Sex offender registries are designed so that society treats you like a leper; as if you should be sent away somewhere, so that “decent” people don’t have to worry about you. I’ve felt that shame deeply in the five years since I was released from prison. But not being able to go to church feels like shame on top of shame. Like I’m not even worthy of faith anymore. 

During the 10 years I spent in prison, it was the church community that sustained me. And still sustains me today, through correspondence. While incarcerated, a lot of people attend church not necessarily because of faith, but because they’re seeking a safe haven, or food. And in my experience, there was no judgment of those people—food, safety and comfort are things everyone needs, no matter where we are.

“Two life-changing components for those incarcerated are church and community,” Terrance Heard, currently incarcerated at South Central Correctional Facility where I served most of my sentence, told Filter. “The benefits reach far beyond what state-facilitated programs offer … the only alternative for empowering one another with accountability—and protecting each other from a prison culture filled with bad actors—is community. This is especially true for sex offenders, who not only bear the judgment of the state through the courts but must also find the grace to survive the court of public opinion.”

Heard worked as the chaplain’s clerk for many years, and is the de facto spiritual leader for the facility’s religious services. He was there for me multiple times during my sentence when my faith was being tested. But the compassion and acceptance I found in the prison church services have been much harder to find in the free world.

The pastor had never been in this position before either, so neither of us really knew what we were supposed to do.

When I was released in 2020, one of the first questions I asked my parole officer was whether I could join a church. There was one within walking distance of my home, and my PO said I could go there—if I got permission from the pastor to attend.

I reached out to the pastor, who agreed to meet with me to discuss my situation. I updated my PO. Like many people on the registry, in the early days of my parole I was wearing an ankle GPS monitor.

You’d think that a PO would be the person to ask about how these things work, and that they’d want to encourage healthy community reintegration efforts like seeking to join a church. But in my experience and that of other people I know on the registry, they don’t really provide any helpful information. I was told that if the pastor agreed to let me attend, then he’d have to contact my PO directly to confirm that I was approved, but I didn’t know what else was or wasn’t supposed to happen at the meeting.

The pastor had never been in this position before either, so neither of us really knew what we were supposed to do. He began asking me questions that made it feel more like an interrogation. Why had I been convicted? Who was the victim? How had my family and friends reacted? It went on. My anxiety was off the charts. Rather than being welcomed into a community of other people seeking grace, I was reliving the most shameful moments of my life. As if it had all just happened, and I couldn’t have spent the past decade learning and growing, in addition to serving my punishment.

But I also understand that he was doing his best to navigate an unfamiliar situation, the same way I was. He seemed to decide he’d done his due diligence, and approved me. My PO decided I could only attend the regular Sunday service, not special events like holidays or music services. I attended that church for the next year or so.

Eventually I asked my PO if I could try a different church. Once again he agreed, if I could get the pastor’s permission. I approached the pastor and asked if he had a moment to speak privately. This time, the experience was completely different. 

I told Reverend Jay Voorhees I was on the registry and that I was hoping to attend his church. Without hesitation he replied, Sure thing. Then he asked for my PO’s number, so he could call him to follow up. 

On my way out I saw him offer a bus pass and a few dollars to someone who was going through a rough time. I felt hopeful, welcomed, accepted and human again.

Holidays services, and other special events where we’re often not welcome, tend to be where deeper friendships are formed.

Unlike the first pastor, Voorhees had had many of these conversations before. He knew, as I did by that time, that there was no requirement to interrogate me, or to ban me from the holiday services. Voorhees would have allowed me to attend those if it was purely up to him. He had a few simple guidelines, but they were all straightforward things I knew to do anyway, like choose a seat away from families with children.

“Communication is important, with clear definitions about boundaries and procedures for participation,” Voorhees told Filter. “In my experience, those on the registry know what the limits are.”

This particular church had on-site transitional housing, and since families with children lived there, the church didn’t allow people on the registry to go into that area—but that would have been the case anyway, as it’s just common sense for people in our position to avoid situations like that.

A friend of mine who’s also on the registry, and also religious, always tells me he’s praying for me. But he himself doesn’t go to church anymore; he told me it’s just not worth everything you have to go through to be there. It broke my heart to hear him say that. But it’s difficult to keep putting yourself through so much shame and misery to be in a place that doesn’t seem to want you. 

