The world’s perception of psychedelics falls into two main categories: recreational and medical use. For years, psychedelics were portrayed as a street drug, but within the last few years there has been a shift to viewing psychedelics as a medicine for mental health. For Psychedelics to become more mainstream we must retire its recreational street names.
Ketamine is a prime example of a psychedelic that has street slang that is damaging to the view point from medical professionals. Ketamine has street names such as cat tranquilizer, cat valium, jet k, kit kat, special k, and vitamin k. These references misrepresent Ketamine and take away it’s value as a medicine.
Street names also represent a past where recreational users had to speak in code when referring to psychedelics. Nicknames were a way for consumers to hide, but today researchers have reshaped the image of mind altering substances.
While it is important to keep the culture of psychedelics alive, it is even more crucial to push the narrative of psychedelics as a medical alternative. Choosing the medicinal route of psychedelics in therapy will result in the most wide spread benefit to all.