Spirituality and hallucinogen use: Results from a pilot study among college students

Abstract

Anthropologists have studied the use of hallucinogens as a spiritual tool by indigenous populations since the turn of the 20th century. However, literature is sparse in describing use by non-indigenous populations. Using a study population of students from a university in the Southwest United States, the current study investigated the spiritual development and meaning that college students place on their use of hallucinogenic substances. The spiritual framework developed by Love and Talbot (1999) and a transpersonal anthropological approach were used to guide the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant. Results indicated that participants used hallucinogens for both spiritual and recreational purposes with hallucinogen use playing an important role in their continued exploration of spirituality, which was an integral part of their lives. This pilot study could serve as a primer for future research on the role of hallucinogen use in the spiritual experiences of contemporary U.S. college students, and other non-indigenous Western populations.