Front of mind for Michael Pollan: psychedelics

At more than a dozen U.S. universities, a new generation is researching constructive uses of mushrooms, ecstasy, and other consciousness-altering drugs.

Most are focused on hardcore scientific and medical applications, said Michael Pollan, the Lewis K. Chan Arts Lecturer and a professor of the practice of nonfiction writing. “But there are other ways in which I think psychedelics are going to re-enter our society,” he added.

Pollan appeared last Wednesday at Fong Auditorium at something of a kickoff for Harvard’s Study of Psychedelics in Society and Culture initiative, which was established earlier this year with a $16 million gift from the Gracias Family Foundation.

You can read more from The Harvard Gazette here.