www.nytimes.com Open in urlscan Pro
151.101.65.164  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

Manage privacy preferences
We and our vendors use cookies and similar methods to recognize visitors and
remember their preferences, for analytics, to measure our marketing
effectiveness and to target and measure the effectiveness of ads, among other
things. To learn more about these methods, view our Cookie Policy and Privacy
Policy. By clicking ‘Accept all,’ you consent to the processing of your data by
us and our vendors using the above methods. You can always change your
preferences by clicking on Manage Privacy Preferences in our website footer or
in your app Privacy Settings.
Vendors 344
Vendors using consent 317
Vendors using legitimate interest 82
Precise geolocation data, and identification through device scanning
Precise geolocation and information about device characteristics can be used.
Personalised advertising, advertising measurement, audience research and
services development
Advertising can be personalised based on your profile. Your activity on this
service can be used to build or improve a profile about you for personalised
advertising. Advertising performance can be measured. Reports can be generated
based on your activity and those of others. Your activity on this service can
help develop and improve products and services.
Purposes include
 * Purpose 2: Use limited data to select advertising
 * Purpose 3: Create profiles for personalised advertising
 * Purpose 4: Use profiles to select personalised advertising
 * Purpose 7: Measure advertising performance
 * Purpose 9: Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data
   from different sources
 * Purpose 10: Develop and improve services

Store and/or access information on a device
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers,
randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other
information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported
technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each
time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes
presented here.

Manage preferences
Reject allAccept all
Manage Privacy Preferences



We and our vendors use cookies and similar methods (“Cookies”) to recognize
visitors and remember their preferences. We also use them for a variety of
purposes, including analytics, to measure marketing effectiveness and to target
and measure the effectiveness of ads. You can accept or reject the use of
Cookies for individual purposes below. If you previously accepted these methods
through our prior banner, then we will use your data for targeting.



 * Purposes
 * Features
 * Vendors

Below, you will find a list of the purposes and special features for which your
data is being processed. You may exercise your rights for specific purposes,
based on consent or legitimate interest, using the toggles below.
ConsentLegitimate interest
Purposes
Store and/or access information on a deviceOff

Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers,
randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other
information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported
technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each
time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes
presented here.

Most purposes explained in this notice rely on the storage or accessing of
information from your device when you use an app or visit a website. For
example, a vendor or publisher might need to store a cookie on your device
during your first visit on a website, to be able to recognise your device during
your next visits (by accessing this cookie each time).

Vendors we use for this purpose177 vendor(s)

 * 6sense
 * A.Mob
 * ADventori
 * Aarki
 * AcuityAds
 * AdElement Media Solutions
 * AdGear
 * AdKernel
 * AdSpirit AdServer
 * AdTheorent

1-10 of 177




Use limited data to select advertisingOff

Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such
as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type
or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit
the number of times an ad is presented to you).

A car manufacturer wants to promote its electric vehicles to environmentally
conscious users living in the city after office hours. The advertising is
presented on a page with related content (such as an article on climate change
actions) after 6:30 p.m. to users whose non-precise location suggests that they
are in an urban zone.

A large producer of watercolour paints wants to carry out an online advertising
campaign for its latest watercolour range, diversifying its audience to reach as
many amateur and professional artists as possible and avoiding showing the ad
next to mismatched content (for instance, articles about how to paint your
house). The number of times that the ad has been presented to you is detected
and limited, to avoid presenting it too often.

Vendors we use for this purpose42 vendor(s)

 * 6sense
 * AcuityAds
 * AdGear
 * AdKernel
 * Adform
 * Advanced store
 * Amazon Ad Server
 * Appier
 * AudienceProject
 * Bannernow

1-10 of 42




Create profiles for personalised advertisingOff

Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit,
content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you
(for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other
websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a
profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects).
Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more
relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.

If you read several articles about the best bike accessories to buy, this
information could be used to create a profile about your interest in bike
accessories. Such a profile may be used or improved later on, on the same or a
different website or app to present you with advertising for a particular bike
accessory brand. If you also look at a configurator for a vehicle on a luxury
car manufacturer website, this information could be combined with your interest
in bikes to refine your profile and make an assumption that you are interested
in luxury cycling gear.

