FILE - Football quarterback Aaron Rodgers arrives for the 76th Tony Awards at the United Palace in New York City on June 11, 2023. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images) Months after Colorado’s voters decided to join Oregon in decriminalizing psychedelic mushrooms, Denver will host a conference this week put on by a psychedelic advocacy group bringing together an unlikely cohort of speakers — including an NFL star, a former Republican governor and a rapper.The conference and the thousands expected to attend it is an indication of the creep, or perhaps leap, of cultural acceptance for psychedelic substances that proponents say may offer benefits for things like post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism.
Still, medical experts caution that more research is needed on the drugs' efficacy and the extent of the risks.NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who’ll soon debut with the New York Jets after years with the Green Bay Packers, has been open about his use of ayahuasca in the past and is slated to speak Wednesday.
Rapper Jaden Smith, the son of Will Smith who has publicly shared the "ego dissolution" he felt when using psychedelics, will be speaking in Denver, too, as will former Texas Republican Gov.
Rick Perry, who is an advocate for researching psychedelics’ potential benefits for veterans experiencing PTSD.The medicinal use of hallucinogenic mushrooms is making inroads in U.S.