Children and Psychedelic Medicine – Should 16 Be the Legal Age for Certain Treatments?

The case for making 16 the legal drinking age for certain psychedelics

I used my first psychedelic at the ripe young age of 15. I smoked weed when I was 14. Over the next few years I experimented with a whole range of drugs, from pharmaceuticals to other psychedelics.

Thankfully, I got through it with no real damage to my body or mind as a result of years of drug use. To be fair, the drugs that nearly killed me were alcohol and meds.

That’s why I realized at the age of 18 that I didn’t like the effects of medication. The “high” just wasn’t worth it.

Psychedelics on the other hand – which excited my consciousness like the moth the flame. The first psychedelic I tried was MDMA, or “Molly” as kids call it these days. Back then we called it “X”.

I have flash memories of that experience now, but I’ll never forget the feeling when MDMA first kicked in. I was… well, “ecstatic.” I also went to my first rave that night and came out feeling like a whole new world had opened up for me.

After that first experience, I was convinced that there must be “other drugs” that are;

1. Not as dangerous as the government claims (Weed told me this truth)

2. Portals to see the world in a whole new light

I intuitively understood that these substances were for exploring consciousness, and it didn’t take long for me to go from “using drugs to get high” to a more imaginative “using drugs to explore my consciousness landscape and my understanding of life.”

However, there was a 6-8 year period of reckless drug use, all of which more or less took place between the ages of 15-23.

It is precisely for this reason that I believe we need to decriminalize and maybe even legalize the use of certain psychedelics by the age of 16. There is one caveat though.

16? Are you crazy!!!

Before you fall back into the “what about the kids” thinking, let me first explain to you why I think certain psychedelics should be made available to teenagers who they will most likely be consuming without your knowledge anyway.

The first argument relates to my teenage journey into psychedelics. Where I lived then, drugs were considered the ultimate evil. Within the drug hierarchy, psychedelics were at the bottom.

My co-workers – who got drunk every weekend – would often tell me: “Don’t take psychedelics, it will melt your brain! Have coke instead!”

I’d tell them, “I’ve been drinking coke, it’s really not for me…”

You have to understand, these are all 16-17 year olds talking about drug use. It was 100% illegal.

Therefore, the idea that something is “illegal” does not deter young people from using drugs.

I can already hear the machinery in your brain turning and saying, “Well, if you normalize drugs, more kids will do it!”

Out of these, I look at all jurisdictions where cannabis is available to adults for recreational purposes. In these states, despite legalization, we are not seeing a significant increase in cannabis use. The kids who wanted to smoke regardless of the law will find a way to consume cannabis. Those who didn’t want to, most likely won’t.

That’s what more than 10 years of legalization data tell us.

So if we were to legalize psychedelics by age 16, I don’t think “many kids” will run off to get high on psychedelics. However, I think those who would do it anyway would have a better chance of not screwing up if it were legal.

I will explain my frame for 16 year olds below.

The fact is, “some kids” use drugs whether they like it or not. The only difference is that if you consider it “illegal,” you pretty much offload the responsibility of finding everything out to the 16-year-old. No guidance, no voice of reason…just 16 year old hormones looking for the next big thrill!

Does this seem like a responsible model?

Now I know some of you hold on to your idealism and believe that we can “rid” the world of drug abuse… but that’s a fantasy. If that were true, we might as well “rid the world of obesity,” but we all know that’s never going to happen.

Ok – what is your framework?

You see, I’m not an unreasonable person. I understand that we should try to keep teenagers away from drugs, mainly because of their brain, body and identity development. While I was unscathed by excessive drug use as a teenager, I can’t say the same for everyone.

There were people who couldn’t “keep their shit together”. People I had to guide through the experience because they were experiencing ego death or falling into some sort of psychedelic portal. Was I more experienced as a drug user?

Not really. It was almost a case of blind leading the blind, but I’ve always been someone who was very aware of their internal processes.

That’s partly why I’ve never been “crazy,” aside from the alcohol and drug times.

When it came to psychedelics, I quickly understood a few things;

1. What is happening is not necessarily “real” but rather a projection of what is inside me?

2. Set and adjustment is IMPORTANT AF!

3. What comes up must come down

4. Instead of freaking out, sit back and watch

Maybe it’s because I’ve always been inclined to practice mindfulness, meditation, etc. that I’ve been able to get through those stages… but maybe not.