An apparel company wishes to promote its new line of high-end baby clothes. It
gets in touch with an agency that has a network of clients with high income
customers (such as high-end supermarkets) and asks the agency to create profiles
of young parents or couples who can be assumed to be wealthy and to have a new
child, so that these can later be used to present advertising within partner
apps based on those profiles.

Vendors we use for this purpose129 vendor(s)

 * 6sense
 * A.Mob
 * Aarki
 * AcuityAds
 * AdElement Media Solutions
 * AdGear
 * AdKernel
 * AdSpirit AdServer
 * AdTheorent
 * AdTiming

1-10 of 129




Use profiles to select personalised advertisingOff

Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising
profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or
apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and
personal aspects.

An online retailer wants to advertise a limited sale on running shoes. It wants
to target advertising to users who previously looked at running shoes on its
mobile app. Tracking technologies might be used to recognise that you have
previously used the mobile app to consult running shoes, in order to present you
with the corresponding advertisement on the app.

A profile created for personalised advertising in relation to a person having
searched for bike accessories on a website can be used to present the relevant
advertisement for bike accessories on a mobile app of another organisation.

Vendors we use for this purpose127 vendor(s)

 * 6sense
 * A.Mob
 * ADventori
 * Aarki
 * AcuityAds
 * AdElement Media Solutions
 * AdGear
 * AdKernel
 * AdSpirit AdServer
 * AdTheorent

1-10 of 127




Measure advertising performanceOff

Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact
with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other
users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance,
whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a
product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the
relevance of advertising campaigns.

You have clicked on an advertisement about a “black Friday” discount by an
online shop on the website of a publisher and purchased a product. Your click
will be linked to this purchase. Your interaction and that of other users will
be measured to know how many clicks on the ad led to a purchase.

You are one of very few to have clicked on an advertisement about an
“international appreciation day” discount by an online gift shop within the app
of a publisher. The publisher wants to have reports to understand how often a
specific ad placement within the app, and notably the “international
appreciation day” ad, has been viewed or clicked by you and other users, in
order to help the publisher and its partners (such as agencies) optimise ad
placements.

Vendors we use for this purpose76 vendor(s)

 * 6sense
 * Aarki
 * AcuityAds
 * AdGear
 * AdKernel
 * Adelaide
 * Adform
 * Adikteev
 * Adloox
 * Adnami

1-10 of 76




Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different
sourcesOff

Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user
profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your
interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising)
content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which
target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).

The owner of an online bookstore wants commercial reporting showing the
proportion of visitors who consulted and left its site without buying, or
consulted and bought the last celebrity autobiography of the month, as well as
the average age and the male/female distribution of each category. Data relating
to your navigation on its site and to your personal characteristics is then used
and combined with other such data to produce these statistics.

An advertiser wants to better understand the type of audience interacting with
its adverts. It calls upon a research institute to compare the characteristics
of users who interacted with the ad with typical attributes of users of similar
platforms, across different devices. This comparison reveals to the advertiser
that its ad audience is mainly accessing the adverts through mobile devices and
is likely in the 45-60 age range.

Vendors we use for this purpose28 vendor(s)

 * AdGear
 * Amazon Ad Server
 * Amobee (Nexxen)
 * Appier
 * AudienceProject
 * Bombora
 * Clinch
 * Crimtan
 * Emerse
 * Google Ads

1-10 of 28




Develop and improve servicesOff

Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with
ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to
build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of
audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or
improvement of user profiles and identifiers.

A technology platform working with a social media provider notices a growth in
mobile app users, and sees based on their profiles that many of them are
connecting through mobile connections. It uses a new technology to deliver ads
that are formatted for mobile devices and that are low-bandwidth, to improve
their performance.

An advertiser is looking for a way to display ads on a new type of consumer
device. It collects information regarding the way users interact with this new
kind of device to determine whether it can build a new mechanism for displaying
advertising on this type of device.

Vendors we use for this purpose50 vendor(s)

 * 6sense
 * Aarki
 * AcuityAds
 * AdGear
 * Adelaide
 * Adform
 * Admixer
 * Amazon Ad Server
 * Amobee (Nexxen)
 * Appier

1-10 of 50




Below, you will find a list of the features for which your data is being
processed. You may exercise your rights for special features using the toggles
below.
Features
Match and combine data from other data sources

Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with
other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for
instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card
in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in
this notice.

