What in tarnation was a conservative Republican doing on the stage, extolling the virtues of drugs long associated with hippies and 1960s counterculture?

I sat down with Perry to learn why he believes psychedelics should be legal medicine for veterans and others suffering from PTSD, how to allow more immigrants to come to America lawfully, and why if he were ever to take a psychedelic drug it would be Ibogaine, a notoriously powerful substance made from the bark of an African tree.

[Remember that LSD, the granddaddy of the psychedelics, was initially created for and clinically used to deal with depression and anxiety under strictly controlled conditions. The widespread manufacture and abuse of LSD led to an end to that clinical work, but some people extolled its benefits in the period prior to that, most notably Cary Grant. I’d read recently that a study showed the promise of the drug again when properly supervised under clinical therapy. I’ll try to catch Nick’s podcast and see what Perry’s argument is. — Ed]