Are You Taking Medicine or Getting High?

By Justin Levy

I'm an old school raver, and back in the mid-1990s us ravers didn’t talk about “medicine.” We did “drugs” in rundown warehouses in Baltimore and D.C. where rhythms pulsed, sweaty bodies gyrated on the dance floor, and the party was fueled by MDMA and mushrooms. Yet even then, I was experiencing something more than just a party. The spirit was moving inside me, I just didn’t have the language for it.

From the view of normal society, we were outlaws and rebels. Because of Nixon’s war on drugs, substances like marijuana were classified as Schedule I, meaning they had no medical value and a high potential for abuse. This was a political move to target the hippie counterculture without openly criminalizing their ideology. By the '80s and '90s, the illegality and immorality of psychedelics had fused in the public mind. We were inundated with the simplistic message that drugs are bad.

The Power of Language: Drugs vs. Medicine

After I moved away from the rave scene, I found myself trying to recreate and make sense of some of the spiritual revelations I had accessed there. In 2008, a friend invited me to an ayahuasca ceremony. The terminology caught me off guard. Instead of taking drugs at a party I would be taking medicine at a ceremony.

This new framing changed everything. It gave me a language and a map for exploring altered states that I didn't have during my rave days. There were additional benefits like a common intention for healing and exploration shared by the other participants and a guide to help us navigate the journey.

In this setting, I learned that ayahuasca was more than a substance, she had a presence and consciousness all her own and there was so much I could learn if I could understand her language. I approached her as a living guide and teacher and got to explore many of the things I was tapping into during my rave days but in a more structured and disciplined container.

The Shadow Side of Psychedelic Medicine

But alongside this reframing, I also experienced the shadow side of working with plants as a "medicine". When something is seen as a medicine, we can sometimes view it as purely beneficial. Did you have a challenging journey? Some facilitators say to just take more medicine! When we don't do the work to integrate the teachings in our daily lives these plant medicines begin to act like drugs.

Frequently this shows up in either delusions of grandeur - "I'm the chosen one, I have a special message from the divine, I'm here to save humanity". Or it can be the opposite - "I'm possessed by demons and there is no escape". Psychedelics magnify whatever’s already within us. Without grounding, community, and integration, they can become tools of escapism instead of growth, magnifying our wounds instead of transforming them.

Our culture has changed dramatically since my rave days. Instead of being demonized, many of these substances have been hailed as miracles. They have gained mainstream acceptance because of research showing how well they treat mental health issues. In my personal world, I started viewing psychedelics as "medicine" instead of "drugs" when I started going to my ayahuasca circle. For most people, that change happened when doctors and scientists started saying they were OK. This shift comes with profound implications for all of us.

Doctors, Shamans, and the New Gatekeepers of Legitimacy

The drug dealer from my rave days and the shaman from my ayahuasca circle has now been replaced by the doctor. Much like a magician casting a spell, the doctor with his diploma and white coat can bestow a decree of legtimacy in the public mind, a sanctioned approval of medicine. Instead of getting high on ecstasy, people can now tell their friends "I’m undergoing MDMA therapy for my PTSD.” There's no stigma now because we are doing something safe and supervised by a competent authority.

Science, Spirit, and the Limits of Modern Medicine

But how competent is that authority? From the animist perspective, each medicine has its own spirit that takes years of study to know. The guide or shaman must develop their relationship with the plant and with spirit allies, and integrate their specific medicine into the social fabric of the community.

This kind of plant relationship is far outside what many modern people believe, and indeed using the word "spirit" within the scientific community is contentious. For scientists and researchers, spirit doesn't help people heal, pharmacological components do.

Modern psychedelic training has recently started to incorporate what they sometimes call “indigenous knowledge” into workshops where some of these ideas are discussed.. But I’m concerned that this means just bringing in an indigenous person to speak on stage at a conference, where participants can nod their head at the wisdom, write it down in their notebook and go right back on doing the same thing.

Where Do We Go From Here?

So what to make of the current state of things? We’ve transcended the “drugs are bad” cultural moment and are now in the “integration of psychedelics into the capitalist system but pay lip service to spirituality” phase. Knowing what I do about how the intelligence of these plants, I’ll stay humble and trust that there is even more happening here than what I see on the surface.

If you're navigating your own path with psychedelics and want support grounded in humility, reverence, and real integration, not just performance or hype, come sit with us in one of our circles or connect with me or another PMP coach. We’re here to walk the path with integrity, respect for the medicine, and a commitment to the work that truly transforms.

About the Author

Justin Levy has spent the majority of his life exploring the intersections of spiritual traditions and Plant Medicine, with a particular focus on kundalini. He started his own spiritual healing and integration practice (called Kundalini Mediumship) in 2009, based on decades of personal work with Ayahuasca and other plants, the spiritual tradition of Kashmir Shaivism, and the martial art of capoeira. His practice incorporates bodywork, movement and dance, and rhythm and song, with a particular emphasis on shadow work and integration. Justin has been teaching this medicine since 2011 and leading ceremonial work since 2020. His focus is on helping each person connect to and embody their own unique gifts and medicine within the context of tradition.