Vendors we use for this purpose107 vendor(s)

 * 6sense
 * A.Mob
 * AdGear
 * AdTheorent
 * Adara (Rate Gain)
 * Adelaide
 * Adex (Virtual Minds)
 * Admixer
 * AdsWizz
 * Amazon Ad Server

1-10 of 107




Link different devices

In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be
considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your
household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both
your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet
connection on both devices).

Vendors we use for this purpose108 vendor(s)

 * 6sense
 * A.Mob
 * AcuityAds
 * AdElement Media Solutions
 * AdGear
 * AdTheorent
 * Adara (Rate Gain)
 * Adex (Virtual Minds)
 * Adform
 * Adikteev

1-10 of 108




Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically

Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it
automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of
your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the
purposes exposed in this notice.

Vendors we use for this purpose125 vendor(s)

 * 6sense
 * A.Mob
 * Aarki
 * AdElement Media Solutions
 * AdGear
 * AdKernel
 * AdSpirit AdServer
 * AdTheorent
 * Adacado
 * Adara (Rate Gain)

1-10 of 125




Special features
Use precise geolocation dataOff

With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500
metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.

Vendors we use for this purpose64 vendor(s)

 * A.Mob
 * AdElement Media Solutions
 * AdGear
 * AdKernel
 * AdTheorent
 * Adacado
 * Admixer
 * Adrule mobile
 * AdsWizz
 * Amnet GmbH

1-10 of 64




Actively scan device characteristics for identificationOff

With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be
requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed
fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes
explained in this notice.

Vendors we use for this purpose23 vendor(s)

 * A.Mob
 * AdKernel
 * AdTheorent
 * Adcell (Firstlead)
 * Amnet GmbH
 * Cheq
 * Fraudlogix
 * Human
 * Hybrid
 * InMobi

1-10 of 23




Below, you will find a list of vendors processing your data and the purposes or
features of processing they declare. You may exercise your rights for each
vendor based on the legal basis they assert.
ConsentLegitimate interest
IAB TCF vendors
6senseIAB TCFOff

6sense stores cookies with a maximum duration of about 730 Day(s). This vendor
also uses other methods like "local storage" to store and access information on
your device.

Privacy policyLegitimate interest disclosure

PurposesRetentionStore and/or access information on a device400 day(s)Create
profiles for personalised advertising400 day(s)Use profiles to select
personalised advertising400 day(s)Use limited data to select advertising400
day(s)Measure advertising performance400 day(s)Develop and improve services400
day(s)

Special purposesRetentionEnsure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix
errors400 day(s)Deliver and present advertising and content400 day(s)

FeaturesMatch and combine data from other data sourcesLink different
devicesIdentify devices based on information transmitted automatically

Data categoriesIP addressesProbabilistic identifiersBrowsing and interaction
dataNon-precise location dataUsers’ profiles

A.MobIAB TCFOff

A.Mob stores cookies with a maximum duration of about 395 Day(s). This vendor
also uses other methods like "local storage" to store and access information on
your device.

Privacy policy

PurposesRetentionStore and/or access information on a device395 day(s)Use
limited data to select advertising395 day(s)Create profiles for personalised
advertising395 day(s)Use profiles to select personalised advertising395
day(s)Measure advertising performance395 day(s)Understand audiences through
statistics or combinations of data from different sources395 day(s)Develop and
improve services395 day(s)

FeaturesMatch and combine data from other data sourcesLink different
devicesIdentify devices based on information transmitted automatically

Special featuresUse precise geolocation dataActively scan device characteristics
for identification

Data categoriesIP addressesDevice characteristicsDevice identifiersProbabilistic
identifiersAuthentication-derived identifiersBrowsing and interaction
dataUser-provided dataNon-precise location dataPrecise location dataUsers’
profilesPrivacy choices

ADventoriIAB TCFOff

ADventori stores cookies with a maximum duration of about 90 Day(s). These
cookies may be refreshed. This vendor also uses other methods like "local
storage" to store and access information on your device.

