Scientists and Silicon Valley want to prove psychoactive drugs are healthy

UK scientist is advocating for research to show psychoactive drug use is a matter of sound public health policy - and Silicon Valley startups see an opportunity

Finding safe, new uses for psychoactive drugs, well-known chemical compounds that can alter the mind, is a fashionable occupation for a niche group of tech enthusiasts called biohackers. Biohackers are hobbyists that typically experiment with psychoactive drugs, among other life-enhancing tools, outside of institutional laboratories. But one academic scientist is trying to convince the UK government and the scientific community that psychoactive drug use is a matter of sound public health policy.

While the US Federal Trade Commission is in the midst of penalizing businesses for using inadequate scientific evidence to claim that their products improve cognitive abilities, Samuele Marcora, the director of research at the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Kent, is initiating academic research that could bolster these products' reputations.