Those holiday services and other special events where we’re not welcome tend to be where deeper friendships are formed. Even in prison, it was after I started playing music during the church services that I truly found myself belonging to a community. I don’t miss prison, but I do miss being part of a church in that way.

“Being in ministry with those on the sex offender registry is complicated,” Voorhees said. “On the one hand, we have a responsibility to offer grace, love and hospitality to all. On the other hand, there are legitimate concerns for the safety of the vulnerable in our church. [But] there are ways for the church to provide love and support for those who find very few places for experiencing grace and a sense of community.”

Image (cropped) via Mississippi Department of Corrections

The post The Sex Offender Registry Shouldn’t Mean We’re Unwelcome at Church appeared first on Filter.

On September 13, Safehouse announced that had it filed a brief with the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which hears cases in Pennsylvania. Safehouse is appealing against a previous ruling in favor of the US Department of Justice under President Biden, in seeking to “establish an overdose prevention center where drug users, particularly those suffering from opioid addiction, may remain under direct medical supervision and within immediate reach of critical, lifesaving care at the time of drug consumption, when the risk of overdose death is most acute.”

Safehouse is arguing on First Amendment grounds that its planned facility is protected by the right to religious freedom.

“Overdose prevention centers have been employed for over 35 years at more than 100 sites worldwide,” the brief continues, “and have, through the medical-supervision model, prevented thousands of overdose deaths, reduced the spread of disease, administered essential medical care, and provided shelter and dignity to those suffering from addiction.” 

Safehouse is arguing on First Amendment grounds that its planned facility is protected by the right to religious freedom, and that the federal government’s opposition prevents members “from fulfilling their deeply held religious beliefs to provide those suffering from addiction with shelter and critical lifesaving care.”

On September 11, a coalition of faith leaders also filed a document with the court in support of Safehouse. The group, comprising 46 religious leaders from 18 states, wrote that “the Court should bar the Government from infringing the sincerely held religious beliefs of certain members of Safehouse’s Board of Directors and allow Safehouse to provide the life-saving treatment that countless Philadelphians deserve.”

“The Bible contains no shortage of passages depicting Jesus providing life-saving treatment … Individuals struggling with addiction are no exception to this calling,” the document continued. “Addiction has historically been stigmatized as a personal choice and moral failing; this stigmatization has led to a public health failure … Judeo-Christian beliefs call on humanity to provide [impacted people] with love, treatment, and care.”

Safehouse first announced its plan to open an OPC in 2018—just after Tom Wolf (D), then Pennsylvania’s governor, declared the overdose crisis a public health emergency in the state. But in February 2019, a federal prosecutor appointed by President Trump sued to block the site from opening. The Trump administration argued that any OPC would violate the federal “crack house” statute, a Reagan-era law that criminalizes “maintaining drug-involved premises.”

In February 2020, the federal District Court in Philadelphia ruled in favor of Safehouse, reasoning that the purpose of the OPC would be to save lives. But just after this court win, Safehouse temporarily tabled its plan amid backlash from residents near the planned site in South Philadelphia.

“We finally got to an impasse where it was clear we weren’t going to resolve this. We advised the court we needed to move forward with the litigation.”

Then in January 2021, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the 2020 ruling. Having inherited the case from the Trump administration, the Biden administration has quietly continued to fight it, often stalling.

“We finally got to an impasse where it was clear we weren’t going to resolve this,” Ronda Goldfein, a Safehouse board member and executive director of the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, told Filter of the background to the new developments. “We advised the court we needed to move forward with the litigation. We didn’t think a settlement was forthcoming. In response the DOJ filed a motion to dismiss our religious freedom claim.”

“At every discovery deadline or status report to the court, we’d get up to it and agree to extend it because it felt like things were moving,” she continued. “Finally, by January 2023 they asked for another extension, and we felt that in good faith, we could not continue to grant extensions because people are dying at an alarming rate in Philadelphia—three to four people every day. We felt we simply had to move forward.”

Although Safehouse entered mediation with the DOJ, in July the Biden administration finally took a stance and asked the court to reject Safehouse’s religious-freedom claim, arguing that an OPC would be illegal under federal law.

