{"id":20416,"date":"2025-12-07T19:09:27","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T18:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=20416"},"modified":"2026-02-17T20:12:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T19:12:00","slug":"a-question-about-psilocybin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2025\/12\/a-question-about-psilocybin\/","title":{"rendered":"A question about Psilocybin"},"content":{"rendered":"

By \u00a0CLAIRE RUSH, Associated Press –<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

November 17, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) \u2014 A federal judge on Monday ruled there would be no prison time for a former Alaska Airlines pilot who had taken psychedelic mushrooms days before he tried to cut the engines of a passenger flight in 2023 while riding off-duty in the cockpit.<\/span><\/p>\n

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Baggio in Portland, Oregon, sentenced Joseph Emerson to time served and three years\u2019 supervised release, ending a case that drew attention to the need for cockpit safety\u00a0and more mental health support for pilots.<\/span><\/p>\n

Federal prosecutors wanted a year in prison, while his attorneys sought probation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPilots are not perfect. They are human,\u201d Baggio said. \u201cThey are people and all people need help sometimes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Emerson hugged his attorneys and tearfully embraced his wife after he was sentenced.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emerson was subdued by the flight crew after trying to cut the engines of a Horizon Air flight from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco on Oct. 22, 2023, while he was riding in an extra seat in the cockpit. The plane was diverted and landed in Portland with more than 80 people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emerson told police\u00a0he was despondent over a friend\u2019s recent death, had taken psychedelic mushrooms about two days earlier, and hadn\u2019t slept in over 40 hours. He has said he believed he was dreaming and was trying to wake up by grabbing two red handles that would have activated the fire suppression system and cut fuel to the engines.<\/span><\/p>\n

He spent 46 days in jail and was released pending trial in December 2023, with requirements that he undergo mental health services, stay off drugs and alcohol, and keep away from aircraft.<\/span><\/p>\n

Attorney Ethan Levi described his client\u2019s actions as \u201ca product of untreated alcohol use disorder.\u201d Emerson had been drinking and accepted mushrooms \u201cbecause of his lower inhibitions,\u201d Levi said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emerson went to treatment after jail and has been sober since, he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Baggio said the case is a cautionary tale. Before she sentenced him, Emerson said he regretted the harm he caused.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a victim. I am here as a direct result of my actions,\u201d he told the court. \u201cI can tell you that this very tragic event has forced me to grow as an individual.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The judge sentenced Emerson to time served (46 days) and put him on probation for 3 years, with some restrictions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: Claire Rush – Associated Press<\/span><\/p>\n

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><\/span><\/p>\n

Addendum by John Coleman Ph D, President, Drug Watch International<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

From:<\/strong> John J. Coleman. PhD <john.coleman.phd@gmail.com> <\/span>
\nSent:<\/strong> 19 November 2025 13:21<\/span>
\nTo:<\/strong> ndpa@drugprevent.org.uk<\/span>
\nSubject:<\/strong> RE: Question about Psilocybin<\/span><\/p>\n

It is now known that his employer, Horizon Airlines, terminated him as soon as his arrest was reported. Feelings here are very mixed over this outcome and some thought he should have been given some additional prison time. Had he been drunk on alcohol, things would have been different and he likely would have wound up in prison. In John Coleman’s opinion, being under the influence of psychedelics is even worse because the person can appear normal, as this fellow did, and still pose a serious risk to self and others. <\/span><\/p>\n

Coleman\u00a0 wrote the judge a letter and recommended she include several thousand hours of community service in the form of lecturing school children and young adults on the dangers of psychedelics, but she apparently didn\u2019t consider it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here’s what Coleman advised the judge:<\/span><\/p>\n

November 11, 2025 to\u00a0The Hon. Amy M. Baggio –\u00a0United States District Judge –\u00a0District of Oregon<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In re: Sentencing of Joseph David Emerson, defendant in\u00a0<\/u>case #3:25-cr-00306, USA v. Emerson<\/em><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Judge Baggio,<\/span><\/p>\n

Please forgive me for using an email to send this letter to you. I\u2019m afraid regular mail would be too slow to get from one side of the country to the other.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Monday, November 17, 2025, I believe you have scheduled a sentencing hearing for the defendant, Joseph David Emerson, who, in 2023, while under the influence of psilocybin, a Schedule I controlled substance, attempted to cause the destruction of an Alaska Airlines flight containing 84 passengers and crew, including himself. Emerson has admitted to the charge, among others, of interfering with a flight and flight crew (Title 49, United States Code, Section 46504). He has signed a plea agreement, and media reports indicate that the federal prosecutor has agreed to recommend a sentence of one year, along with restitution for costs incurred in the emergency landing and the rebooking of stranded passengers.<\/span><\/p>\n

On a personal note, I served 33 years as a special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration and headed several offices, including that of Assistant Administrator for Operations, the top non-appointed position in the agency. During the course of my long career, especially when working as a street agent in New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Newark, and Boston, I was often asked what the most dangerous drug a drug abuser could take. My answer, your honor, was always the same: psilocybin<\/u>. Over the years, I witnessed hundreds of people severely addicted to opiates and stimulants (like amphetamines and cocaine), and after completing treatment, they would bounce back and be productive members of society again. Some today are famous people, even high-level government officials, people I knew when they were hitting the bottom of the proverbial barrel. Many, indeed, most, rebounded in ways that I can only say were inspiring for me and my fellow officers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The sole exception for which recovery never seemed possible involved those using psilocybin, especially chronic users of the drug. I was told by someone who would know that in street parlance, \u201cpsilocybin burns out the brain cells.\u201d Some of the most bizarre crimes I ever encountered \u2013 people cutting off their own limbs and the heads of their spouses and children – were more often than not the result of taking psilocybin. Some were just too gruesome for words. My colleagues and I, in such instances, would suspect long before the tox or autopsy reports came in that psilocybin was the causative agent.<\/span><\/p>\n

In closing, I would ask that, whatever you decide to do with Mr. Emerson as a result of his imprudent use of psilocybin, you consider including several thousand hours of directed community service in which he is accepted by an appropriate state or federal department, on behalf of which he will make presentations to school audiences and others about the dangers of using psychedelic drugs, especially psilocybin. Mr. Emerson was a commercial pilot, someone who even now might draw a considerable amount of attention. His personal experiences, given in a format of educating others, would surely go a long way toward keeping this and other dangerous drugs away from vulnerable people. And it might even go a long way toward helping him to deal with his own mental health issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thank you for considering this suggestion, and thank you for your service to our nation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sincerely, – J. Coleman –\u00a0<\/span>[signed]<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: <\/span>John J. Coleman, PhD.\u00a0<\/span>President –\u00a0<\/span>Drug Watch International, Inc.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By \u00a0CLAIRE RUSH, Associated Press – November 17, 2025 PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) \u2014 A federal judge on Monday ruled there would be no prison time for a former Alaska Airlines pilot who had taken psychedelic mushrooms days before he tried to cut the engines of a passenger flight in 2023 while riding off-duty in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,129,68,138,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brain-and-behaviour","category-culture","category-drug-use-various-effects","category-psychedelics","category-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20416"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20418,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20416\/revisions\/20418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}