Karmichael Hunt is learning that the potency of an illicit-drug scandal is likely to be far stronger than anything he has ingested. In the wake of the allegations against Hunt, a predictable hysteria has swept through the country. And while there is no doubt that Hunt is alleged to have done something extremely foolish, if so, his real crime is underestimating our society's deeply irrational attitude to certain substances.

Part of the problem is the catch-all term: drugs. A drug is any substance that has a physiological effect when introduced into the body. Everything we ingest is, by definition, a drug. In terms of the effects they produce, it is time we accepted that all substances appear on a spectrum. Your favourite coffee or red wine is favoured precisely because of the altered states of consciousness it brings about. And any reasonable debate about drugs must be anchored to the specific effects they produce. We can demystify illicit drugs by paying attention to what they are and how they work.

Consider psilocybin. Drug laws have made the active compound in magic mushrooms unavailable to researchers for decades. And yet new clinical trials have revealed that it may be one of the most useful substances on earth. Appearing in The New Yorker, Michael Pollan's article "The Trip Treatment" brought worldwide attention to renewed research on psychedelics and the exciting results it is producing.