Carla Sofronski, executive director of the Pennsylvania Harm Reduction Network, further described the harrowing current situation in Philadelpia under Mayor Cherelle Parker (D), whose 2023 campaign platform included increasing police funding and opposing harm reduction resources like OPC. In June, Philly police began enforcing their “improvement plan” for the hard-hit Kensington neighborhood, targeting drug sales, sex workers and “quality of life crimes.” The city recorded nearly 1,400 overdose deaths in 2022, a record high, with Black and Hispanic residents increasingly at risk.

“We’re in the midst of a serious public health crisis,” Sofronski told Filter. “Unfortunately [Mayor Parker] is not using any evidence-based tools, or listening to medical professionals to help the situation … Parker is moving towards more law enforcement approaches rather than public health strategies, and we’re seeing the effects which is continued preventable death, folks with more [skin] tissue wounds, and treatment centers that cannot handle the folks coming in because of the severity of their [health issues].”

Earlier in September, City Councilmember Quetcy Lozada introduced a bill to further restrict mobile harm reduction services in Kensington.

For an OPC to be successful, Sofronski said, support from local residents and businesses will be needed, as well as education for local people about how the site can alleviate issues they’re experiencing.

“This would bring people inside and get them off the streets,” she said. “Right now our police is shuffling people around. They walk up to a crowd and say ‘Everybody needs to move.’ Everybody moves, then 20 minutes later they go there and say, ‘Everybody has to move.’ Folks are being shuffled, they’re pushing them off Kensington Avenue into residential streets. Now the residents are not going to be happy, but they don’t understand the benefits an OPC can bring.”

Much evidence has demonstrated that OPC prevent deaths, including in surrounding areas. As well as being ready to intervene in any overdose occurring on site, OPC staff provide a range of other resources, services and referrals to improve people’s health and wellbeing. OPC also reduce issues of concern to some local residents, such as public drug use.

“Do I hope that if Vice President Harris is elected, her admin will be more willing to engage? Absolutely.”

So what happens next in the legal case? Goldfein explained the potential timeline.

“The DOJ will have to respond to our brief, by [roughly] the first two weeks of October,” she said. “We will file a reply the last two weeks of October, and then it will be in the court’s hands.” However, “all this could be pushed back a little later … The DOJ could theoretically not respond, and the court will base its decision on our argument and legal reasoning.”

Goldfein declined to speculate on how electoral considerations might factor into the Biden administration’s next moves on Safehouse. But the looming presidential election is impossible to ignore, with Trump and Republicans likely to attack any concession to OPC as “pro-drug” or “pro-crime.”

“We have not heard from [the Harris campaign], and we have not reached out to them,” Goldfein said. “Do I hope that if Vice President Harris is elected, her admin will be more willing to engage? Absolutely. I have heard her talk about her values; I think they align with our values.”

Photograph of booths at Victoria SAFER Initiative in Canada via SAFER

The post Safehouse Fights On for Philadelphia OPC With New Court Filings appeared first on Filter.

Benji Dezaval, who also goes by Teopixqui Dez or simply Dez, didn’t want to keep this experience to himself. He’s now offering “spiritual healing” at “Colorado’s first psychedelic church,” out of the basement of his home in Colorado Springs, as the Colorado Sun reported.

There, he hosts vistors who receive and consume psychedelic drugs. A group tyically gathers for a discussion led by Dez, and after checking that each recipient is over 21, he hands around a “communal gift” including psilocybin mushrooms and dimethyltryptamine (DMT).

Dez’s professional background is in the mental health field, he said, and he began paying attention to research around psilocybin as a treatment for mental health conditions, in light of what he was personally going through.

“I said this will either fix me up or give me the answer I needed, and I’m still here because of shrooms,” he said. “I had a big trip in January where I found myself transported to Mexico. I connected with an ancestor. I’m not spiritual, [but] the world spoke to me through psychology as a scientist. I came face to face with this ancestor and they told me they used this to heal their people, and I need to do the same thing.”

Dez described starting his church with small events initially, where only a handful of people showed up. After promoting it on Reddit, things grew to the point where he now hosts about 15 events each month. The largest so far included about 40 participants. Some of the events are purely social, like movie nights or picnics. The others have the group discussion format.

The communal gift that he hands out consists of self-produced substances.

“We have psychological and philosophical debates and talks,” Dez explained. “Tomorrow we have ‘Healing from Religious Trauma.’ We sit all together in a circle in a space downstairs. I lead the discussion, talking about how we can build this foundation for healing. It looks a lot like group therapy; it’s hard for me not to pull from those tools from my time in mental health.”

