Aaron Rodgers calls for legalization of mushrooms at psychedelics conference

Aaron Rodgers was a featured speaker Wednesday night as he raved about mushrooms and how his use of the hallucinogens helped his NFL career. And he wants to make them legal so everyone can try them.

Rodgers spoke at the Psychedelic Science 2023 conference at the Denver Convention Center. He was one of 300 speakers, but probably was the most well-known outside psychedelic circles. He got this gig about three months ago, before he made the switch from the Packers to the Jets. Podcaster Aubrey Marcus joined Rodgers for a talk entitled “How Psychedelics Can Unlock Elite Performance.”

He told the crowd about how he used ayahuasca (a mushroom tea) with his Packers teammates, describing it as “radically life-changing.” And he said that hundreds of other pro athletes have contacted him about using the psychedelic. It’s legal to use these mushrooms in Oregon and Colorado.

“I know in Colorado that psilocybin has been decriminalized,” Aaron Rodgers said. “Is it not ironic that the things that actually expand your mind are illegal and the things that keep you in the lower chakras and dumb you down have been legal for centuries?”

To translate, the lower chakras are your physical and emotional identity. Psilocybin is the fancy word for the compound in magical mushrooms.

“I found a deeper self love,” Rodgers told the crowd. “It unlocked that whole world of what I’m really here to do is to connect, to connect with those guys, and to make those bonds and to inspire people.”

Aaron Rodgers first used psilocybin, then moved on to sipping ayahuasca in guided, communal settings. He credits drinking the tea to a career resurgence.

“When I first did ‘aya’ in 2020, I remember thinking afterwards, like, I’m going to have to talk about this at some point,” Rodgers said. “Are people ready? How will it be received? Then I won MVP. Then I did it again. I said OK, I can probably talk about it now. But the cool thing has been the response. Not from the media that calls me a druggie, a hippie or whatever it was. …

“To see basketball players and baseball players and surfers and entertainers and my own teammates and colleagues across the league reach out, and either share their story about their own medicine journey or ask to be a part of an upcoming one, is pretty special.”

Reports suggested he spoke to a crowd of about 2,500 people. And he hit on some familiar topics. Rodgers called his critics “bums” and said they needed to use magical mushrooms more than he did. He endorsed Robert Kennedy Jr, a noted anti-vaxxer, for president. He also mentioned a touchdown celebration by former Packer and new Jets receiver Allen Lazard, who pretended to sip ayahuasca tea after a score.