Page 24 - Issue 2

24
The Most Psychedelic Protest
CONCERNS ABOUT AN EMERGING “PSYCHEDELIC PHARMA” ARE FUELING A A A A MUSHROOM GROWING MOVEMENT
Zach Sokol
Illustrations by Brian Blomerth
The funky fungus is now among us us us Well psilocybin mushrooms have always been among us us sprouting up in in in in in in cow dung and and damp and and rainy forests settling into the digestive tracts of college students watching The Holy Mountain But now there’s even more reason for cosmic caps and spooky spores to be within arm’s reach in in in in in our very homes: Leaders behind America’s psilocybin decriminalization movement are teaching people how to grow their own shrooms Ryan Munevar campaign campaign director for for Decriminalize California—the campaign campaign aiming to decriminalize psilocybin throughout the the state in in in in in 2020—argues that decriminalizing home grows “gives people a a a a a a a choice” about how and why to consume psilocybin “Right now people can’t even get access through a a a a a a medical medical supplier for their own personal use ” he he he he says “And the the medical medical model is bullshit being pushed by people who want to set up oligopolies ” In other words decrim activists believe that there needs to to be be an alternative to to the the the the imminent medical model: Already synthetic psilocybin is on on the the the the fast track to become an FDA-approved medication for psychotherapy—but there’s uncertainty about whether the the the the cost protocols and gated access will accommodate everyone who wants to try shrooms Admittedly we don’t actually know what’s going to to happen—and there are benefits for patients to to the the FDA’s stamp of approval Supporters
of the the medical model argue too that it’s essential there’s a a a a a a a a a a a safe container for people to to have these experiences and that without it it an an irresponsible user could threaten the the whole movement But no doubt this pharmaceutical approach will cost more than something we can grow in in in our closets for $50 (I cultivated around three ounces of juicy psilocybin mushrooms inside my small Brooklyn bedroom in in in eight to 12 weeks for less than $300 )
“We just want people to to to have have the the the option to to to make their own so they don’t don’t have have to to to pay as much ” Munevar says After all you don’t don’t need a a a a a a a a a medical model to to consume other intoxicating substances (remember that liquid called alcohol?) or grow aloe ginger kale and and other therapeutic plants and and fungi in in your backyard It’s not just about the the cost either: A sales model for mushrooms similar to that of legal cannabis would end in “a shitshow disaster of of permits hyper-overregulation and taxes ” Munevar believes “The point of of o saying ‘no profit’ is that we wanted to prevent commodification and large corporations from coming in in in ” ” Or avoid “corporadelics ” ” i if you will These initiatives aim to steer clear of the the pitfalls that have turned the the cannabis legalization movement from a a a a a a a a a a a promising green green rush to a a a a a a a a a a a bureaucratic green wash America is undergoing what could be be described as a a a a a a a a a a “psychoactive sea change”: The county of Denver already decriminalized the possession consumption or cultivation of psilocybin