The “psychedelic renaissance” is a label for the return of human research with psilocybin and similar drugs after most studies stopped around 1970. In the US, psilocybin and psilocin were placed in Schedule I by a law signed on 27 October 1970 (Public Law 91-513), and a 2025 study says research funding then dried up (Barber et al., 2025).
Johns Hopkins dates the revival to Roland Griffiths’ 2006 study, crediting it with marking the beginning of a renaissance in psychedelic research (Johns Hopkins Medicine, 2023). Large company-run trials followed, including a 2022 phase 2 depression trial with 233 participants and a Toronto site (Goodwin et al., 2022).
The word itself is a framing, not a finding. A 2025 qualitative study of researchers discusses history and hype in the field (Barber et al., 2025), and reviewers warn that blinding problems may inflate trial results (Muthukumaraswamy et al., 2021). Health Canada says no psilocybin therapy product is approved in Canada or elsewhere (Health Canada).
Sources
- Public Law 91-513 (1970)
- Johns Hopkins Medicine obituary release, 2023 (archived)
- Barber, Gardner and Carter, 2025, Journal of Bioethical Inquiry
- Muthukumaraswamy et al., 2021
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