Privacy policyLegitimate interest disclosure

PurposesRetentionStore and/or access information on a device400 day(s)Use
limited data to select advertising90 day(s)Use profiles to select personalised
advertising90 day(s)Measure advertising performance400 day(s)

Special purposesRetentionEnsure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix
errors400 day(s)Deliver and present advertising and content400 day(s)

Data categoriesIP addressesDevice identifiersProbabilistic identifiersBrowsing
and interaction dataUser-provided dataNon-precise location data

AarkiIAB TCFOff

Aarki uses methods like "local storage" to store and access information on your
device.

Privacy policyLegitimate interest disclosure

PurposesRetentionStore and/or access information on a device365 day(s)Use
limited data to select advertising365 day(s)Create profiles for personalised
advertising3650 day(s)Use profiles to select personalised advertising3650
day(s)Measure advertising performance1500 day(s)Develop and improve services365
day(s)

Special purposesRetentionEnsure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix
errors365 day(s)Deliver and present advertising and content365 day(s)

FeaturesIdentify devices based on information transmitted automatically

Data categoriesIP addressesDevice characteristicsDevice identifiersUser-provided
dataNon-precise location data

AcuityAdsIAB TCFOff

AcuityAds stores cookies with a maximum duration of about 365 Day(s). These
cookies may be refreshed.

Privacy policyLegitimate interest disclosure

PurposesRetentionStore and/or access information on a device180 day(s)Create
profiles for personalised advertising180 day(s)Use profiles to select
personalised advertising180 day(s)Use limited data to select advertising180
day(s)Measure advertising performance180 day(s)Develop and improve services180
day(s)

Special purposesRetentionEnsure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix
errors180 day(s)Deliver and present advertising and content180 day(s)

FeaturesLink different devices

Data categoriesIP addressesDevice characteristicsDevice
identifiersAuthentication-derived identifiersBrowsing and interaction
dataNon-precise location dataUsers’ profilesPrivacy choices

AdElement Media SolutionsIAB TCFOff

AdElement Media Solutions stores cookies with a maximum duration of about 365
Day(s). These cookies may be refreshed.

Privacy policyLegitimate interest disclosure

PurposesRetentionStore and/or access information on a device180 day(s)Use
limited data to select advertising180 day(s)Create profiles for personalised
advertising90 day(s)Use profiles to select personalised advertising90
day(s)Measure advertising performance180 day(s)Understand audiences through
statistics or combinations of data from different sources90 day(s)Develop and
improve services180 day(s)

Special purposesRetentionEnsure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix
errors180 day(s)Deliver and present advertising and content180 day(s)

FeaturesLink different devicesIdentify devices based on information transmitted
automatically

Special featuresUse precise geolocation data

Data categoriesIP addressesDevice characteristicsDevice identifiersBrowsing and
interaction dataUser-provided dataNon-precise location dataPrecise location
dataUsers’ profilesPrivacy choices

AdGearIAB TCFOff

AdGear stores cookies with a maximum duration of about 395 Day(s). This vendor
also uses other methods like "local storage" to store and access information on
your device.

Privacy policyLegitimate interest disclosure

PurposesRetentionStore and/or access information on a device395 day(s)Create
profiles for personalised advertising395 day(s)Use profiles to select
personalised advertising395 day(s)Use limited data to select advertising395
day(s)Measure advertising performance395 day(s)Understand audiences through
statistics or combinations of data from different sources395 day(s)Develop and
improve services395 day(s)

Special purposesRetentionEnsure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix
errors395 day(s)Deliver and present advertising and content395 day(s)

FeaturesMatch and combine data from other data sourcesLink different
devicesIdentify devices based on information transmitted automatically

Special featuresUse precise geolocation data

Data categoriesIP addressesDevice characteristicsDevice identifiersProbabilistic
identifiersAuthentication-derived identifiersBrowsing and interaction
dataUser-provided dataNon-precise location dataUsers’ profilesPrivacy choices

AdKernelIAB TCFOff

AdKernel stores cookies with a maximum duration of about 18 Day(s). These
cookies may be refreshed.

