Book Club Discussion Questions and Guide for Trippy by Ernesto Londoño

1. If you're willing to share: Have you taken any psychedelics or do you know anyone who has? What did you experience, or what have you heard about the experience?
2. What is your opinion on the use of psychedelics in a therapeutic setting? Did your opinion change after reading Trippy?
3. Of the risks and potential downsides of medicinal psychedelics outlined in the book — including sexual assault, predatory guides, and retreats that lack safeguards — which do you find most alarming? What should be done to make these experiences safer?
4. Do you think the medicinal use of psychedelics should be legal in the U.S.? If so, what should be the criteria for use?
5. What role do you think Indigenous people will play in the future of the psychedelics field?
6. What do you make of Ernesto's visions while under the influence of psychedelics? Of his possible vision of a past life? Have you ever experienced something similar?
7. Did the chapter about the Rythmia retreat in Costa Rica make you think about the way people may become highly suggestible after taking psychedelics? Beyond the kind of upselling described in the book, how else might people be exploited in these settings?
8. Before reading Trippy, did you know that veterans have become key actors in the movement to expand access to psychedelics? What might that mean in terms of the politics of this aspect of the war on drugs?
9. Talk about the intersection of drugs, religion, and the law. Do you think churches should be free from government interference when it comes to the use of psychedelics as sacraments, or should they be subject to some form of regulations and restrictions?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Celadon. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.