Trip or Treat? Exploring Slovak Attitudes Toward Medicalization of Natural Psychedelics

Abstract

The contemporary psychedelic renaissance has prompted an emergence of psychedelics as medications, particularly within the framework of Western clinical and pharmaceutical models. Although extensive, this approach fails to acknowledge that naturally occurring psychedelics (e.g. psilocybin, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), mescaline) have long-standing roots in traditional, spiritual and recreational practices, and are already defined as tools for medicine and spiritual development by many [1]. Consequently, this 'medicalization leads to legalization' approach to psychedelics could lead regulatory frameworks to dictate 'proper use' while marginalizing these alternative practices -- echoing the historical pattern seen with the medicalization of cannabis [2]. By focusing primarily on the views of clinicians, academics, and those already familiar with psychedelics, and overlooking broader public attitudes we may be missing a key perspective that could reshape the conversation toward a more effective outcome. Therefore, this project aims to explore Slovak public attitudes toward the use of natural psychedelics, including their views on the medicalization, legalization, and decriminalization of these substances. It also seeks to identify not only how the public envisions their role in society, but which pathways might be considered most appropriate for their reintroduction.

An online questionnaire was distributed to students enrolled in the Participation in Empirical Research course at Comenius University Bratislava in Slovakia. Core questions utilized the tripartite model of attitudes to reflect participants’ attitudes toward the medicalization of natural psychedelics. Other questions explored preferred sets and settings of their use and included several tools that measured participants’ personality traits (Mini IPIP), cultural openness (CDS), and substance abuse risk (S2BI) [3].

The analysis will aim to identify predominant attitudes and preferences in the sample population, and their potential correlations with participant characteristics and demographics. Medical narratives are predicted to dominate despite Slovak skepticism toward Western institutions, due to the increasing global integration of medical frameworks and the population's expected psychedelic naïvety. Intuitively, a positive relationship is expected between cultural openness, alternative narratives and attitudes towards legalization, decriminalization and medicalization as well as certain personality traits (agreeableness and imagination). This is partially supported by previous findings that indicate associations between cultural openness, and agreeableness and imagination. Insight into perceived safety of natural psychedelics may also be acquired.

Results aim to inspire dialectic conversation to ensure the reintroduction of psychedelics incorporate as many perspectives as possible, as this process will ultimately shape their position in our conceptual framework of the world.

References

[1] D. R. George, R. Hanson, D. Wilkinson, and A. Garcia-Romeu, “Ancient Roots of Today’s Emerging Renaissance in Psychedelic Medicine,” Cult. Med. Psychiatry, vol. 46, no. 4, pp. 890–903, Dec. 2022, doi: 10.1007/s11013-021-09749-y.

[2] T. Noorani, “Making psychedelics into medicines: The politics and paradoxes of medicalization,” J. Psychedelic Stud., vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 34–39, Jul. 2019, doi: 10.1556/2054.2019.018.

[3] M. F. Žuljević, I. Buljan, M. Leskur, M. Kaliterna, D. Hren, and D. Duplančić, “Validation of a new instrument for assessing attitudes on psychedelics in the general population,” Sci. Rep., vol. 12, no. 1, p. 18225, Oct. 2022, doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-23056-5.