Rolling Stone Australia — June 2017

66

ROLLING STONE

INSIDE THE UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT

TO UNLEASH THE HEALING POWER OF MDMA,

AYAHUASCAA DOTHERHALLUCINOGENS

ILLUSTRATION BYGO I MONTES

BY AC McCLELLAND

r. x is a dad. appropriately

• boringly – at 4:37 p.m. on a
  national holiday, he is lighting
  a charcoal grill, about to grab a
  pair of tongs with one hand and
  a beer with he other. His kids are running around
  their suburba patio, which could be anywhere; Dr.
  X,thoughimpr ssivelyeducatednow,grewuppoor
  inatownthatisb sicallynowhere.LikemostAmer-
  icans, he is a Christi n. Like a lot of health-conscious
  men, he fights dad bo y working out once or twice a
  week, before going into h s medical practice. ¶ Some-
  what less conventionally, t o hours ago, he was es-
  cortingawomanaroundhis ard,helpingherwalk
  offalargedoseofMDMA.He’s eonewho’dgivenit
  to her, earlier in the morning, drug ing her out of her
  mind.¶Thiswouldbepsychedelic-a istedtherapy,
  thenot-newbutincreasinglypopularpr cticeofad-

min tering psychotropic substances to treat a wide

range f physical, psychological and psycho-spiritu-

al conce ns. “Some people stagger out” of the room

inDr.X’s omethatheusesforthese“journeys”,as

sessions are lled in the semiofficial parlance. Some

have to stay for ours and hours beyond the standard

five or so, crying waiting to emotionally rebalance,

lyingonamattress, robingthesecrets,trauma,be-

lief or grief buried in eir subconscious. Dr. X re-

callsapatientwhowasco ideringaround-the-clock

Klonopin prescription for an ety; she reluctantly de-

cided to try a journey instead. the “medicine”, she

spent seven hours unraveling balli ically, picturing

herselfdumpingsadnessoutofherch tintoajade

box that she put a golden heart-shaped lo on and

tossed into the sea. She’d been sceptical going i but

afteritwasover,Dr.Xsays,“Shewassoangryth

itwasillegal.”¶BecauseDr.X’shallmarktreatment