The Progress We’ve Made Together
I had the great pleasure of joining my Healing Advocacy Fund colleagues in Colorado (along with over 11,000 other people) at the MAPS conference in Denver last week. There, we all had the chance to speak to both the opportunities and challenges presented via the state-regulated access models in Oregon and Colorado. It was incredibly refreshing to be in the same physical space with so many people from across the country and around the world, and to join them in discussing the future of psychedelic healing for all who stand to benefit.
Panelists L to R: Sam Chapman, Veronica Lightning Horse, Kevin Matthews, Nate Howard
Over the past few months I’ve also had the opportunity to speak with numerous journalists about the progress that Oregon, Colorado and so many other places are making in bringing psychedelic healing to those in need. It’s often easy for all of us to get lost in solving the day-to-day problems we face in creating policy and processes to provide safe and equitable access to psychedelics, and forget to look back at the tremendous progress we’ve made. Just a few short years ago, Oregon voters surprised the nation (and ourselves) by approving a first of its kind psilocybin therapy program. Colorado followed soon after, expanding access to multiple psychedelics and modalities for healing.
The challenges in getting psychedelic healing to where we are today are huge, and we could not have accomplished any of it without the input, support and insight from so many of you. I remain grateful for all we have done together and so very excited about what we have yet to achieve.
STORIES OF HEALING
The Power of Psilocybin to Support Veterans' Healing
Veteran voices advocating for psychedelic healing have been some of the strongest over the past several years. We are proud to share our latest video with you from veteran, fitness coach and athlete Tobias Shea, about the power of psilocybin to improve lives.
Tobias Shea, U.S. Army Veteran, Two Combat Tours in Afghanistan, Jiu Jitsu Coach
UPDATES
Oregon Senate Bill 303 Signed into Law
This month, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek signed Senate Bill 303 into law, creating a mechanism for measuring outcomes for the Oregon psilocybin program. Service Centers will collect and submit a series of aggregate (summarized) information to the Oregon Health Authority, without sharing any personal details that could be used to identify an individual client. Clients may opt-out of having their service center provide this aggregate information to the OHA. Information will be shared with researchers at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) for assessment and public reporting of key points related to safety, quality and equity of services.
The information collected and assessed under Senate Bill 303 will help us all understand who is receiving services, who is not and about adverse outcomes relating to client experiences, allowing Oregon to measure progress towards the safety, quality, and equitable access outcomes so important to the success of the program.
Listen: Aspen Psychedelic Symposium
The inaugural Aspen Psychedelic Symposium was held in June and attracted over 450 people to hear researchers, advocates and medical professionals explore conversations related to ceremony and healing, mental health breakthroughs, the neuroscience of psychedelics and important policy questions around the implementation of Colorado’s Natural Medicine Health Act. Our partner Aspen Public Radio has compiled recordings from some of the presentations and speakers during the groundbreaking symposium—including the keynote from Dennis McKenna—all of which are available here.
Sign Our Safety Committee’s Letter
Last week, we informed the community of an important and developing issue related to psilocybin potency and dosing that may have a safety impact for clients. Much more information and background is here in our Safety Committee’s open letter to the Oregon Health Authority. Please review the letter and if you are willing, add your name.
IN THE NEWS
Microdosing psychedelics has benefits, users say. Science isn’t convinced.
The Washington Post
Some people microdose for better mental health, or personal and spiritual growth. Scientific evidence for microdosing, though, is scarce and has been mixed.
Oprah Talks to Scientist Roland Griffiths About the Power of Psychedelics and the Gratitude of Mortality
Oprah Daily
When one of the foremost pioneers of psychedelics research in the treatment of terminally ill cancer patients was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer, the irony wasn’t lost on him. Because what some might see as Shakespearean tragedy, Roland Griffiths, PhD, a soft-spoken man of science with a seemingly irrepressible smile, sees only as the greatest of life affirmations.
Image: OprahDaily.com
‘It Will Be Hard to Ignore All the Positive Stories Coming Out of Oregon Soon’
reMind
Sam Chapman is the founder and executive director of the Healing Advocacy Fund, a nonprofit that supports the “thoughtful and effective implementation” of the nation’s first regulated psilocybin therapy programs in Oregon and Colorado. He also has more than a decade of experience as a drug-policy reform advocate and served as the campaign manager for Oregon’s Measure 109.
Chapman recently discussed the differences between his advocacy work in cannabis and psychedelics, what makes aspiring entrepreneurs in psychedelics unique, and his vision for a Medicaid pilot program in Oregon that could greatly increase access to psilocybin therapies for underserved populations.