Privacy policyLegitimate interest disclosure

PurposesRetentionStore and/or access information on a device180 day(s)Create
profiles for personalised advertising180 day(s)Use profiles to select
personalised advertising180 day(s)Understand audiences through statistics or
combinations of data from different sources180 day(s)Develop and improve
services180 day(s)Use limited data to select advertising180 day(s)Measure
advertising performance180 day(s)

Special purposesRetentionEnsure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix
errors180 day(s)Deliver and present advertising and content180 day(s)

FeaturesIdentify devices based on information transmitted automatically

Special featuresUse precise geolocation dataActively scan device characteristics
for identification

Data categoriesIP addressesDevice identifiersNon-precise location dataPrecise
location dataUsers’ profiles

AdSpirit AdServerIAB TCFOff

AdSpirit AdServer stores cookies with a maximum duration of about 30 Day(s).
These cookies may be refreshed.

Privacy policyLegitimate interest disclosure

PurposesRetentionStore and/or access information on a device60 day(s)Use limited
data to select advertising14 day(s)Create profiles for personalised
advertising60 day(s)Use profiles to select personalised advertising60
day(s)Measure advertising performance14 day(s)Understand audiences through
statistics or combinations of data from different sources60 day(s)

Special purposesRetentionEnsure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix
errors60 day(s)Deliver and present advertising and content60 day(s)

FeaturesIdentify devices based on information transmitted automatically

Data categoriesIP addressesDevice characteristicsDevice identifiersProbabilistic
identifiersBrowsing and interaction dataNon-precise location dataUsers’
profilesPrivacy choices

AdTheorentIAB TCFOff

AdTheorent stores cookies with a maximum duration of about 730 Day(s). These
cookies may be refreshed.

Privacy policyLegitimate interest disclosure

PurposesRetentionStore and/or access information on a device365 day(s)Use
limited data to select advertising365 day(s)Create profiles for personalised
advertising365 day(s)Use profiles to select personalised advertising365
day(s)Measure advertising performance365 day(s)Understand audiences through
statistics or combinations of data from different sources365 day(s)Develop and
improve services365 day(s)

FeaturesMatch and combine data from other data sourcesLink different
devicesIdentify devices based on information transmitted automatically

Special featuresUse precise geolocation dataActively scan device characteristics
for identification

Data categoriesIP addressesDevice characteristicsDevice identifiersProbabilistic
identifiersNon-precise location dataPrecise location dataPrivacy choices

1-10 of 317

SaveReject allAccept all
Skip to contentSkip to site indexSearch & Section NavigationSection Navigation
SEARCH

SUBSCRIBE FOR €0.50/WEEKLog in


COMMENTS 446

A Psychedelics Pioneer Takes the Ultimate TripSkip to Comments
The comments section is closed. To submit a letter to the editor for
publication, write to letters@nytimes.com.



Talk


A PSYCHEDELICS PIONEER TAKES THE ULTIMATE TRIP

By David MarcheseUpdated null

 * Share full article
 * 
 * 
 * 446

“Life has been more beautiful, more wonderful than ever,” says Dr. Roland
Griffiths, who has stage 4 cancer.

Mamadi Doumbouya for The New York Times
Talk April 7, 2023


A PSYCHEDELICS PIONEER TAKES THE ULTIMATE TRIP

By David MarchesePhoto illustration by Bráulio Amado

 * Share full article
 * 
 * 
 * 446

As the founding director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and
Consciousness Research, Dr. Roland Griffiths has been a pioneer in investigating
the ways in which psychedelics can help treat depression, addiction and, in
patients with a life-threatening cancer diagnosis, psychological distress. He
has also looked at how the use of psychedelics can produce transformative and
long-lasting feelings of human interconnectedness and unity. One could surely
classify his achievements using various medical and scientific terms, but I’ll
just put it like this: Griffiths has expanded the knowledge of how we might
better learn to live.

Now he is learning to die. Griffiths, who is 76, has been diagnosed with Stage 4
metastatic colon cancer. It’s a diagnosis, in all likelihood terminal, that for
him has brought forth transcendently positive feelings about existence and what
he calls the great mystery of consciousness. “We all know that we’re terminal,”
says Griffiths, who since being diagnosed has established an endowment at Johns
Hopkins to study psychedelics and their potential for increasing human
flourishing. “So I believe that in principle we shouldn’t need this Stage 4
cancer diagnosis to awaken. I’m excited to communicate, to shake the bars and
tell people, ‘Come on, let’s wake up!’ ”

Can we start with your current prognosis? [Laughs.] Prognosis is a 50 percent
chance that I’ll

make it to Halloween.1
1 Soon after we spoke, Griffiths was removed from the drug trial he was
participating in because of a lack of positive results. That likely means his
survival timeline is now shorter than it was at the time of our interview.



