In the first episode of Netflix’s How to Change Your Mind, Michael Pollan showed Netflix viewers the history of LSD, which we summarized here. But the story of psychedelics would not be complete without many more key people and the classical substances psilocybin, MDMA, and mescaline. Here’s a look at the final 3 chapters.
Chapter 2: Psilocybin
The second installment begins with Pollan in a lush garden discussing with Kathleen Kral, a terminal cancer patient, and how she has “lifted the fear of death” through psilocybin-assisted therapy. Both smile and nod as she describes a “spiritual reality where we are all connected.”
Kral’s story is followed by reflections from Bill Richards, a pioneering psychedelic researcher at the Spring Grove Experiments, where psychedelics were found to be effective for end-of-life anxiety and alcoholism decades ago before the center shut down.
Once Pollan has established psilocybin’s potential, the focus shifts to its origins. We meet the tiny and weathered Maria Sabina, one of many curanderas who kept the Mazatec mushroom tradition alive beneath centuries of colonial rule.
However, Sabina’s story is tragic. She reluctantly gives the first westerners, Gordon and Valentia Wasson, psilocybin mushrooms, who are impressed and publish “Seeking the Magic Mushroom.” A sensation results, and when the tiny Oaxacan town is overrun with outsiders, a furious local community exiles Sabina.
For a time, magic mushrooms enjoy a surge in popularity until Nixon outlaws them in the 70s and drives the sacred fungi back underground.
The mushrooms are, however, not forgotten. Paul Stamets, a self-taught mycologist, brightly describes his revelation that psychedelic mushrooms grow all over the world. Stamets’s pioneering work cataloging, cultivating, and publishing books on psilocybe mushrooms is revered in the mycology community but ultimately stays in the niche.
But then we meet a smiling Roland Griffiths, who, before studying mushrooms, had been losing interest in his lab work at Johns Hopkins. Griffiths wanted to move to India and pursue meditation. But when he is introduced to Bill Richards, inspiration to conduct modern research with high-dose psilocybin gives him renewed purpose.
Then the unthinkable happens, and Johns Hopkins approves the trial, and the results make waves no one expected. Thirty percent of participants have the “most spiritually significant moment of their lives,” along with data connecting these mystical experiences to the positive outcomes for the treatment of depression.
The findings spark researchers like Robin Carhartt-Harris at the Imperial College of London to conduct brain imaging studies and popularize the idea that the Deflut Mode Network, a collection of brain regions thought to “house the self,” is affected by psychedelics.
The final story features Ben, who has suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) since childhood. In desperation, Ben signs up to be a study participant and, with a single deep and harrowing psilocybin experience, effectively cures his OCD.
Chapter 3: MDMA
Psilocybin research may have put psychedelics back into serious study and the media spotlight, but Pollan states that it’s MDMA leading the charge toward government approval.
The third episode follows the healing journey of Lori, who, as a survivor of rape, the murder-suicide of her mother, and hurricane Katrina, has severe PTSD. Alongside somatic therapist Shari Tayor, Lori gets to the roots of her trauma instead of simply managing symptoms.
We also learn the history of MDMA as it begins with underground chemist Sasha Shulgin, who, after self-experimentation, recognized the potential of the compound. Soon after, Shasha’s wife, Ann, introduced the compound to a network of therapists.
Results were fruitful until, like LSD, MDMA escaped the therapist’s couch. It is rebranded as “ecstasy” and became a commodity on the street. Widespread use as a party drug caught the attention of law enforcement, and the substance was banned in 1985.
However, underground use continued, and footage of the smiling Shulgins is a testament to MDMA’s potential for nurturing healthy relationships.
But this is not before MDMA falls into the hands of a strapping young Rick Doblin
. Doblin knew the connection he felt with others on MDMA was significant, and when the drug was outlawed, he understood the DEA knew nothing of MDMA’s therapeutic applications.
Doblin went on to found the Multidisciplinary Institute of Psychedelic Study (MAPS) and complete a Ph.D. dissertation on the drug approval process. Dobin then teamed up with PTSD expert Michael Mithoefer and, over many decades and millions of philanthropist dollars, drove MDMA towards FDA approval.
Another important figure of MDMA is Ben Sessa, who, during “Second Summer of Love” in London in 1988, realized people could witness “the worst thing imaginable” without fear. Sessa explains how this feature allows patients to address childhood traumas usually avoided, which he has linked to addiction which he now treats in his Bristol clinic.
Chapter 4: Mescaline
The final episode focuses on mescaline, which Pollan calls “the orphan psychedelic,” often left out of the modern narrative.
Mescaline occurs naturally in the so-called “psychedelic cactuses,” of which the most widely known is peyote. However, the San Pedro or “Huachuma” cactus is far more widespread and actually legal to grow in the US.
The episode is centered around the traditional use of peyote. As one voice, the members of several Native American tribes tell the origin story of how the first woman met peyote while running from white people. The medicine calls to her, gives her strength to continue, and facilitates a spiritual connection to Mother Earth.
The mood is sober as Andrew Tso and Lucy Benally of the Dine’ narrate the devastating effects of colonialism on Native American culture alongside a montage of Native American children being “re-educated.”
“There is a spirit the government suppression wanted out of us.” explains Sandor Iron rope of the Oglala Lakota, “and this medicine here starts to help heal.”
Pollan then explains the struggle to establish the religious use of peyote through the Native American Church (NAC). In 1990, Alfred Leo Smith, who worked for the State of Oregon, was fired for participating in a peyote ceremony. The case, Employment Division v. Smith, went to the Supreme Court and famously lost. It wouldn’t be until 1994 that Reuben Snake led a campaign to reestablish religious freedom for the NAC.
Next, the story of Julius Not Afraid of the Oglala Lakota is told. Through the assistance of his uncle Sandor Iron Rope, Julius conquers a 15-year methamphetamine addiction with peyote.
After this story, Pollan shares his curiosity to try peyote with Sandor, who asks, “you guys take all the medicine; what about my children?”
Pollan speaks of his decision not to take peyote and introduces the alternative of synthetic mescaline. After an obligatory mention of Aldous Huxley and the Doors of Perception, Pollan then describes the situation with Oakland activists Decriminalize Nature.
Decriminalize Nature was founded by Carlos Plazola, who began the campaign to decriminalize all plants after a transformative mushroom journey. While the group initially succeeded in Oakland and began to spread, the organization has since come under fire for including peyote.
The Native American Church would like peyote to be protected from widespread use. Sandor Ironrope shares his concerns about destroying the “peyote gardens,” a small and threatened band of land where the cactus grows. Now, legislators like California’s Scott Weiner are excluding peyote from decriminalization legislation.
The series wraps with Pollan musing about psychedelics allowing not only healing but to probe the “greatest mystery in all of nature” — consciousness. He also asks if psychedelics can show us ways to address the environmental crisis by showing us our place in nature. He even suggests our survival as a species may depend on this understanding.
Overall, the series is an engaging and well-produced introduction to the history and healing potential of psychedelics.
