This vial is from our 2015 trial, which was the first study since the 1950s of using psychedelics to treat depression. It’s psilocybin that we received from a lab, rather than just being a compound that exists in a psychedelic mushroom that I could go out and find with my friends. This is actually a safe, very pure and controlled version of the same molecule that we can therefore give to people who are really unwell and in a fragile state.

So it symbolizes a reframing of how psychedelics are viewed, that they can reenter science and therapeutic testing for people who are suffering. We conducted the trial with the appropriate Home Office licenses, so it also represents the fact that we’re allowed to do this in the UK—it’s a validation that it’s legal, approved and safe enough ...