Where is Spirit in the Legalization Movement?
As the psychedelic renaissance continues to gain momentum there are two very distinct perspectives on how to make these medicines available to the general public. The first is the clinical approach, rooted in scientific research and therapeutic applications. The second is a spiritual perspective, drawing from ancient traditions and the quest for healing, personal growth and enlightenment. I fear that the clinical approach is heading us in the wrong direction! That it will lead to a dismantling of the sacred, and inevitably play into old westernized power dynamics of bureaucracy.
The clinical perspective on psychedelics is characterized by rigorous scientific inquiry and medicalization. Researchers in psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience are conducting studies to understand the therapeutic potential of psychedelics in treating conditions such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, addiction, and end-of-life distress. Through randomized controlled trials, they aim to ensure the safety and efficacy of psychedelic therapies.
BUT, this work inherently complicates our culture’s perception of what safe even means. Safe, not in the kind of safety that a properly held healing container provides, but the false premise that if it’s “legal” it must equate to safe. By healing core wounds and patterns you may realize its time to end your marriage or quit your job or what happens when the medicines bring you face to face with death? We all know how afraid our culture is to die! This work is not safe, but you can be held through it by facilitators who hold and carry forward ancient wisdoms. This is brave and courageous work.
Through these medicines, we are working in expanded states. My question is, what do traditional therapists know about expanded states? Have they truly traveled to the terrain and the places these medicines can take a person? Let alone support someone in going there? Why not give advanced meditation practitioners who are highly skilled in understanding expanded states these medicines versus traditionally trained therapists? We are trying to stick a square in a round hole. And these are the questions we need to be asking right now.
Our dis-ease is systemic and only a truly holistic perspective, informed by indigenous wisdom will cure our diseases. Please, remember that the system that took these medicines away along with all of the pertinent research done by Groff, and a host of other pioneers, is now possibly being “given back” by the same powers that are in cahoots with big pharma and big business. I’ve had several people recently say, I’m going to find a MAPS person to work with, I applaud their efforts— but until people question why they find safety in the legal system, we might be going in circles as a healing movement.
In contrast, the spiritual perspective on psychedelics is deeply intertwined with ancient traditions and cultural practices. Many cultures have a long history of using psychedelics in spiritual ceremonies and rituals, viewing these substances as tools for deepening one's connection with nature, the cosmos, or a higher power. Spiritual users often seek healing, transformation, and personal growth through their psychedelic experiences, with community support and integration playing significant roles in their journey.
These medicines were not initially given to us in order to decrease CAPS scores, which is a system used by mental health professionals to diagnose PTSD and other disorders. In fact, we are now discovering that prognoses and pathologizing one's symptoms can do more harm than good and keep people locked in prisons of their “disorders.” We lock onto these pathologies and believe that is who and what we are, rather than looking to heal the root cause. Through the spiritual lens, we see that we were never broken in the first place and that our intelligent systems were just adapting to very toxic circumstances and environments.
We need a paradigm shift, why are so many people suffering from depression and anxiety?! Instead, the therapy model is using the same broken system in a desperate attempt to “cure” with these sacred medicines.
The spiritual perspective sees sacred medicines coming from Mother Earth and we want to be in right relationship with her. A movement called Decriminalize Nature has surfaced advocating for the removal of criminal penalties for the possession, use, and cultivation of certain psychedelics. They have had a lot of success going from city to city and pleading their case to city council members that nature should have never been criminalized in the first place. When asked if these medicines should become legalized, Larry Norris, The Co-Founder of Decriminalize Nature, has said:
“I don’t need to legalize the water, I don’t need to legalize the air around us or the sunlight that is coming through because there’s no criminal penalty in it because they just exist. What would it be like in a world where we remove the criminal penalties from entheogenic plants and fungi?”
In fact, it wasn’t too long ago that these medicines were not Schedule 1 substances. President Nixon’s implementation of the Controlled Substances Act in 1970 outlawed and abolished these medicines completely. Amidst the backdrop of the countercultural movements of the 1960s and early 1970s, the Nixon administration's War on Drugs emerged as a means of exerting control over perceived social and political threats, ultimately shaping drug policy (and reinforcing racism) in the United States for decades to come.
Now that we find ourselves at a crossroads once more, the topic of legalization may be back on the table. Many fear that it will follow the cannabis industry and all of its pitfalls. Some of these include regulatory concerns, market saturation, and commercialization and corporate influence. Enter Big Pharma…ooof! Suddenly everyone is rushing to turn these Earth medicines into synthetic copies so that they may capitalize on the declining mental health of our people.
Just like the past, our healthcare system and big pharma have made money off of our suffering. They don’t necessarily want us to get better for they would then be losing repeat customers. All you have to do is look at the opioid catastrophe in this country to see that this is an absolute truth.
On the other hand, decriminalizing these medicines and holding these medicines as sacred paints a very different picture for our future. It brings the power back to the individual people to heal themselves and to start examining their own consciousness. This shift could potentially hold the key to awakening a new way of being as a collective that challenges the status quo. Old ways of being and systems that have been oppressing us for centuries may have to crumble in order to be rebuilt. As they say…the only constant is change. Are we ready for it? This is the question.
