Oakland enters the narrative through the Oakland Convention Center, the venue for Psychedelic Science in April 2017. The convention made the city a meeting point for a psychedelic community that had grown from a modest gathering into an international event, and gave its shifting relationship with mainstream mental health care a public stage.

A Convention Grows

Organized by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, Psychedelic Science had become a six-day conference attended by more than three thousand people from around the world. Researchers from twenty-five countries presented findings, while the convention’s marketplace offered psychedelic books, artwork, and music. The scale marked a striking change from a 2010 gathering of psychonauts and a small number of renegade researchers.

Communities Under One Roof

The Oakland meeting brought together scientists, underground guides, shamans, veteran psychonauts, therapists interested in adding psychedelic treatment to their practices, funders, filmmakers, and entrepreneurs. Their presence made the venue more than a conference site: it was a place where groups with different forms of expertise and investment in psychedelics could encounter one another. The mood was broadly celebratory, although attendees also voiced concern about the new attorney general’s efforts to revive the drug war.

Institutional Recognition on Display

The most discussed session was a plenary on the future of psychedelic psychiatry. Its panel included Paul Summergrad, former head of the American Psychiatric Association, and Tom Insel, former head of the National Institute of Mental Health; George Goldsmith organized and moderated it. Their participation embodied the mental health establishment’s growing recognition of psychedelic therapy. Insel praised the emphasis on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, while cautioning that the approach could challenge regulators accustomed to assessing drugs in isolation. He and Summergrad also stressed the need for safety, scientific rigor, and care with the field’s public reputation. In the book’s account, Oakland is thus the setting for both a milestone in the movement’s growing legitimacy and a reminder that its future depended on responsible practice.