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Jaden Smith says his mother Jada Pinkett Smith introduced family to psychedelics

The rapper and actor credited psychedelics with helping him bond with his siblings

Tom Murray
Saturday 01 July 2023 09:14 BST
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Jaden Smith has revealed that his mother Jada Pinkett Smith introduced the rest of the Smith family to psychedelics.

The 24-year-old son of Jada and Will Smith made the remarks while speaking at the Psychedelic Science conference in Denver, Colorado, last week.

“I think it was my mom, actually, that was really the first one to make that step for the family,” Jaden said. “It was just her for a really, really long time and then eventually it just trickled and evolved, and everybody found it in their own ways.”

Jaden went on to credit psychedelics with helping him deepen his emotional connections with his sister, Willow, 22, and half-brother Trey, 30.

“Siblings can argue so much and fight so much, and lord knows me and my siblings have done so much of that in the past,” he said. “But the level of love and empathy that I can feel for them inside of the [psychedelic] experiences and outside of the experiences has been something that’s profound and beautiful.”

Psychedelic drugs are still illegal in the majority of the United States, with only Colorado and Oregon partially legalising them. In Colorado, magic mushrooms are legal for recreational use.

Jada Pinkett Smith and Jaden Smith (Getty Images)

Other celebrity guests at this year’s conference included NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who has been open about his use of the South American psychoactive ayahuasca in the past, and former Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry, who is an advocate for researching psychedelics’ potential benefits for veterans experiencing PTSD.

Jada, 51, previously discussed her experience with psychedelics in a November 2021 episode of Red Table Talk, the former Facebook Watch talk show she hosted with her mother Adrienne Banfield-Norris and Willow.

“I struggled with depression for so long. And the thing about the plant medicine is it helps you feel better but also solves the problems of how you got there in the first place,” she said.

She added that prospective users should consult a professional before taking the plunge.

“You have to really wanna do it, this is not for play,” she said. “You have to be willing to confront some hard stuff. It is very healing and it has changed my life.”

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