Episode 134 – Dr. Richard Louis Miller – The Healing Power of Psychedelic Medicine

Ideas worth returning to

Quotes

Five substantial excerpts from the published transcript, lightly edited for clarity without changing their meaning.

1. “People can receive prison sentences for private acts that harm neither themselves nor anyone else. I regard that approach as irrational, misguided, and political rather than protective of the public interest. The positive development is that policy has begun to change and government institutions are starting to acknowledge possibilities they previously rejected.”

   From the conversation

2. “If consciousness could take voluntary control of healing a wound, greater practice might extend that attention to other parts of the body. I believe LSD may have the potential to help human consciousness—not merely the thinking mind—participate more deliberately in processes that are normally automatic. That remains a possibility to investigate rather than an established medical instruction.”

   From the conversation

3. “Politicians have sold fear to the American public throughout my life. Sometimes the volume is lower and sometimes higher, but fear is part of the political game. Much of it has little basis in reality and is directed toward other people—Mexicans, Muslims, supposed enemies, and ultimately members of our own species.”

   From the conversation

4. “Change comes through organization. The American Revolution depended on highly organized people such as Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. Franklin formed the Junto, a small group that met every week, and that network contributed to institutions including the University of Pennsylvania and an early fire department. A few organized people can create durable structures.”

   From the conversation

5. “If we do nothing, fear can become a prison inherited across generations. After enough time, fewer people remember that other ways of living are possible or that love can overcome fear. A person born, raised, and surrounded by fear may mistake it for the whole of life unless someone preserves and demonstrates another possibility.”

   From the conversation