In fact, I learned how to ride the psychedelic dragon intuitively – but I had to go through some “hard journeys” to be educated.

During these “hard rides” people freak out and do stupid things. You know the story: “The boy got high and thought he could fly” or “The boy got high and had a bad trip and did some stupid stuff as a result!”

There are many sad stories of teenagers who took too much and couldn’t handle their shit. This is essentially the root of the problem.

If you take an inexperienced mind and throw it in the belly of psychedelics without guidance, you can make people react to the intensity of the experience. This is because a psychedelic experience is unique.

Every time I take a psychedelic, I get a feeling of excitement and nervousness. That’s because I understand that “after there’s no going back, until it’s over…”

I have to prepare myself for the infinite possibilities of how the substance will react to my current state of mind, trauma lurking in my mind, the people I’m with, etc. My mindset has to be in the right place.

Conversely, a teenager just pops that shit like mints and expects everything to be fine. Only to find yourself knee-deep in fear as the walls begin to breathe.

So here is what I propose;

1. Manufacture certain classic psychedelics (legally) for consumption by the age of 16.

2. You can only take these psychedelics (for free) in certain places if you are underage. This is a specialized place where you can consume the substance under adult supervision.

3. You must complete drug education before you are eligible for a free trip.

4. You are limited to four trips per year.

5. You agree to fill out surveys about your experience, brain scans, etc. for research purposes.

6. Parental consent required

Why wouldn’t we want to charge children for psychedelic experiences? Because then we remove “capitalism” from the equation and create a more holistic experience. Also, you don’t want teenagers to associate “commerce” with drugs, but rather to satisfy an innate desire to “light up.”

Psychedelics that I think would be “okay” for teenagers include:

• magic mushrooms

• mescaline

• LSA/LSD

• DMT/ayahuasca

• Etc

For the most part, these drugs have no significant negative effects on the developing brain. At least we don’t have enough studies to suggest that this is the case. However, it is definitely far less destructive than binge drinking, which “damages the dendrites in the cerebellum and impairs communication between neurons. Researchers discovered that drinking alcohol doesn’t just disrupt communication between neurons; it can also alter their structure.” – Source

The same cannot be said of these classic psychedelics. The “brain damage” is minimal and since we can limit legal use to 4 times a year there would be no significant impact on the developing mind.

However, what we can achieve is;

1. Satisfy the need for exploration in youth

2. Focus on quality (many bad trips come from bad drugs with bad quality)

3. Create a safe environment

4. Learn from experience, brain effects, etc.

We can continue to study drugs theoretically or come to the realization that “some people” will use them regardless. If we accept this truth, we can remove any ethical compulsion to give to people who “consent” to taking a psychedelic substance.

If we adopted this model, we would learn more about psychedelics in 10 years than we would uncover in 100 years with these small clinical trials. The net benefit to society outweighs any potential risk.

Final Thoughts

No one is advocating that teenagers “should” take psychedelics. It shouldn’t be considered something “simple”, but it should certainly be an option.

There are many cultures around the world where psychedelics are part of their “rites of passage” and it is often young teenagers who use these psychedelics. In the mountains of Oaxaca, many of the older people you talk to will tell you that they have been eating mushrooms since they were young.

Most people would not choose to take psychedelics even if it is legal. This is because their “home culture” has a lot to say about their use. However, some people who find a way to get high, with or without our permission, might benefit from this proposed idea.

If I were sixteen and someone said, “You can become part of this psychedelic study, we will teach you and test you, you will have free access in a safe space where medical professionals will accompany you throughout the experience…” I would have said : “Where do I register?”

I think most kids are just curious, and as we make drugs taboo and drink caffeine and ethanol like there’s no tomorrow, we create an environment where the risks of drug use increase significantly.

If we’re really honest and want to focus on children’s “safety,” we can’t ignore those who break the law to get high. We have to be fair to everyone.

Now I may be wrong with that assessment but I think we should at least explore this as an option as what we have been doing for the past 50+ years has not worked and has brought very little benefit for the rest of the year Company.

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