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Street Drugs Are the New Miracle Medicines of the Future

The days of Timothy Leary are long gone, but his legacy is proving him right in the use of powerful, once reviled, “street” or “party” drugs.

Dr. Patricia Farrell
5 min readApr 20, 2022
Photo by Esteban Lopez on Unsplash

Politicians used to blanch at the questions fired at them about toking or whether or not they inhaled. Remember that silly comment from Bill Clinton about not inhaling? Then, what did you do, Bill, hold the smoke in your mouth as you held your breath?

Today, a new and a less repressed medical establishment desperately seeks ways to tackle anxiety, depression, suicide, and other mental health challenges that send lives spiraling into despair. The call from this new hierarchy of medicine sounds oddly familiar to “Turn on, tune in, drop out,” which was Timothy Leary’s message decades ago.

Leary, a gifted Harvard researcher, began studying the use of psychedelics while working with Richard Alpert at the university. Together, they initiated the Harvard Psilocybin Project. It became somewhat of a curious question when Leary was asked how many “trips” he took on LSD. I don’t believe he provided a number.

The days of considering marijuana to be an evil, morally corrupting substance, thanks to films like the 1936 film, Reefer Madness, are finally…

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Dr. Patricia Farrell
Dr. Patricia Farrell

Written by Dr. Patricia Farrell

Dr. Farrell is a psychologist, consultant, author, and member of SAG/AFTRA, interested in flash fiction writing (http://bitly.ws/S94e) and health.

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