And how are you feeling about that? In spite of that, life has been more
beautiful, more wonderful than ever. When I first got that diagnosis, because I
work out regularly, I watch my diet, I sleep well, this came out of left field.
There was this period in which it felt like I was going to wake up and say,
“Boy, that was” — to put it in psychedelic language — “a bummer, a bad dream.”
But soon after that I started to contemplate the different psychological states
that would be naturally forthcoming with a diagnosis like mine: depression,
anxiety, denial, anger, or adopting some belief system of religious outcomes,
which as a scientist I was not cut out to do. I went through those, exploring
what life would be like if I inhabited those reactions, and I quickly concluded
that that was not a wise way to live. I have a

long-term meditation practice,2
2 Griffiths practices Vipassana meditation, which comes out of the Buddhist
tradition.
and the focus there is on the nature of mind, of consciousness, and one comes to
see that thoughts, emotions, are transient. They’re appearances of mind that you
needn’t identify with. That practice — and some experience with psychedelics —
was incredibly useful because what I recognized is that the best way to be with
this diagnosis was to practice gratitude for the preciousness of our lives.
Grasping for the cure wasn’t useful. [Laughs.] Actually we just got back another
blood result that was an indication as to whether the cancer is progressing. My
wife, Marla, and I say to each other, “No matter what this shows, it’s perfect.”
Indeed, it showed a big jump in this blood marker, which wouldn’t be something
to celebrate. It is what it is. It’s real. And what’s more fun than reality?




Roland Griffiths at a TEDMED conference in 2015. TEDMED

You’re 76. You’ve had a long, full life. Is your perspective maybe one that a
40-year-old, say, with a terminal cancer diagnosis would be able to inhabit so
profoundly? I’ve always lived under this illusion that I’m about 30 years
younger than I am. I was feeling completely healthy at the time of this
diagnosis. I was not about to wind down anything. As a scientist, it’s like a
kid in the candy store with respect to what research, what questions need to be
answered about psychedelics and the theme of

the endowment3
3 The Roland R. Griffiths, Ph.D. Professorship Fund, which has an initial
funding goal of $20 million, was established to “examine how psychedelic
experiences relate to aspects of spirituality, worldview, well-being and
prosocial behavior.”
and human flourishing. We were continuing to build out the center. I was more
deeply engaged than ever and feeling that I was about 35. This was not in my
game plan.



You talk about your cancer almost as if it’s a gift. Does that mean you don’t
have regrets about what’s happening? My life has never been better! If I had a
regret, it’s that I didn’t wake up as much as I have without a cancer diagnosis.
It’s been incredible. There have been so many positive things: my relationship
with my children, my grandchildren, my siblings, my wife. Marla and I have lived
together for 11 years and felt that it was unimportant to get married. Then at
dinner one evening, I asked Marla, “Would it be emotionally important to you,
now, to be married?” She thought about it. The next day she said, “You know, it
would be.” Immediately it became important to me. We were just married in our
living room with my three children and two of our best friends. It was beyond
beautiful. So do I have any regrets? No, but my concern is principally for Marla
and how she’s going to deal with this. We’ve talked about my passing as being an
opportunity, like my diagnosis, to wake up. Because these are opportunities to
use events that could be labeled and experienced as miserable but don’t need to
be.

