The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) envisions a post-prohibition world where people have legal and equitable access to psychedelics for healing and personal growth, recognized as frontline tools for optimal health and wellness rather than being criminalized or stigmatized. Since its founding in 1986, MAPS has been the leading organization building the movement to foster evidence-based approaches to psychedelics, recognizing that when used safely and responsibly, these substances have the potential to promote well-being and treat various mental health conditions. Three pillars guide MAPS’ efforts to bring access to psychedelic Healing For All who can benefit: advancing research, changing policies, and shaping culture. Addressing the reality that half of us will experience a mental health disorder in our lifetime, MAPS confronts a crisis whose devastating effects ripple through families, communities, healthcare systems, and economies. Despite millennia of use in traditional religious and spiritual contexts and decades of scientific research supporting therapeutic potential, the federal government erroneously criminalized most psychedelics over fifty years ago, deeming them to have “no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse”—policies not grounded in science then, with evidence only continuing to grow against them. MAPS works to See Past the Paradox of the War on Drugs, ground future policy in real-world evidence, and transmute society’s understanding of these powerful substances through research and education.
Why it matters: MAPS matters because it represents the decades-long work necessary to transform substances erroneously criminalized by drug war politics into legitimate therapeutic tools, demonstrating that evidence-based approaches can address a mental health crisis that conventional treatments have inadequately met. By simultaneously advancing rigorous research, changing policies, and shaping culture, MAPS proves that overturning fifty years of unscientific stigma requires both scientific validation and courageous advocacy. The organization’s vision of “Healing For All” recognizes that equitable access isn’t merely about individual wellness but about addressing a crisis affecting half the population with tools that honor both ancient wisdom and modern science.