The communal gift that he later hands out consists of self-produced substances. He and some colleagues grow the mushrooms, and produce the DMT through an extraction process from a root bark.

“We encourage people to do it on site [if they want],” he said. His “reliable, safe third space for people” is open two afternoons a week. “They can come and work on homework or watch TV. I provide concessions; I’m always cooking and baking so people have food.”

During psychedelic use, Dez and his team have designated sober people or guides—either in the room, or somewhere else within earshot, as participants prefer.

A safety document provided to visitors reads, in part:

“Shrooms are safe, fun, and a mind-opening experience but should still be done right! Remember to prepare your ‘set and setting’ for a trip – A calm mindset and a safe place to trip in. Check the Fireside Project site or app for digital trip sitters if you don’t have anyone close by.”

Alongside various safety advice and a recipe to combat nausea, the document includes a dosing guide—from a microdose for “Mood Enhancement, Crisp Concentration, and Increased Mental Stamina,” to a “heroic” dose for “Complete Altering of Senses, Ego Death, and Complete Disconnect from Reality.”

The venture operates at an interesting intersection of religious freedom and state and federal drug policies. So how does it stand legally?

“Colorado law allows us to share shrooms with other adults but actual mushrooms can’t be legally sold,” the document reads. “The materials that go into growing mushrooms, such as mycelium, can be sold legally!”

In November 2022, Colorado voters approved Proposition 122, making it the second state—after Oregon—to pass a major psychedelic reform. It decriminalized the possession, growing and sharing of most naturally occurring psychedelic substances, including psilocybin, DMT, ibogaine and mescaline.

The measure also authorizes some form of regulated psychedelic use. The state is set to license and regulate centers where adults use psilocybin under the guidance of a trained professional. By December 31, the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies and Department of Revenue is due to begin accepting licensing applications for psilocybin facilitators and businesses. These will include healing centers and cultivation, manufacturing and testing businesses.

Psilocybin services should open some time in 2025. At a future date, the state will hear evidence in deciding if it will expand these legal services to include additional psychedelics such as DMT. Regulation offers quality control and consumer protections, but Oregon’s experiences indicate that layers of controls, red tape and trainings can push up prices to the point where many people don’t have access.

“I knew this would be a fight, but this is how we get that ball rolling, for the next person or church or organization that wants to use psychedelics.”

Dez and his church are not licensed under Prop 122; he said he wouldn’t consider it, as seeking licensure would force him to compromise his principles. He also said he isn’t interested in his church being a profit-making operation, and that his priority is just providing a fully inclusive space, to attract “an eclectic group of people brought together by this idea that community makes us better.”

As long as Dez and his church aren’t selling the psychedelics they provide, they should be legally ok.

Asked about his relationships with state and local authorities, Dez reported having contacted the local sheriff’s department, the mayor of Colorado Springs and the office of Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D). So far, only the El Paso County sheriff has returned the call; Dez described his response as “fantastic,” and said he has been invited to participate in a church event.

Dez’s organization is also not officially sanctioned as a church, though he said it is seeking 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.

“The hold-up currently is the legality of our mission statement being about psychedelics,” he said. “Even though this is legalized here in the state, it is still federally illegal. I knew this would be a fight and an issue the second I submitted it. [But] this is how we get that ball rolling, for the next person or church or organization that wants to use psychedelics.”

Photograph by Kristie Gianopulos via Flickr/Creative Commons 2.0

The post Basement “Psychedelic Church” Springs Up After Colorado Reform appeared first on Filter.

The 80-page report from the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) notes that although psilocybin remains a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), people may petition the DEA for exemptions to use it—or other controlled substances—for religious purposes.

“DEA has established a process for these petitions, but its guidance doesn’t set clear timeframes for the decision-making,” it continues. “Exemption petitions have taken from eight months to over three years to be resolved.”

The GAO focused specifically on psilocybin use under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which is meant to protect religious practices from undue government burdens. The agency found that the DEA exemption procedure itself was burdensome.

The new report is noteworthy in that the federal government is now criticizing drug enforcement officials.

“Selected stakeholders reported several barriers to the legal access and use of psilocybin for religious practices under the [RFRA],” GAO says. “For example, DEA established a process for parties to petition for a religious exemption from the Controlled Substances Act to use controlled substances for religious purposes. However, DEA’s guidance does not inform petitioners on its timeframes to make determinations on completed petitions.”