Have you taken psychedelics since getting your diagnosis? Yes. After getting the
diagnosis, I had no immediate interest in psychedelics. I felt in many respects
that I was having a very psychedelic-like experience. There was this awakening,
this aliveness, and I hesitated to take a psychedelic because I wondered whether
it was going to disrupt that. Then a question arose: Is there something I’m
avoiding by not taking a psychedelic? Am I defending against some dark, fearful
thing I’m in denial about? Am I papering it over with this story of how great
I’m doing and actually I’m scared to death? I thought, Well, this would be an
interesting stress test. So I did

a session with a psychedelic4
4 He used LSD.
and went into that explicitly asking a couple of questions. First, asking
myself, “Is there something I am not dealing with?” The answer came back: “No,
the joy you’re experiencing is great. This is how it should be.” Then I asked a
question directly of the cancer. I’m hesitant to talk about it because it’s
reifying the cancer as “other,” and I don’t hold that the cancer is some “other”
with which I can have a dialogue. But as a metaphor, it’s an interesting way to
probe that question. So I asked the cancer: “What are you doing here? What can
you tell me about what’s going on?” I got nothing back. Then I wanted to
humanize it, and I said: “I really respect you. I talk about you as a blessing.
I have had this astonishing sense of well-being and gratitude, despite
everything that’s happening, and so I want to thank you. This process, is it
going to kill me?” The answer was, “Yes, you will die, but everything is
absolutely perfect; there’s meaning and purpose to this that goes beyond your
understanding, but how you’re managing that is exactly how you should manage
it.” So then I said: “OK, there’s purpose and meaning. I’m not ungrateful for
the opportunity, but how about giving me more time?” [Laughs.] I got no response
to that. But that’s OK.



How else have psychedelics, both studying them and using them, helped prepare
you for death? Our first therapeutic study was in cancer patients. Ironically
enough, these were cancer patients who were depressed and anxious because of a
life-threatening diagnosis. The findings of that study were profound: A single
treatment of

psilocybin5
5 Psilocybin is the psychoactive compound found in some mushrooms. After we
spoke, Griffiths mailed me a medallion embossed with an image of mushrooms and
inscribed with the phrase “May you remain aware of awareness.”
produced large and enduring decreases in depression and anxiety. I’ve had some
limited experience with psychedelics since then. But what did that teach me
about my diagnosis? We’ve now treated hundreds of participants with psychedelics
and before sessions, one of the key things that we teach them is that upon
taking a psychedelic, there’s going to be an explosion of interior experiences.
What we ask them to do is be with those experiences — be interested and curious.
You don’t have to figure anything out. You’re going to have guides, and we’re
going to create this safety container around you. But here’s the trick: These
are not necessarily feel-good experiences. People can have experiences in which
they feel like they come to this beautiful understanding of who they are and
what the world is, but people can also have frightening experiences. The
preparation we give for these experiences is to stay with them, be curious and
recognize the ephemeral nature of them. If you do that, you’re going to find
that they change. The metaphor we use is, imagine that you’re confronted with
the most frightening demon you can imagine. It’s made by you, for you, to scare
you. I’ll say: “There’s nothing in consciousness that can hurt you. So what you
want to do is be deeply curious and, if anything, approach it.” If your natural
tendency is to run, it can chase you for the entire session. But if you can see
it as an appearance of mind, then you go, “Oh, that’s scary, but yeah, I’m going
to investigate that.”




Griffiths in one of the psilocybin treatment rooms at Johns Hopkins University.
Will Kirk/Johns Hopkins University


Ah, OK. You can choose to investigate the experience rather than identify with
it. But let me ask you this: The approach that you’re describing is pretty far
from the typical mind-set of many doctors, who are working within a framework of
curing, fixing, prevention. So if the ultimate goal is to help more otherwise
healthy people get safe access to the
potential benefits of using psychedelics,6
6 Which of course would need to be used in a safe setting and supervised by
trained experts.
wouldn’t that require a radical rethinking by medical practitioners about what
helping people even means? Yes, it will. One of the inspirations for the
endowment is that it’s not aimed at patient populations. It’s not aimed at
reducing clinically recognized suffering. Right now, there’s money pouring into
this area, but that’s all going to be

