Bay Staters for Creative Well-Being

Thank you, Boston Mushroom Fest ???? From sustainable leather to healthy proteins to sustainable building materials to mental healthcare, we explored it all. Grateful for all who joined and shared their knowledge too

Another wonderful fall mushroom forage ???? Thank you to all the creative and kind people who joined us for our hike. Hope to see you again at upcoming events

Honored to have our work featured in USA Today ???? In Oregon, the cost of psychedelic facilitation has exploded. The price tag, often nearly $3,000, excludes every working and middle class person. Even worse — people who wanted to help others by becoming a psychedelic facilitators are being driven into debt or bankruptcy paying for purposively expensive training programs, insurance, and lawyers. We are opposed to Question Four because we have seen first-hand that this law is a racket by a DC Super PAC to take advantage of small entrepreneurs. A "No" vote means the opportunity to push forward for H.3605, our Massachusetts legislation, that would create affordable education programs and allow this care to be triaged with our mental health professionals like therapists and social workers (excluded under Question Four). Our bill was passed by the Massachusetts legislature's Joint Committee on Public Health — we will build on this success after voters reject Question Four. https://lnkd.in/eERR5_FZ

Question Four would create a legalization model where: — A handful of mushrooms will cost $2,000 or more like in Oregon — Rules are made by unelected officials who only have to live here 90 days — Mental health practioners like therapists risk delicensing to participate — Indigenous and religious ceremonies are effectively banned — Small businesses and nonprofits would not make it by financially — People mistakenly believe they can grow mushrooms but still face arrest — There's no strategy to caution and educate on psychedelics' risks https://lnkd.in/eEj7xKRH

“Fundamentally we don’t believe plant medicine is legal if no one can afford it,” said James Davis, a cofounder of Bay Staters for Natural Medicine. “Sometimes it’s better to wait and get the policy right rather than rushing it." https://lnkd.in/eCWYP2tY As the volunteer team who decriminalized mushrooms across eight Massachusetts communities, we do not support Question Four, the psychedelic ballot question for four reasons: The first is cost. This over 30-page law written by a DC-based PAC would create a system where psilocybin services cost thousands of dollars and exclude most people in need from accessing them legally. In Oregon, this system has resulted in small business closure and an illicit market where there is no legal accountability or transparency at all: https://lnkd.in/eGmxmkPz https://lnkd.in/e6gEHRwY The second is corruption. In Oregon and Colorado, these complex ballot questions have created unelected state agencies to regulate psychedelics that are prone to corporate lobbying. For example, the chair of Oregon's psilocybin advisory board was forced to resign due to conflicts of interest around training programs. In Colorado, the PAC behind the Massachusetts ballot question has seemingly engaged in illegal lobbying of state officials and dishonest lobbying in Massachusetts: https://lnkd.in/eerZy-MD https://lnkd.in/eyvvnF6K https://lnkd.in/eebRAzPa The third is low-quality patient care. Like in Oregon, therapists and other mental health professionals would be excluded from being part of these treatments. Doctors and psychiatrists could still be delicensed for offering harm reduction advice, limiting integration with formal healthcare: https://lnkd.in/eme4fEkM The fourth is that we have better paths forward. Voters' rejection of the ballot question this fall will not be the end of progress on this issue. It will simply establish that more public education, research, and thoughtfulness need to go into creating laws for these treatments. This year, in Massachusetts, our volunteers persuaded their lawmakers to file more laws than any other state in the country, and one of them that would have created an affordable legal pathway was even passed by the Joint Committee on Public Health. We do not support this ballot question. Let's not rush this. Let's get it right instead.

Humbled to host so many incredible environmental advocates and entrepreneurs at MetroWest Earth Fest ???? Mycology—the study of mushrooms—not only benefits mental health and addiction treatment. It is the future of plastic alternatives, clean soil, data analysis, and healthier food too Thank you to all the amazing volunteers who made this work possible #massachusetts #masspoli #natick #MetroWest #mycology #stopprivatejets

History in the making ???? Our legislation, H.1754 (S.1009) An Act Relative to Plant Medicine, would allow Massachusetts adults to grow and non-commercially share personal amounts of #psilocybin mushrooms and related natural #psychedelics Last week, the American Medical Association endorsed nationwide decriminalization of substances, and several months before the Massachusetts Municipal Association wrote in support of decriminalization and education over corporate "legalization," which creates unintended outcomes. While these official statements are great, they have been supported by thousands of #Massachusetts voters reaching out to their lawmakers with the help of our team. Let's persuade the Joint Committee on the Judiciary to vote positively on legislation that can make a real dent in our mental health crisis, our addiction woes, and the treatments of neurological diseases like cluster headaches, #multiplesclerosis, and #parkinsons to name a few Sign the Petition Here ?? https://lnkd.in/eZmCzzFh

Big Pharma just took a big loss ???? The recent #FDA advisory decision to reject the MAPS / LYKOS Corporation's application for "exclusive authorization" of #MDMA worried some. But this is a huge win the for the future of access for #psychedelics in the medium and long-term In addition to documented theft from an elderly man, multiple sexual abuse coverups, the death of a 20-year old woman due to #MAPS negligence, this approval would have been a corporate takeover. MAPS / LYKOS had planned to charge $25,000 or more per treatment, leveraging its nearly ten year monopoly on the sale of MDMA to control the market The slides below explain all these points, teaching us how we got here and how we are bringing people together around a new vision despite the lobbying efforts against us #innovation #mentalhealth #addictiontreatment #competition #monopoly #linakhan #healthcare

Fun get together coming up in Natick, MA for people who want to learn, get plugged in, and make a difference on climate! ??

We're excited to see you at MetroWest Earth Fest???? With our partners Common Street Spiritual Center, Extinction Rebellion, 350.org Mass MetroWest, and Eco Natick, we will bring people together to learn core skills to live more in balance with nature, inspire each other with the progress of our work, and plan actions to block destructive projects #wellesley #natick #needham #waltham #framingham #sherborn #wayland #weston