In the United States, entheogens are federally classified as a Schedule I controlled substance and were banned by the 1970 Controlled Substances Act. Arrests for substance use is a social justice issue on multiple levels, as these types of arrests disproportionately affect people of color and communities of color.

In drafting their resolution, TPS has worked with national- and state-led movements in different states and cities and has formed a committee to make many decisions about what to include. Seattle, Port Townsend, and Jefferson County have already passed similar resolutions.

The Tacoma Psychedelic Society formed from a group of like-minded people who saw plant medicine as a way for people in Tacoma to improve themselves. The organization is currently working to build a movement in Tacoma to decriminalize entheogens, inspired by others on the state and national levels as well as the beliefs of their individual members. “All of the members of our committee are very invested in healing in one way or another,” TPS member[1]  Cole Schrim says, “whether it’s because we’re in the medical field, in the mental health profession, or are committee members struggling with their own mental health challenges.”

The question of how prevalent entheogen crimes are gets asked a lot. “People will say, ‘I haven’t heard too many people getting arrested for magic mushrooms or ayahuasca.’ The reason why it’s important, even though you don’t hear about this, is because this is the work that needs to be done in order to make the change happen statewide and nationally,” Schrim says.

“Even though people aren’t getting charged with possession of magic mushrooms,” Schrim adds, “we want to live in a world and community where people don’t fear using entheogens such as psilocybin. The city movements are what create the momentum to make the bigger widespread changes.”

A lot of people struggle with the idea of psychedelics because they equate psychedelics to other drugs such as fentanyl, and as everyone is aware, we are in a crisis—an opioid crisis. Schrim explains, “We personally don’t discriminate against anyone at all. Everyone’s choices are their own. A taboo in drug use is problematic because it’s a social justice issue. People wouldn’t be using drugs like fentanyl if they were happy or fulfilled. And on the flip side, when people begin ceremonies where they’re using ayahuasca or they start microdosing, these plant medicines are a much different experience. Rather than escape from the pains of reality, it’s instead a way to tune in and face what we’re feeling and what we’re upset about. And for many people, it is a life altering experience that helps people to feel better, so it’s a very different experience compared to using a substance to escape.”

For anyone interested in the current research being done on psychedelics and microdosing, Schrim says, the number one place to start would be Johns Hopkins. “Johns Hopkins is the gold standard. They’ve done a lot of research on the efficaciousness of psilocybin for post-traumatic stress disorder, treatment-resistant depression, and end-of-life anxiety. Those are three specific mental health disorders that have been widely researched, and psilocybin isn’t the only entheogen researched considerably. Ayahuasca and other plant medicines have been researched as well, such as 5-MeO-DMT.” Johns Hopkins has conducted high-quality peer-reviewed research with data from clinical trials that anyone can access and reference, Schrim adds, “and we have some research on our website that is available for people to view.”

TPS is hoping for their resolution to pass in the sub-committee and general city council, and once they reach that point, they want to really focus more on the other activities, as activism is only one of three things that Tacoma Psychedelic Society does. “We want to get the word out and get the resolution passed within the city limits,” Schrim says, “and we want to educate people not only about what we’re doing but also about the use of plant medicines at large.”

The organization plans to provide ongoing educational opportunities for city residents as one of their main goals, Schrim says. “We will utilize public spaces like libraries and will have educational events around topics such as microdosing, safety protocols, and how to be a good peer support to somebody who is utilizing psychedelics.” Future events will show up on TPS’s website as they shift to the next phase of their movement.

TPS also wants to build community. “Not only letting people know about the activism, but also telling them that we are a community that exists in a post-COVID world. That way, we can connect one-on-one with people who are passionate about plant medicine and want to participate in integration circles, for example, or attend one of our future events.”

Some people want a more clinical model with a more controlled environment. But Schrim believes these types of environments can actually take away from some of the value of entheogens. “People should be able to choose how they use these substances and have autonomy in whether they have a professional in the room, or maybe they have a friend, or maybe they have a family member they trust. We believe—in regard to one of our values, which is cognitive liberty—that people have the right to make these choices for themselves, and it shouldn’t be something that is mandated to happen in a clinical setting.”

Also, entheogens can help people who are suffering. We don’t have a health care system that is affordable or easily accessible—with many patients waiting months for appointments to see a prescriber or a specialist for their pain. And, Schrim says, “If there was no fear of microdosing, as with psilocybin, for example, that could be something that someone could begin using quickly and start feeling better immediately. These plant medicines have the power to affect people’s lives in a positive way. It’s not something that’s going to heal everyone, but for people that it can heal, we want it to be accessible.”

According to Schrim, if you compare SSRIs and microdosing psilocybin side by side, SSRIs are having a rough time in the research world right now. “They have been shown to be clinically effective, but in recent years, we’ve seen research emerging that’s actually showing that SSRIs aren’t helping a lot of people. That things like exercise, for example, are more beneficial to people than taking an SSRI. If you look at the research and trials on microdosing, in the small period of time that we have researched microdosing psilocybin, that research looks comparatively much stronger than the research I’ve seen on the efficacy of SSRIs.”

The effects of shifting to psychedelics can be quite dramatic for some. “The changes that people see from using psychedelics can transcend what happens in a therapy session—even in a ten-year span. “As a therapist,” Schrim says, “I see people that sit in talk therapy for years and it just doesn’t work. And they do one ceremony—an ayahuasca ceremony or otherwise—and they are able to completely progress in a way that I never would have seen possible.”

You also have lecturers and researchers like Michael Pollan who are greatly influencing the psychedelic movement. He’s a Harvard professor and journalist who wrote How to Change Your Mind, which also became a Netflix docuseries.

Schrim goes on: “There are Ivy League lecturers and researchers whose work on researching the benefits of using psychedelics have become popularly recognized. We have credible research programs that say, ‘Look, this is actually changing people’s lives and they can feel happy for the first time in their entire life.’”

Schrim also wants readers to know that it’s okay to abstain. “You wouldn’t have to be someone that uses these substances to be curious about them. You also don’t have to be someone who uses these substances to support decriminalization. You can just be someone who believes that they can help someone else without being someone who uses them to help yourself.”

“One thing that we are really hopeful for is that Tacoma city residents who feel strongly about this issue write letters or draft emails to Tacoma’s city government, the mayor, and city councilmembers to let them know that this is something that they support, if they do,” Schrim says.

Tacoma Psychedelic Society is always open to collaborate with community members who would like to volunteer and offer up their services, whether they be medical professionals, mental health professionals, passionate community members, veterans—anybody who feels passionately about this issue. TPS would love to have their help and support as volunteers.

TPS works closely with the Psychedelic Medicine Alliance of Washington (PMAW) and REACH Washington (Responsible Entheogen Access and Community Healing Coalition), as well as with an organization called A Hippie and A Veteran, a veteran-led organization seeking to improve mental health outcomes for veterans in our community. TPS is also working with other organizations on the state and national level to grow their movement.

Port Townsend, Jefferson County, and Seattle have already passed resolutions decriminalizing entheogens. Tacoma Psychedelic Society is inspired by an organization called Port Townsend Psychedelic Society, which has led the way in modeling how to provide resources and education to the community post-decriminalization.

Read more about the Tacoma Psychedelic Society on their website: www.tacomapsychedelicsociety.org

This mushroom painting is from Laura Eklund’s Paint & Sip! You can follow her on Facebook to find out about her upcoming events: https://www.facebook.com/lauraeklundart/