patient-related7
7 Meaning for use by patients with a clinically diagnosed medical ailment, not
just someone looking to explore consciousness more deeply.
— there’s a pathway to medical approval. I do have concerns that we don’t
replicate the mistakes that occurred in the 1960s, which over-promoted
psychedelics’ use culturewide. They’re so powerful that if misaligned with
cultural institutions, they can result in cultural kickback. In the 1960s they
became aligned with the antiwar movement and radicalized-youth movement that was
terrifying to existing political structures and institutions, and as a
consequence, legislation was put up against them, funding dried up, they were
considered a third rail in academic research. We need to proceed cautiously.
It’s going to be critically important not to threaten existing cultural
institutions. So I’ve been a proponent of medicalization, because with
medicalization, we already have regulatory structures in place. It goes through
F.D.A. approval; they’re going to set standards to maximize safety by specifying
who should be eligible to receive, who is authorized to prescribe, and under
what conditions treatment should occur. So I’m cautious, but that’s why I’ll
have the endowment in perpetuity. If we look at the long range, this could be
critical to
the survival of our species.8
8 It is Griffiths’s belief that humanity has developed — and is developing —
technologies that could threaten its ongoing survival. He also believes that
psychedelic experiences can provide the basis for moral and ethical principles
that would lessen the likelihood that humanity will drive itself off a cliff.
Because there’s something about the nature of these experiences under these
certain conditions that produce remarkable experiences of interconnectedness of
all things. At the deepest level, if we recognize we’re all in this together,
then we have the kernel of what I suspect is most religious traditions and
impulses and that is realizing that the Golden Rule makes a lot of sense.



I’ve noticed that often when you discuss human consciousness and our awareness
of the preciousness of life, you talk about those things as an awe-inspiring
“mystery.” What do you get out of putting it in those terms? Because
consciousness may be a mystery now, but I’ve read theories that are convincing,
to a layperson like me, that thoughts come from emotions and our emotions are
one of the body’s mechanisms of maintaining homeostasis. Or as far as the
awareness that life is precious, I could easily imagine that biophilia has
evolutionary advantages. So I don’t see why these states of being have to be
understood as mysteries. Does it diminish them to see them as explainable? No, I
can easily inhabit an evolutionary account that explains how we have come to be
who we are — with the exception of the question of interiority! Why would
evolution waste its precious energy on our having interior experiences at all? I
don’t get that. To me, it’s a very precious mystery, and that mystery, if you
want to put it in religious terms, is God. It’s the unknowable. It’s
unfathomable. I don’t believe in God as conceptualized within different
religious traditions, but the mystery thing is something that strikes me as
undeniable.

What do you struggle with? There must be something. Marla and I had just adopted
a dog and that’s brought us incredible joy. Then we got some test results back
suggesting the possibility of kidney failure. That’s been more difficult than
dealing with my own diagnosis. We might both be on a parallel course of expiry.
That’s difficult for me and doubly difficult for Marla. I can say, acutely, that
this gives me something new to work with. It’s just accepting what is real and
then appreciating that in the context of celebration of life. In some ways, if I
knew that this precious dog is also facing a terminal condition, there may be
beautiful synergy there. I’m not going to rule that out as a possibility.

So you have this sense, near the end of your life, of waking up to life’s real
meaning. What’s the most important thing for everyone else who’s still asleep to
know? I want everyone to appreciate the joy and wonder of every single moment of
their lives. We should be astonished that we are here when we look around at the
exquisite wonder and beauty of everything. I think everyone has a sense of that
already. It’s leaning into that more fully. There is a reason every day to
celebrate that we’re alive, that we have another day to explore whatever this
gift is of being conscious, of being aware, of being aware that we are aware.
That’s the deep mystery that I keep talking about. That’s to be celebrated!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity from two conversations.

David Marchese is a staff writer for the magazine and writes the Talk column. He
recently interviewed Emma Chamberlain about leaving YouTube, Walter Mosley about
a dumber America and Cal Newport about a new way to work.

Correction: 
April 7, 2023

An earlier version of this interview referred imprecisely to a study on
psychedelics. Griffiths’s first study on psychedelics was published in 2006, but
his first therapeutic psychedelic study was in cancer patients, published in
2016.

Read 446 Comments
 * Share full article
 * 
 * 
 * 446



Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT




SITE INDEX




SITE INFORMATION NAVIGATION

 * © 2024 The New York Times Company

 * NYTCo
 * Contact Us
 * Accessibility
 * Work with us
 * Advertise
 * T Brand Studio
 * Your Ad Choices
 * Privacy Policy
 * Terms of Service
 * Terms of Sale
 * Site Map
 * Canada
 * International
 * Help
 * Subscriptions

 * Manage Privacy Preferences




Enjoy unlimited access to all of The Times.

See subscription options