Meet the psychonauts changing the game in Colorado

This is Tricycle Day. We tell it to you straight, like your friend who just came back from a 5g journey and suddenly has the whole universe figured out. 🤯

Here’s what we got today:

• Colorado appoints members of its Natural Medicine Advisory Board

• Non-profit organizes a demonstration to challenge Canadian policy on psilocybin

The governor has spoken

Colorado governor Jared Polis has named the 15 members of the state’s new Natural Medicine Advisory Board.

Their task? Inform Colorado’s psychedelics policy overhaul, now that entheogens and psilocybin healing centers are fair game under state law.

Polis only got 15 picks, so he had to choose wisely.

Imagine picking your fantasy football team, but the stakes are people’s access to life-changing plant medicine, not which of your buddies is picking up the next round of beer and nachos. (Nose goes. 👃👈️)

So naturally, he rounded out the board with a diverse team of researchers, doctors, attorneys, academics, and advocates to make sure all perspectives were represented.

If you don’t want to read about all the board members and their bona fides, we’ll make it simple for ya.

Think of them as Captain Planet’s Planeteers. With their powers combined, they can bring freedom and justice to Colorado’s health law.

• Earth 🌎️ — Dr. Sue Sisley will represent mycology and natural medicine cultivation. She’s known for her controlled substances research and even played a role in the Arizona bill we reported on earlier this month, which would fund psilocybin studies with $30 million in grants.

• Fire 🔥 — Joshua Goodwin will represent military veterans. He’s a retired counterespionage case officer and “special agent,” which means we literally do not know what he’s capable of, but we know he’s a badass.

• Wind 💨 — Ricardo Baca will represent public health, drug policy, and harm reduction. Fortune Magazine named him one of the 7 most powerful people in America’s cannabis industry.

• Water 💧 — Billy Wynne will represent health policy and insurance. He’s a straight-laced attorney who opened Colorado’s first “100% sober bar.” Because every psychedelic super-squad needs one dude to tripsit and remind everyone to stay hydrated.

• Heart ❤️ — Sofia Chavez will represent Indigenous and religious use of psychedelics. She was raised with the healing traditions of her Mesoamerican ancestors and understands there’s more to natural medicine than science.

The board has to submit their initial report with policy recommendations by September 30. Until then, we’ll be singing…

🎶 Colorado Ad Board — They're our heroes — Gonna take outdated drug policies down to zero

They're our powers — Magnified — And they're fighting on the fungi’s side 🎶 

Don’t call it a protest

It’s a demonstration. A “demonstration of love and support,” to be specific.

TheraPsil, a non-profit coalition fighting for compassionate access to psilocybin in Canada, is leading a group of patients, advocates, and experts to the nation’s capital to pursue their mission.

They’re bringing in the big guns to meet with federal decision-makers at Health Canada and the Parliament. That includes a crew of stage IV cancer patients who’ve been denied access to treatment.

Strong move. Like, are you really gonna look this person who’s confronting their own mortality in the eye and say, “nope, you can’t eat a mushroom”? 🤔

Beyond guilt-shaming the bureaucrats to tears, TheraPsil has 3 main goals for the event.

1. Right to Die → Right to Try. 💀 In Canada, end-of-life patients have the option of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). They argue psilocybin should be offered as a supplement and/or alternative.

2. Get a commitment to regulate medical psilocybin. ✍️ Patients and health care professionals are currently entangled in a lawsuit with the Minister of Health over medical access to mushrooms. They want this case settled as a first step in striking down the prohibition of psilocybin altogether.

3. Give health care workers access now. 🩺 Assuming psilocybin is legalized for medical use, docs and nurses will need to be trained before they can provide effective treatment. They want practitioners to get access ASAP, so they’re ahead of the curve.

TheraPsil is currently fundraising. If you’d like to support their fight for legal psilocybin, you don’t have to make the trek to Ottowa. You can donate directly, even with crypto.

But hey, this is Tricycle Day. However you wanna demonstrate is fine by us. 🕺

That's all for today! If you're picking up what we're putting down, share this newsletter with all your friends. New subscribers make us trip!  

DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. The use, possession, and distribution of psychedelic drugs are illegal in most countries and may result in criminal prosecution.