Drug Control: DEA Should Improve Its Religious Exemptions Petition Process for Psilocybin (Mushrooms) and Other Controlled Substances https://t.co/bASkVkNk6Y

— U.S. GAO (@USGAO) May 30, 2024

In 2019, the DEA began a rulemaking process around petitions for religious exemptions, the GAO report adds, “but there is no timeframe for issuance of the notice or final regulations.”

While some who’ve petitioned the DEA for special drug-related exemptions have accused the agency of dragging its heels, the new report is noteworthy in that the federal government itself is now criticizing drug enforcement officials.

“Over an eight-year period—from fiscal year 2016 through January 2024—DEA reported that 24 petitioners requested a religious exemption for various controlled substances,” GAO states. “As of January 2024, DEA reported that none of these petitions had been granted an exemption.”

Six of the 24 petitions were for psilocybin. Of those, three were withdrawn, and another three were still pending DEA determination, the GAO report says.

“The three pending religious exemption petitions related to psilocybin ranged from about eight months to over three years from the date of receipt,” it notes. “DEA’s information also showed instances where finalized actions regarding exemption petitions related to other controlled substances have been pending a determination for an extensive period—one almost five years and one almost eight years.”

As for how to address the issues, the GAO makes four main recommendations.

Each of the four recommendations is attached to a status tracker.

First, it says the DEA “should more clearly communicate the types of information that the [RFRA] petitioners should provide to allow DEA to evaluate petitions for religious sincerity.”

It also says the agency should “more clearly communicate the standards and relevant factors” when making a determination, as well as “establish timeframes for DEA to make determinations on completed religious exemption petitions.”

It further encourages the DEA to provide “information for petitioners to be able to receive updates on the agency’s process related to exemption reviews.”

Each of the four recommendations is attached to a status tracker. “When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation,” the GAO says, “we will provide updated information.”

The GOA review results from a request by Congress in 2022. In a report attached to spending legislation, lawmakers said the watchdog should look at the impact of CSA enforcement in jurisdictions allowing for psilocybin, barriers to accessing the psychedelic for medical use, recommendations on how to remove research blockades and more:

Psilocybin Report.—The Committee directs GAO to report to Congress within one year of the date of enactment of this Act on the barriers to State, local, and Tribal programs that incorporate psilocybin products, including for therapeutic use and religious, Indigenous, or spiritual practices. The report shall: (1) review the impact of Controlled Substances Act enforcement on psilocybin use legally sanctioned by States, local governments, and Tribes; (2) identify barriers to accessing therapeutic use of psilocybin in States that have made such use legal under State law; (3) recommend ways to improve the processes used to obtain Federal authorization to conduct research with psilocybin-related substances; and (4) identify barriers to legal access to and use of psilocybin for religious, Indigenous, or spiritual practices under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

While exemptions from the Controlled Substances Act for religious use are rare, they’re not entirely unheard of. A legal settlement in April between several government agencies and an Arizona-based nonprofit, for example, permits the group to import and use ayahuasca as a religious sacrament.

The organization, the Church of the Eagle and the Condor (CEC), said at the time that it was “the first non-Christian church to receive protection for its spiritual practices regarding Ayahusca,” adding that the development under the RFRA marks “the first time in history a church’s right to import and share its sacrament has been secured without going to trial.”

The CEC sued the DEA, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection in 2022, over DHS’s seizures of shipments of ayahuasca intended for ceremonial use. The government had also threatened that the group and its members could face federal prosecution.

In May, however, the federal government said that the settlement was irrelevant in the case of a separate psychedelic church in Iowa that wants to incorporate ayahuasca into its ceremonies.

The Iowaska Church of Healing first sent its petition to the DEA, asking for an exemption around ayahuasca use, in 2019. A separate request for a tax exemption with the Internal Revenue Service initially received no response from the agency, according to court filings.

The church found an unusual ally in anti-drug Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who court filings say was instrumental in expediting the regulatory appeals process back in 2021. A Grassley spokesperson told Marijuana Moment in 2022 that the senator’s help shouldn’t necessarily be viewed as an endorsement of the church’s point of view on psychedelics, however.

A doctor seeking to use psilocybin to treat cancer patients in end-of-life care is currently suing the DEA over delays and rejections.

