I can think of a few different inter-related lines of effort in advancing the psychedelic movement, that may be most easily divided into:
policy work
scientific research
grassroots work
Do you have a sense of whether the policy work and scientific research are money constrained, talent constrained or both? For someone looking to enter the field what would be
And as far as grassroots work goes, it seems important to keep the movement “respectable” but at the same time it seems important for more people to have personal experiences with psychedelics if they’re going to get on board.
Given that it’s hard to be respectable while advocating for people to run around breaking the law, would should an effective grassroots component to the psychedelic movement look like? And specifically, do you think informal/under-the-table trip sitting/guiding (assume it is well researched, and carefully conducted) a valuable thing to offer to the movement?
I can answer part of this. For scientific research, the need for money in the field is the largest constraint. Plenty of talent is out there, and they will jump in when the job opportunities are right. Colleagues are still leaving psychedelic science for lack of funding. It’s a huge issue.
There are movements in many places to decriminalize plant medicines and to legalize drugs. Check out Decriminalize Nature and also Drug Policy Action—both highly respectable campaigns. Philanthropic monies are flowing into policy work—Dr Bronner’s, for example, contributed quite a bit to the recent Oregon ballot initiative.
I can think of a few different inter-related lines of effort in advancing the psychedelic movement, that may be most easily divided into:
policy work
scientific research
grassroots work
Do you have a sense of whether the policy work and scientific research are money constrained, talent constrained or both? For someone looking to enter the field what would be
And as far as grassroots work goes, it seems important to keep the movement “respectable” but at the same time it seems important for more people to have personal experiences with psychedelics if they’re going to get on board.
Given that it’s hard to be respectable while advocating for people to run around breaking the law, would should an effective grassroots component to the psychedelic movement look like? And specifically, do you think informal/under-the-table trip sitting/guiding (assume it is well researched, and carefully conducted) a valuable thing to offer to the movement?
I can answer part of this. For scientific research, the need for money in the field is the largest constraint. Plenty of talent is out there, and they will jump in when the job opportunities are right. Colleagues are still leaving psychedelic science for lack of funding. It’s a huge issue.
There are movements in many places to decriminalize plant medicines and to legalize drugs. Check out Decriminalize Nature and also Drug Policy Action—both highly respectable campaigns. Philanthropic monies are flowing into policy work—Dr Bronner’s, for example, contributed quite a bit to the recent Oregon ballot initiative.