In this week’s Solidarity Friday episode, Joe, Kyle, and Michelle analyze the most interesting stories of the week, this time a bit differently (and maybe a first for PT), with Kyle and Michelle recording together in the same room.

They first revisit last week’s Senate Bill 519 news from the angle of how the media keeps misrepresenting the clear distinction between ‘legal’ and ‘decriminalized,’ spawned from a PR email Michelle received and two different articles with opposing language between their titles and the articles themselves. Is this disconnect coming from confusion about what decriminalization actually means, or is it purposefully done for more attention-grabbing headlines, which serves to only put more people in danger? Or are these media sources in bed with the feds and doing it exactly for that reason? (Always nice to get a visit from Joe’s Paranoid Update.)

They then discuss the absurdity of cannabis still being federally illegal and sending people to prison while Washington State and Arizona use federal funds to buy joints for people getting the Covid vaccination, which leads to a discussion of Covid, vaccinations, trusting the government, and the possible threat of a new bird flu.

And lastly, they look at what happened to a man who took an estimated 40,000 ecstasy pills over the course of 9 years, and why a huge focus of harm reduction should be on moderation and how overuse can negatively impact your life, the importance of honestly reflecting on your relationship with drugs, how you’re growing (or not) from huge insights,  and how realistic or fulfilling your intentions are to begin with. 

Notable Quotes

“Let’s just move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule IV or de-schedule it, because we’re already at this point where the government is buying people joints to get vaccinated, yet it’s still federally a Schedule I substance. It kind of blows my mind. What is happening?” -Michelle

“When science gets politicized, things get ugly, and this isn’t the first time science has been politicized. So let’s be on Team Human. Be on Team Psychedelic, Harm Reduction, Legalize and Regulate (if you want to jump on my boat), but let’s just get on the right path here towards a future that’s better for all of us. That should be apolitical. And yes, there’s plenty to complain about, but let’s survive first.” -Joe 

“We need to talk about moderation when we talk about harm reduction. I think that when we just talk about psychedelics for medical use and we ignore all the folks that are using them outside of a clinician’s office, we just ignore all the circumstances that they need to be educated on, like [that they] can harm people. I think, for me anyway, part of harm reduction for psychedelics is really teaching folks that yea, they’re safe, but if you use them sparingly. It doesn’t matter what it is- MDMA, acid, mushrooms- I think that even when you start using them once a week (in fuller doses), shit can get a little complicated.” -Michelle

“Sometimes I think what we want is unrealistic, like: ‘I want to be totally healed, I want to be a totally different person, and I’m just going to keep going in until I find it.’ You’re never going to find that because that’s just not how it works.” -Michelle

“Is there guilt and shame around taking breaks if you’re really embedded in these psychedelic communities? I know I felt that at one point. Somebody was like, ‘Wait, you haven’t done that in a while?’ I’m like, ‘No, I’ve been really focused on a lot of integration and family relationship-type stuff, and it feels like a psychedelic experience to begin with and I need to kind of focus on that right now.’ And it was like, ‘Oh, then you’re not doing the work.’ And it’s like, ‘Actually, I feel like I am doing the work. This is the work I don’t want to be doing, but I’m trying to show up for it.’ It’s like, do you always need to keep peeling the onion layer back?” -Kyle 

Links

Marijuanamoment.net: California Senate Approves Bill To Legalize Possession Of Psychedelics Like Psilocybin And LSD

Courthousenews.com: California Senate Approves Psychedelic Decriminalization Bill

Independent.ie: AN0M arrests: How a messaging app created ‘over a few beers’ led to huge global sting

Ntimes.com: Washington State allows for free marijuana with Covid-19 vaccine

Azcentral.com: Arizonans get COVID-19 vaccines in exchange for free marijuana joints and edibles

Spotify.com: The Flaming Lips- Do You Realize?

Wsj.com: What Is Going on With Bird Flu? China Reports First Human Case of H10N3 Strain

Psychedelicstoday.com: Remembering Kilindi Iyi

Iflscience.com: One Man Took 40,000 Ecstasy Pills In Nine Years – This Is What Happened To Him

Researchgate.net: Neurological and Psychopathological Sequelae Associated With a Lifetime Intake of 40,000 Ecstasy Tablets (the referenced study)

Psychedelicstoday.com: Zach Leary – Trans-humanism, psychedelic use, overuse and taking a break

Exo-Psychology: A Manual on the Use of the Human Nervous System According to the Instructions of the Manufacturers, by Timothy Leary

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