Risks of psychedelic use aren’t widely known. A Colorado campaign hopes to change that

When Liam Kelly first became interested in psychedelics as a teenager they did so in a self-described nerdy way Kelly who uses nonbinary pronouns would deeply research the drugs online to learn about their various effects and other people s experiences By the time they began attending college in Vermont they were using LSD once every couple of weeks But no level of prior experience could have prepared Kelly for what happened one night during their first semester when inexplicably the drugs gave them what they described as an inescapable sense of cosmic death Kelly became paranoid had delusions punched a car windshield and charged a police officer while under the influence They were restrained by law enforcement and later transferred to a hospital where they could safely come down Looking back Kelly describes the circumstance as though their mind was creating a horror show based on my own worst fears The -year-old is now sharing their story as part of a campaign to help spotlight particular of the very real if often underreported physical health legal or longer-term effects of ingesting hallucinogenic drugs Being in that kind of a headspace is extremely dangerous especially to the person who is tripping because you re so out of it Kelly explained Psychedelics are very personal and a lot of people don t necessarily understand that every single trip is going to be its own unique experience Psychedelics like psilocybin have been heralded for their anticipated to help with debilitating mental wellness issues such as depression post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction So much so that several states including Colorado Oregon and New Mexico have passed laws to allow the residents legal access to these otherwise illicit drugs While plenty of people have reportedly experienced life-changing benefits from psychedelics others have endured psychological damage for days or even years following a trip The risks of these drugs are not broadly understood but a new general vitality campaign wants to change that by providing a more complete view of the effects both positive and negative of psychedelic use The campaign called Before You Trip seeks to educate psychedelic-curious young adults starting in Colorado with a mix of social media ads Instagram influencer content and a website with drug information and harm reduction tools The goal is to encourage Gen Z to pause learn and reflect before using so they can make informed choices and experiment safely Denver Boulder and Aspen are serving as the test markets for this pilot campaign which launched on May and targets locals ages to Its cast of influencers run the gamut from musicians and podcasters to outdoor adventurers and drag queens all of whom have a local following Before You Trip was developed by the nonprofit Coalition for Psychedelic Safety and Learning CPSE which is dedicated to addressing the need for accurate nuanced and science-based information in this burgeoning space The organization raised for the campaign and worked with leading psychedelic scientists to present the latest available research on its website which it plans to update as new records becomes available Donors include prominent names in psychedelic circles including author Michael Pollan Dr Bronner s Soap and businessman Austin Hearst who backed Colorado s initiative to legalize psilocybin therapy The Before You Trip steering committee also features esteemed researchers in the space such as Dr Rick Strassman author of The Psychedelic Handbook harm reduction expert Marsha Rosenbaum and Bonnie Halpern-Felsher director of Stanford University s REACH Lab Before You Trip is expected to roll out in other markets later this year But Colorado is an ideal starting point both because psychedelics are legal here and because the Front Range is home to a large university population noted Kristin Nash co-founder of CPSE We know that young people are already making the decision to use and engage with these substances We also know that just say no approaches turn young people off to the message and to be fair we also know a lot of people do get benefit from these Nash mentioned We need to arm them with the best information we have around danger contradictions and harm reduction strategies A memorial to Will Nash who died in a psychedelics-related accident just months before his college graduation in The event inspired his mother Kristin Nash to start the nonprofit Coalition for Psychedelic Safety and Learning which launched a drug guidance campaign in Colorado in May The Before You Trip campaign seeks to raise awareness about the risks of psychedelics use which are not well known Provided by Kristin Nash Discerning psychedelic harm As laws and inhabitants perception have shifted so too have rates of use noted Dr Andrew Monte curative director of Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Safety which in recent weeks published a inquiry tracking trends in psilocybin consumption What we know is that as the availability of a drug increases use increases as well And then subsequently unfortunately the frequency of adverse events also increases Monte disclosed during a latest webinar In about million Americans or of the population broadcasted having tried psilocybin at least once during their lifetimes according to the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Safety s investigation That s up from million in when Denver became the first U S city to decriminalize it Adults with wellbeing conditions like anxiety depression and chronic pain were more likely to use the drug the statement stated The number of people who communicated using psilocybin in the last year has also climbed About million adults ages to communicated using the drug in the past year when surveyed in up from While the benefits of psychedelics have been widely stated the risks are less well-known Before You Trip is a digital campaign hoping to change that by providing young adults in Colorado with science-backed information about the documented harms Denver Boulder and Aspen serve as the test markets for this pilot campaign which launched May Provided by the Coalition of Psychedelic Safety and Schooling Researchers studying psilocybin the compound detected in magic mushrooms assert that it is non-addictive and physiologically non-toxic meaning it carries a low menace of overdose But research into how psychedelics can cause harm psychologically or emotionally is in its infancy A review discovered that one in psychedelics users revealed having functional impairment lasting more than a day after a bad trip Notably of those individuals communicated seeking anatomical psychiatric or psychological help The number of fatalities related to psychedelics may also be underreported due to a lack of facts tracking and because psychedelics can have unintended consequences Nash and CPSE co-founder Susan Sagy learned this firsthand In the spring of Nash s son Will died while under the influence of psilocybin The soon-to-be college grad and his friends were at home on a Friday night but when things took a turn for the worse Nash noted neither the kids nor campus safeguard knew how to effectively handle the situation Will entered a state of psychosis and in an effort to quench his thirst accidentally grabbed a jar of protein powder He asphyxiated before medicinal help arrived There were so several moments that could have gone differently but didn t because of a lack of understanding Nash revealed When I sort of map all those points out to me it s like on the individual level on the cultural level on the first responder level we need training Sagy also lost her child in after what she described as a profoundly distressing experience with psilocybin Sagy explained her -year-old had shared plans to try the substance upon turning when it would be legal to do so in Oakland where they lived Sagy did her own research and only ascertained information about the perceived benefits nothing that raised concern After trying a small dose Sagy s child increased to several grams for a solo trip Though she didn t share the specifics of the development the aftermath came at the highest price What I want people to know is that they can have an experience that will last longer than the actual trip itself Sagy explained Both Nash s and Sagy s children were years old the legal age for possession use and access to psychedelic-assisted therapy in Colorado I still have the bag of mushrooms that my child bought in Oakland There were no warnings in it no information on what could go wrong no number to call if things turned scary Sagy explained We get more guidance from a bottle of aspirin