What actually makes psychedelic therapy work? Is it the drug, the therapeutic setting, or the human relationship between therapist and participant? At ICPR 2026, we spoke with psychiatrist and researcher Sandeep Nayak about clinical trials, common therapeutic factors, and how the field can better understand the mechanisms behind psychedelic-assisted treatment.

At ICPR 2024, we talked to Robert Jesse, from the Johns Hopkins University, about mystical experiences with psychedelics, their spiritual and cultural dimensions, and the value of community in supporting their responsible integration.

At ICPR 2024, we talked to Wim van den Brink, MD, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Addiction at the Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, about the potential of psychedelics to reduce compulsive thinking and support addiction treatment.

What actually makes psychedelic therapy work? Is it the drug, the therapeutic setting, or the human relationship between therapist and participant? At ICPR 2026, we spoke with psychiatrist and researcher Sandeep Nayak about clinical trials, common therapeutic factors, and how the field can better understand the mechanisms behind psychedelic-assisted treatment.

At ICPR 2024, we talked to anthropologist and author Nicolas Langlitz about the current hype around psychedelics, their place in medicine and culture, and why he sees them as holding the promise of moksha in the age of soma.

Women make up more than half of the population, yet they remain significantly underrepresented in psychedelic research. At ICPR 2026, we spoke with neuroscientist Grace Blest-Hopley about the gender gap in psychedelic science, the importance of studying menstrual cycles, pregnancy, menopause, and women’s mental health, and how the field can become more inclusive and scientifically rigorous.

On 7 May 2026, policymakers, researchers, clinicians, people with lived experience, and civil society organisations gathered in Brussels for the inaugural meeting of the European Forum of National Psychedelic Societies. The meeting marked an important milestone in building a coordinated European movement to expand safe, evidence-based access to psychedelic-assisted therapies.

Watch Drugreporter’s short documentary, filmed at the seventh Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research (ICPR) 2026 in Haarlem, the Netherlands, exploring how psychedelic science is evolving through conversations on Indigenous knowledge, therapy, consciousness, culture and the future of the field.

During this year’s Pride Month, I was struck by how often anti-LGBTQ rhetoric echoed arguments that will sound familiar to anyone who has followed debates about drugs and drug policy. Although same-sex relationships and drug use are fundamentally different phenomena, the narratives used to stigmatize them frequently rely on remarkably similar rhetorical patterns.

A public clash between a senior police official and one of the Czech Republic’s leading addiction researchers has exposed a deeper struggle over the future of a drug policy model long regarded as one of Europe’s most successful.