Some have also criticized the DEA’s lack of clarity on determinations and timelines for petitions unrelated to religious use.

A Washington State doctor seeking to legally use psilocybin to treat cancer patients in end-of-life care, for example, is currently suing the DEA over delays and rejections related to a requested exemption under state and federal “right to try” (RTT) laws, which are intended to give patients with terminal conditions the opportunity to try investigational medications that have not been approved for general use.

“DEA has rejected each request,” lawyers for the doctor, Sunil Aggarwal, argued in an opening brief earlier in 2024, “but has never addressed the arguments that Dr. Aggarwal has raised in support of them.”

“If DEA wants to disclaim authority to grant Dr. Aggarwal access to psilocybin under the CSA and RTT,” the brief says, “it must provide a reasoned explanation for how that decision comports with the CSA and the agency’s own precedent.”

Photograph of ayahuasca ceremony in Peru by François Delonnay/Archivo Centro Takiwasi via Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons 4.0

This story was originally published by Marijuana Moment, which tracks the politics and policy of cannabis and drugs. Follow Marijuana Moment on Twitter and Facebook, and sign up for its newsletter.

The post Federal Watchdog to DEA: Improve Religious Psychedelic Exemptions Plan appeared first on Filter.

The study, published May 7 in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, surveyed hundreds of people who planned to use psilocybin in a non-laboratory setting, asking them about their beliefs both before and at two separate times after their experiences.

While participants reported small differences in certain perceptions of consciousness after the psychedelic experiences—being more likely to attribute consciousness to primates or insects, for example—their religious and metaphysical beliefs didn’t significantly change.

“These findings suggest that concerns that psychedelics could change metaphysical beliefs or result in ‘conversions’ across religious affiliations may be overestimated,” the authors wrote, adding that “concerns related to changes in non-naturalistic beliefs or religious affiliation may be exaggerated.”

They stated that the findings are relevant in addressing certain ethical concerns around the clinical applications of psychedelics, noting that changes in beliefs “in the context of psychedelic clinical trials raise bioethical questions for many reasons.”

Can psilocybin assisted therapy reduce opioid use and improve quality of life?

We are seeking people near Baltimore, Maryland with Opioid Use Disorder to participate in a trial to see if psilocybin can reduce opioid use and improve quality of life. Volunteers must be between the… pic.twitter.com/Txf4IGtAkW

— Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Research Center (@JHPsychedelics) May 9, 2024

“For some patients, such changes could be construed as a kind of personal harm,” the authors wrote. “Moreover, these transformations have the capacity to significantly influence an individual’s social ties and relationships. Finally, such changes may be of societal concern, for example with the possibility of fostering beliefs that are nonscientific beliefs.”

They underscored the “magnitude and persistence of these belief changes matter,” weighty issues that some have worried could be influenced by broader use.

“As psychedelic therapies move closer to possible approval for widespread use, the ramifications of mental health interventions with the potential to substantially change a person’s belief system raises serious considerations about how and by whom they can be used appropriately,” they continued.

“For instance, the possibility that psychedelic therapies could be used by individuals or organizations seeking to convert or otherwise coerce people into adopting particular worldviews (e.g., political or religious ideologies) clearly highlights the need for extraordinary caution in their implementation.”

Atheist-Believer status showed “no change.”

To study the effects of psychedelics on beliefs, the researchers asked 657 participants questions from three main categories: “Atheist–Believer status,” metaphysical beliefs and mind perception. Respondents were surveyed when they consented to the study, two weeks before their planned psilocybin use, two to four weeks after the experience and again a few months later.

Atheist–Believer status was the most straightforward, consisting of a single item: “How would you characterize your overall religious or spiritual belief system?” People could identify as “Non-believer (e.g., atheist); Agnostic; or Believer (e.g., in Ultimate Reality, Higher Power, and/or God, etc.),” with only one selection allowed.

Overall, Atheist-Believer status showed “no change.”

Metaphysical beliefs, meanwhile, centered on ideas including materialism, dualism, idealism and determinism—fundamental philosophical topics involving things like free will and the nature of consciousness itself. Participants were asked, for example, to rate how much they agreed or disagreed with the following statement: “Everything that has ever happened had to happen precisely as it did, given what happened before.”

In that category, authors observed “little to no changes.” These findings “provide evidence that concerns around changes to such beliefs may have been inflated given the general lack of changes observed in the present study.”

