of non-medical use could look like. We also discussed setbacks in Oregon and Vancouver, the continuing realities of the war on drugs in the U.S., and how the momentum around psychedelics could help drive broader drug policy reform.

In this thought-provoking conversation, Prof. Dr. Thomas Metzinger, a leading philosopher of mind and consciousness, examines the profound potential — and serious risks — of psychedelics. Consciousness is like a tunnel - at least according to Thomas Metzinger. It gives us access to only a narrow slice of reality. What we "see" is not the world, but it is a representation of reality created by our brains. If you are in a well-lit room, you feel bathed in light but it is pitch dark inside your skull. In ordinary state of consciousness, the tunnel is stable and its walls are transparent, that is: we don't even recognise them. When you consume psychedelics, the tunnel expands, dissolves or warps. The constructed nature of reality, that is not conceivable for us most of the time, becomes noticeable. You see your reality as it is: a constructed reality. How can psychedelics transform our understanding of the human mind? What are the potentials for scientific research and what are the risks of what his calls the lack of intellectual honesty in psychedelic culture? How can we develop what he call Bewusstseinkultur (consciousness culture)? On Drugreporter.net you can also watch the video interview we filmed at the International Conference on Psychedelic Research in Haarlem, the Netherlands!

We interviewed Israeli psychotherapist Nir Tadmor about how he supported survivors of the Nova festival massacre and the deep emotional impact the tragedy had on the community.Nir Tadmor is a psychotherapist, MSC, and the co-founder of Safe Heart and Impulse, two Israeli organizations at the intersection of trauma healing, mental health, and psychedelic-assisted therapy. With a background in psychology and community work, he has become a key figure in supporting individuals and groups processing both personal and collective trauma through therapeutic modalities, including those involving psychedelics. His work is deeply rooted in the unique cultural fabric of Israel, where music, spirituality, and trauma often intertwine. He currently works and lives in Portugal.

In this interview, we talk with Erik Davis about the forgotten shadows of psychedelic history, the need for cultural memory, and the deeper meanings hidden within blotter art. Filmed at the Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research (ICPR) 2024 in Haarlem, The Netherlands.

00:00 Intro
00:05 Eric, how did you get interested in psychedelics? 
01:27 In the 60s, for many people, psychedelics served as a gateway to eastern spirituality for other people, it was the other way. How was it in your life? 
02:58 The counterculture in the 60s had a complicated relationship with psychedelics. Can you talk about that relationship? 
04:08 Did the counterculture fail its mission? 
05:04 While reading your articles, I had the feeling that you are an archeologist and you would like to dig up something which many in the psychedelic movement would today rather bury. Is that right? 
07:07 Another person who is controversial today is Terence McKenna. How do you see his legacy?
09:30 When I was a teen, I read a lot of Carlos Castaneda, and I was pretty disappointed when I learned that his book was fiction. How do you see his legacy? 
11:40 Do you think one day we will celebrate these elders in the West the same way as indigenous people celebrate their own elders? 
13:53 Can we say that what you do is, in a certain way, pushing the psychedelic movement to do its shadow work? 
14:48 Do you think we will lose something important if psychedelics are legalized? 
16:25 It seems many people in the psychedelic movement are sharing your concerns because as I see, some of the criticism is coming from within the movement and not outside of it. 
19:37 As far as I remember, it was Terence McKenna who said that, after you received the message, hang up the phone.
20:34 Your new book is about LSD blotter art. What do they reveal about LSD culture?

On the eve of her departure from her post as the Ambassador of Colombia to Austria and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna, we spoke to Ambassador Laura Gil about her time in Vienna, her achievements, the challenges she faced as well as her hopes for the future of international drug policy.

Psychedelics are the master keys to unlocking hidden potentials in our brains, claims Gül Dölen, a Turkish-American neuroscientist and professor at UC Berkeley. 


Most of my readers have probably seen colourful brain scan images that aim to represent changes in brain activity corresponding to the altered perception and cognition associated with psychedelic use. But can we really say that these regional changes in the brain fully explain the often highly sophisticated, and sometimes indescribable, visions people experience under the influence of psychedelics? Gül Dölen casts doubt on this theory. Her groundbreaking MDMA studies with octopuses demonstrate that we need to find another explanatory mechanism. Filmed at the Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research (ICPR) 2024 in Haarlem, The Netherlands. For the video version check out: https://drogriporter.hu/en/what-octopuses-teach-us-about-mdma-our-interview-with-gul-dolen/

At the 28th Harm Reduction International Conference, we spoke with Diego Andrés Lugo-Vivas about the impact of the Drug War in Colombia and how the philosophy of harm reduction could be applied to the coca leaf.

We explored the following topics:

• What is the significance of HR25 taking place in Colombia?
• Which region of Colombia are you from?
• Can the philosophy of harm reduction be applied to the issue of coca?
• At the UN in Vienna, there are claims that coca cultivation harms the environment. How do you respond to that?
• What could be an alternative to coca eradication?
• What have been the outcomes of eradication efforts in Colombia?
• How severe is the damage caused by these efforts?
• Can you share personal stories of how people have been affected?
  Is the message of shifting from punishment to harm reduction relevant for Colombia?
  
  

Interview: Péter Sárosi
Video and audio: István Gábor Takács

More than a thousand harm reduction professionals gathered in Bogotá, Colombia, to attend the 28th Harm Reduction International Conference. Listen to the closing speeches here!

More than a thousand harm reduction professionals gathered in Bogotá, Colombia, to attend the 28th Harm Reduction International Conference. Watch the opening speeches at the 28th Harm Reduction International Conference (HR25)

More than a thousand harm reduction professionals gathered in Bogotá, Colombia, to attend the 28th Harm Reduction International Conference. Watch Drugreporter's recap video here! Sowing Change to Harvest Justice – this was the slogan of the 2025 conference. It is a message that resonates strongly in an age when injustice is rife across the globe. Democracies are faltering, the rule of law and the spirit of multilateralism are eroding, and both funding for harm reduction and the space for civil society are shrinking. Yet, despite these troubling developments, the international harm reduction movement remains on the front line, striving to keep people healthy and alive. The choice of location – Bogotá – was a message in itself: Colombia, under its progressive government, is taking a leading role in global drug policy reform. Activists from the Global South are now more vocal and influential than ever before, placing social justice at the heart of drug policy reform.

At the 28th Harm Reduction International Conference, we spoke with Catherine Cook from Harm Reduction International about the state of harm reduction funding and the global impact of U.S. foreign aid cuts under Trump.

At the 28th Harm Reduction International Conference, we had the chance to speak with Ethan Nadelmann, founder of the Drug Policy Alliance in the United States, about the present and future of drug policy during Donald Trump’s second term as president.

Interview with Rosalind Watts, PHD, Clinical Psychologist, Founder of ACER Integration, UK.Filmed at the Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research (ICPR) 2024 in Haarlem, The Netherlands.

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Reporter: Péter Sárosi | Rights Reporter Foundation - Drugreporter
Camera and editing: István Gábor Takács | Rights Reporter Foundation - Drugreporter

Interview with  Jamila Hokanson, MD, Psychiatrist, Psychedelics Researcher & Clinical Instructor, Yale University School of Medicine. Filmed at the Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research (ICPR) 2024 in Haarlem, The Netherlands.

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Reporter: Péter Sárosi | Rights Reporter Foundation - Drugreporter
Camera and editing: István Gábor Takács | Rights Reporter Foundation - Drugreporter