NOTE FROM TED: Psychedelic therapies remain an ongoing field of study with important safety and ethical considerations. Experiments discussed in this talk should not be performed outside of accredited research settings. TEDx events are independently organized by volunteers. The guidelines we give TEDx organizers are described in more detail here: http://storage.ted.com/tedx/manuals/tedx_content_guidelines.pdfNeuroscientists and psychiatrists today suggest that psychedelic drugs may provide us with the answers to age-old questions about addictions and mental suffering. Scientists are even claiming that we are entering a psychedelic renaissance. For those of us raised during the war on drugs, we grew up learning that psychedelic substances like “acid” or LSD have the potential to fry our brains like an egg on a hot frying pan. Now we are told that these same substances may hold the key to major medical breakthroughs. What has changed? As a medical historian who has spent the past 25 years studying psychedelic drugs, I consider what is at stake by revisiting psychedelic history and exploring a new path forward. Dr. Erika Dyck (PhD) is a professor and a Canada Research Chair in the History of Health and Social Justice at the University of Saskatchewan. She is an internationally recognized scholar in the history of psychedelics, having delivered hundreds of lectures on the topic around the world. She is the author or editor of 14 books, including several award-winning publications. From her first book Psychedelic Psychiatry (Johns Hopkins UP, 2008) to her most recent book Psychedelics: A Visual Odyssey (MIT Press, 2024), her work covers medical and cultural history about how psychedelics have taken root in cultures around the world. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx