Watch this interview Drugreporter made with world-famous psychedelic researcher David E. Nichols at the last Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research.
David E. Nichols is an American chemist and pharmacologist who conducted pioneering research on psychedelics since the end of 1960s. There are several compounds described in Alexander Shulgin’s famous book, PIKHAL, that was actually first synthesised by him. Therefore it was our great pleasure to interview him at the Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research 2022 in Haarlem, the Netherlands.
A few highlights from the interview:
- how he was fascinated, as a young chemist, by the deep bio-psycho-spiritual effects of a single molecule in human beings;
- why he thinks with studying psychedelics we get closer to what it means to be human;
- why the mechanism how psychedelics work is a miracle of evolution: how they change the way how we perceive reality by stimulating our brain;
- how our body developed a “built-in” valve that protect us from abusing psychedelics;
- why the Stoned Ape Theory is cute but not convincing enough;
- why he thinks that psychedelics will revolutionise psychiatry.
Reporter: Peter Sarosi
Camera, editing: Istvan Gabor Takacs
