Last month I flew to California for a medical conference, hosted by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (Maps).

The event saw around 1,200 participants from 18 countries gather for more than 90 presentations.

Substantial media coverage contributed to a growing awareness that psychedelic drugs deserve more than the stigma they currently attract.

The conference revealed a wealth of government-approved scientific studies showing psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and LSD to be extremely beneficial in psychotherapeutic settings.

This is perhaps not so surprising – these drugs were utilised within psychotherapy on a huge scale before they escaped from the laboratory to the cultural revolution of the 60s.

It is also common knowledge that other ‘illicit’ drugs have medicinal value; heroin is used as a painkiller under the name ‘diamorphine’, methamphetamine is given to children with ADHD, and ketamine is used as an alternative anaesthetic when blood pressure must be kept stable.

So, why is this big news? The more that we see psychedelics through a scientific lens the more one must start to accept these substances are not quite what we have been led to believe.

If one stops thinking of psychedelic drugs as simply ‘illicit’, and instead thinks of them as ‘medicinal’, one must naturally begin to look at the results of medical trials and scientific examinations.

These trials do not really support the prevalent image of psychedelics as valueless generators of delusion, or as simple ‘madness-makers’.

As for the physiological dangers, the classical psychedelics do not appear to cause any damage to the human body.

They are not toxic to any vital physiological or metabolic process and so one cannot overdose on them.

They are also not addictive; their use is not accompanied by either cravings or withdrawal symptoms on cessation of use.

Indeed, one of their most useful tendencies in psychotherapy is to diminish the addictive hold of commonly-abused drugs such as heroin and alcohol.

Many researchers have found psychedelics such as ayahuasca and ibogaine to be of invaluable assistance to psychotherapeutic processes, including the treatment of depression, OCD and anxiety.

What about ‘bad trips’? LSD is currently being used in Switzerland to alleviate anxiety in patients with terminal illness.

I asked Dr Peter Gasser, the researcher behind this study, whether the anxiety had ever led to any negative reactions under LSD.

He replied that yes, some patients had experienced difficult trips, but that they all came back without much hesitation to take part in a second session.

Sometimes the difficult trips are ultimately the most valuable, even if they aren’t the most fun.

As with all things, I believe the best policy should be based on assistance, education and honesty.

Our schools should certainly not be encouraging use of psychedelic drugs, but neither should they be propagating partial truths (which are no truths at all).

There will be people who are going to choose to use these drugs, outside of medical settings, and the best way to minimise negative repercussions is to be honest and open about their effects.

Rather than ignoring the fact that many young people will experiment with drugs during their lives we should perhaps be teaching teenagers how to help somebody through a difficult psychedelic experience.

A trip can be an extraordinarily powerful, life-changing experience – and psychedelics are not toys to be played with – but people will play with them and we must offer honest, holistic and practical education if we are to expect young people to make their decisions wisely.

The University of Kent has a Psychedelics Society www.ukcpsychedelics.co.uk) that offers advice, information, and weekly open-lectures by a diverse selection of experts.

I think it is important that we all try to take a step back from presupposition, misinformation and stigma and begin to look at these drugs in a new context.

• Dave King is a medical anthropology student at the University of Kent with a research interest in psychedelics.