I’ve been sober for more than 30 years. I got sober at a midnight meeting in Times Square back in 1990 and went on to participate in AA meetings in Ocean City, Maryland; San Francisco, California; even Himeji, Japan; Bangkok, Thailand; and Kathmandu in Nepal. I am one of the fortunate ones for whom the desire was lifted early on. Yet I do not presume to be free of alcoholism or forever safe from relapse. Even though I am no longer active in AA, I participate in personal development coaching and programs and have a passion for things sacred and spiritual. I have a good life and I don’t take my sobriety for granted. There’s the life I would have lived if I had drank those 30 years⏤and there’s the one I get to live as a result of staying sober.

All that being said, I’ve always been comfortable with certain types of drugs which, as it turns out, fall into the psychedelic category. Mushrooms and ecstasy, mainly. I knew that what I experienced was something good and wonderful–not some desperately needed crutch turned to or some high that I had to reach⏤but rather an experience that altered my experience of life. And that, if you ask me, is always a good thing.

But what if you’re sober?

Chances are, your sponsor is not going to say, “Sure, go chew on a bunch of mushrooms and walk around and see what you get.”

It might take some education to help other sober people around you understand why you’re curious about or delving into psychedelic medicine. Be sure you do your homework and become as well-versed as possible, starting with Michael Pollan’s How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence. 

You might be surprised to learn, for example, that LSD was considered so effective for addiction back in the early 60s that AA Founder Bill W. wanted to introduce it to AA.

There is so much psychedelics had already taught, and thankfully, the current resurgence is picking up where it once left off.