What do Prince Harry, Miley Cyrus, Elon Musk, Harry Styles and Kristen Bell all have in common?

Aside from being rich and famous, these individuals have been open about their use of psychedelic drugs, touting benefits such as spiritual growth, the curbing of grief and reduced stress, anxiety and depression.

During a recent online chat with trauma expert Gabor Maté, Prince Harry admitted that psychedelic drugs helped him acknowledge the death of his mother, Princess Diana, and to move forward from that trauma.

PRINCE HARRY ADMITS PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS HELPED HIM ‘DEAL WITH THE TRAUMAS’ OF THE PAST

In an interview with Anderson Cooper of “60 Minutes” right after his book, “Spare,” came out, the Duke of Sussex also said, “I would never recommend people to do this recreationally. But doing it with the right people if you are suffering from a huge amount of loss, grief or trauma — then these things have a way of working as a medicine,” Prince Harry admitted.

“For me, they cleared the windscreen, the windshield, the misery of loss,” he also said. “They cleared away this idea that I had in my head that — that my mother, that I needed to cry to prove to my mother that I missed her. When in fact, all she wanted was for me to be happy.”

Celebrities are far from the only ones who have embraced psychedelics (also known as hallucinogens). 

An estimated 5.5 million U.S. adults use them, according to a 2022 study from Columbia University — despite the fact that these substances are largely illegal.

Why are so many people turning to these drugs, and what should everyone know about the risks and benefits involved? Here’s some key information.

Psychedelic drugs are defined as “a class of psychoactive substances that produce changes in perception, mood and cognitive processes,” according to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation (ADF). 

“Psychedelics affect all the senses, altering a person’s thinking, sense of time and emotions. They can also cause a person to hallucinate — seeing or hearing things that do not exist or are distorted.”

Some of the most common types of psychedelics include LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide, also known as acid), psilocybin (magic mushrooms), DMT (dimenthyltryptamine), MDMA (ecstasy), ayahuasca, 2C-B, mesacaline, NBOMe (N-methoxybenzyl) and ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects.

Some psychedelics are found in nature, derived from trees, plants and seeds. Others are synthetically created in laboratories.

Psychedelics aren’t new. For centuries, civilizations around the world have embraced them for medicinal use and for their mystical and spiritual properties. 

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Today, a growing number of people (famous or not) are turning to the drugs for both recreational use and to curb depression, anxiety and other mental health issues — and in many cases, they’re breaking laws along the way.

With so many celebs and high-profile people sharing their psychedelic stories, it begs the question of how they’re getting access to these still-illicit substances.

Dr. Farah Khorassani, associate clinical professor at the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences at University of California, Irvine, pointed out that most “regular” people don’t have access to these drugs, as they are not approved by the FDA for medical use.

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The doctor surmises that people using these drugs in the U.S. may be doing so in the rare areas where psychedelic-assisted therapy is being conducted, or they could be enrolled in clinical trials. Or, illegal purchase is also possible. 

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H/T Fox News (read more at FoxNews.com)

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