“Psychedelics may cause such belief changes, but the present data suggest they do not occur on average.”

Some differences, however, were seen in responses around mind perception, which attempted to measure users’ beliefs about “the ability of various targets to have conscious experience.” Those targets included “four species of mammals, five non-mammal objects/entities and one item about the universe as a whole.”

People taking the survey were asked about concepts like “I am capable of having conscious experience,” “Plants (e.g., trees, flowers) are capable of having conscious experience” and “The universe is conscious.”

In those areas, researchers observed “significant increases of small effect size” as pertained to non-human primates, quadrupeds, insects, fungi, plants and inanimate man-made objects. “Of these, the largest increases were apparent for attribution of consciousness to insects.”

A few items, “including mind perception of inanimate natural objects (e.g., a rock), inanimate manmade (e.g., a robot), and the universe as a whole showed small, statistically significant effects at one time point but not the other.”

The authors acknowledged that the findings don’t necessarily mean psilocybin doesn’t ever influence users’ metaphysicial or religious beliefs, only that such changes aren’t typical after a single experience.

Metaphysical and atheistic beliefs may very well change, but it appears they don’t on average. Such changes may 1) be more likely in a subset of individuals, 2) rely on particular contextual factors, and/or 3) tend to require multiple psychedelic experiences over time
7/7

— Sandeep Nayak (@sdpnayak) June 13, 2023

“Psychedelics may cause such belief changes, but the present data suggest they do not occur on average in naturalistic use,” they wrote. “To the extent that such belief changes do occur, they may 1) be more likely in a particular subset of individuals, 2) rely on particular contextual, and/or 3) require multiple psychedelic experiences over time.”

While the findings challenge some earlier research about religious changes around psychedelics use, the mind perception findings echo those from earlier research, such as a 2022 report suggesting that people who use psychedelics like psilocybin are generally more connected to nature and knowledgable about climate change—traits that tend to translate into pro-environmental behavior.

A 2020 study, meanwhile, reported what authors described as “a strong relationship between the amount of lifetime use of psychedelics” and participants’ reported connection with nature.

Image (cropped) via United States Department of Health and Human Services

This story was originally published by Marijuana Moment, which tracks the politics and policy of cannabis and drugs. Follow Marijuana Moment on Twitter and Facebook, and sign up for its newsletter.

The post Psilocybin Study: No Change in View of God. Some Change in View of Bugs. appeared first on Filter.

In September I was released, after 13 years in Georgia Department of Corrections custody, into a rural part of the state I’d never been to, where I have no family or close friends. As a believer, as well as a someone who’s been ordained and holds a doctorate in theology, church is one of the few places I might actually be able to find community and form meaningful relationships.

But church congregations in the South already trend to lean right. Then the media feeds in hateful rhetoric around “trannies” who are “groomers.” And now, instead of the usual fictitious argument about some elusive trans woman sex offender—well, here I am.

I could go up in front of everyone and disclose my past in testimony. But which parts are safe to disclose?  What if I guess wrong?

People conceive of sex offender registries (SOR) as exclusively full of child predators. They don’t necessarily know that these registries include people with a broad range of unrelated convictions, and a cross-section of vulnerable communities.  I know I’m not a danger to children, and that I’d be at church to go to church, but I have a paralyzing fear of being in proximity to children and families. Any parent might decide I don’t belong, and because I’m on parole it feels like the slightest whisper could send me back to prison at any moment. Freedom is a tenuous thing when you’re no longer innocent until proven guilty.

Maybe it’s best to get ahead of the narrative, by going up in front of everyone and disclosing my past in testimony. But which parts are safe to disclose, and what if I guess wrong?

Church is the place we’re meant to build true spiritual bonds with one another through our willingness to lay bare our authentic selves. I badly want to do this, and am struggling to reconcile that desire with my fears—of rejection, but also for for my physical safety. Honesty just seems to invite more problems.

I’m not discounting virtual church services. But online communities have been my refuge for a long time, and I ache for the kind of community-building that people on SOR aren’t permitted to have. I can attend church services, but I’m essentially supposed to go straight in and straight out; no loitering. I can’t do any volunteering, let alone take any paid position.

Maybe there are others who share some of my experiences. I know I’m not the first or only person to go through this.

