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The following is excerpted from Psychedelic Seduction: Drugging the World and the Church by Richard and Linda Nathan, available from lighthousetrailsresearch.com: “‘I am a youth pastor at a large church, and I smoke weed everyday [sic] that I am not at service (Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday). My lord still loves me.’ That quote reveals a bizarre phenomenon that couldn’t have existed even thirty or forty years ago—a ‘Christian’ drug culture. Today, this drug culture not only exists, but
it extends far beyond marijuana. That’s partly because, unlike any other drug, a broad social movement already promotes and glorifies marijuana. Unfortunately, many Christians seem to join in it. ‘Weed is so normalized in America that it’s hardly cool anymore.’ If you think marijuana is rare or couldn’t be in your Christian community, think again. Pot communities and pot churches are on the rise nationwide, spreading bizarre forms of spirituality and taking advantage of religious freedom laws to act as medical dispensaries and avoid tax laws. Big Weed’s deceptive campaign promotes pot as harmless and medicinal, and the big profits entice Christian businesspeople. Furthermore, pastors generally don’t understand marijuana’s negative spiritual effects. Sad to say, the drug culture is everywhere, and it’s here to stay. As one youth said, ‘All you have to do is listen to a lot of popular music to hear about marijuana. All you have to do is watch TV or movies to see marijuana. And just attend a concert if you want to stand around inhaling it secondhand. It’s everywhere.’ ... Minimizing the biblical teachings about holiness and sanctification can invite lawlessness and drug use by Christians. Furthermore, some popular pastors and leaders encourage the culture of rebellion (e.g., John Piper’s philosophy of ‘Christian hedonism’). The words ‘Christian’ and ‘hedonism’ are opposites because hedonism is the ethical theory that pleasure is the highest good. ... By 2021, 18 states and Washington, DC, had legalized recreational marijuana, and 36 states had legalized medical marijuana. Now, more than a third of Americans live where marijuana is legal, and it’s becoming part of mainstream American culture. Marijuana’s dangerous THC content (tetrahydrocannabinol) has skyrocketed from around 3% in the 1970s to as high as 99% available in a huge variety of products today. And more teenagers are
smoking pot and all its derivatives than cigarettes.”
 

“Psychedelic drugs are integrating into our society at breakneck speed. ... Psychedelics are a huge rising star in the drug therapy industry, and ‘there’s almost no mental health condition right now that’s not being looked at.’ That’s because mental health issues currently are costing the global economy $1 trillion per year. Consequently, numerous large organizations, schools, and companies are studying the use of psychedelics for such conditions as mood and substance use disorders, PTSD, opioid addiction, alcohol and cancer issues, Alzheimer’s, end-of-life fears, anorexia nervosa, and major depression, among other areas. In 2019, Johns Hopkins University opened the first-of-its-kind Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. They also have published ‘groundbreaking studies in more than 60 peer-reviewed articles in respected scientific journals. This makes Johns Hopkins the leading psychedelic research institution in the U.S., and among the few leading groups worldwide.’ The Center’s opening fortuitously corresponded with the FDA’s ‘breakthrough therapy’ classification for psilocybin. This new classification helps fast-track the approval of promising pharmaceuticals, of which psilocybin is major. ... ‘The psychedelic pharma market is currently a little over $2 billion and is expected to be valued at more than $6.8 billion by 2027.’ ... ‘I believe that the future of psychiatry will find psychedelic medicine at its heart’ (Alex Belser, Ph.D.). ... While psychedelic ‘therapy’ focuses on non-directive support of a patient’s inner experience and is wrapped in psychological jargon, it’s the same method shamans and sorcerers use to contact spirits and gain supernatural power.”

-Richard and Linda Nathan-

Note:
psilocybin, which has mind-altering effects similar, in some aspects, to those of LSD, mescaline, and DMT.