This is a replay of our Crowdcast streamed June 20, 2020.

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Psychedelic Community & Racial Justice series, part 1/4

The killing of George Floyd has once again put the spotlight on the ongoing systemic issues of racial injustice, police violence, and criminalization of marginalized BIPOC communities. The psychedelic community must stand in solidarity with wider activism for collective liberation, including and extending far beyond ending the war on drugs.

Where do we go from here? How do we build a better, more equitable and caring future?

Part 1: History of the Drug War, Colonization, & Racism

First we'll look at the history to understand how we got to this moment and how we can advocate for policy that repairs the harms of the past, from colonization to the drug war and modern policing.

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Camille Barton (they/them) is an artist, writer and somatic educator, working on the intersections of wellness, drug policy and transformative justice. Camille is an advisor for MAPS, ensuring that MDMA psychotherapy will be accessible to communities of colour, most harmed by the war on drugs. They have written for Vice, Talking Drugs and DoubleBlind on drug policy & racial justice.

Neill Franklin is Executive Director of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP, formerly Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) and a retired Major of the Maryland State and Baltimore City Police Departments. Following the tragic murder of his close friend, Corporal Ed Toatley, while making an undercover drug buy, Neill resolved to reform failed drug war policies.

Mohawk Greene (they/them) is an Outreach Coordinator for DanceSafe, President of New York DanceSafe, and the Technical Program Manager at NEXT Distro. They organize and oversee harm reduction, health & safety outreach in festival and nightlife settings, give lectures, collaborate with drug reform agencies such as Drug Policy Alliance, and, through their page MohawkTheEducator on social media, spread awareness on topics related to harm reduction and drug policy.

Moderator Kwasi Adusei is a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and the Founder of the Psychedelic Society of Western New York, out of which he developed a local psychedelic harm reduction organization. Kwasi is a trainee of the MAPS sponsored MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD and was part of the first ever therapists of color cohort.