So much anxiety has come from this that I almost wish belonging to a community of faith didn’t matter to me. But it’s a big part of my self-image and my happiness. Without it, my personhood is incomplete.

In the body of Christ is the acknowledgement that we are not perfect. I know that I’m not, but many believers have lost sight of the fact that we are not required to already be saved. That the church is not a luxury club for sanctified saints. If they don’t find me welcome, where else am I supposed to belong?

The irony is that I’m going to have to act on faith. Some of this fear is a product of my own trauma, and I’m aware of that. It may be that the community awaiting me on the other side of the church doors is inclusive and warm. Maybe there are members who share some of my experiences. I know I’m not the first or only person to go through this, but the rest of them are probably scattered across the state, feeling just as lost as I am.

Photograph via Wyoming Department of Health

The post If I Join a Church After Prison, How Much of My Past Is Safe to Disclose? appeared first on Filter.

 “[A]dopting a covenant to become a harm reduction engaged congregation or community is a way of demonstrating commitment to live out the Gospel as expressed in the values of Harm Reduction,” the resolution states.

Though UCC is known for being one of the more socially progressive churches, the proposal met resistance from those espousing the common misconception that harm reduction encourages drug use. But people with lived experience of drug use had been pushing for what Reverend Erica Poellot, UCC minister of Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention Ministries, described to Filter as a “more loving and just church.”

Ultimately, the resolution found support in its emphasis on healing and justice for the people most impacted by the drug war, namely in communities of color. It reflects a growing network of community organizers who work at the intersection of harm reduction and faith.

Poellot is the founder and executive director of Faith in Harm Reduction (FIHR). Launched in 2017, FIHR was initially operated by the National Harm Reduction Coalition (NHRC). In spring 2023, it became an independent nonprofit.

Poellot, who had worked at NHRC for 16 years before shifting to the newly independent FIHR full-time, spoke with Filter about spiritual care within the movement, barriers to outreach for certain communities, and how it’s the church—not people engaged in drug use and sex work—that needs “saving.” Our interview has been edited for length and clarity.

“Congregations interested in harm reduction can get practical guidance.”

C Dreams: In 2020, FIHR published “Spirit of Harm Reduction: A Toolkit for Communities of Faith Facing Overdose.” It noted that while the focus of the material was Christian faith in drug-user communities, the intention was to expand to work with additional religious faiths and impacted communities, like sex workers. What does this movement look like today?

Rev. Erica Poellot: We are seeing a lot of allies and new comrades amongst those who are practicing Islam … but we still continue to be pretty significantly Christian, and I think this is based on kind of where I find myself rooted in the circles that I’m connected to. 

Because we are now a 501(c)3, we’re doing a lot of fundraising in this moment, which is proving extra challenging. But at the end of August we’re set to publicly launch a multifaith alliance, which we’re super excited about.

It was developed by an FIHR leader who runs a nondenominational ministry that’s almost entirely online. Congregations interested in engaging with harm reduction can become part of the alliance, get practical guidance about how to promote harm reduction both in policy and practice, and be in community with people who use drugs and people who do sex work.

“I have been surprised—but not surprised—by how difficult it has been to move my own church towards harm reduction.”

Has the church welcomed people who are actively using drugs?

My theology is very much that we should be led by people with lived and living experience—and I think living experience is perhaps the most critical—of substance use. People engaged in sex work or drug use often seek to be welcomed into spiritual communities, but are never fully embraced there.

I was quite certain for the longest period of time that I was not going to make it to being ordained, by virtue of my lived experience of substance use, and some of the ways that that was being kind of used against me in the ordination process.

United Church of Christ is a very progressive denomination in a lot of ways, and I have been surprised—but not surprised—over and over again, with how difficult it has been to move my own church and progressive Christianity towards harm reduction, quite honestly.

“Without legal syringe access, many faith leaders stepped in so that folks who use drugs weren’t the ones absorbing the risk.”

Harm reductionists have at times cited religious freedoms to support unsanctioned work, like the Church of Safe Injection (COSI) in Maine, or Safehouse Philly in its ongoing litigation with the Department of Justice. Do you see this further evolving?

I was a COSI board member up until the death of our incredible founder Jesse Harvey. I’m also on the board of Safehouse, which recently received notification that the DOJ intends to dismiss our case, and so we’re in the process right now of crafting our response. So right now I am looking at mobilizing harm reduction leadership across the country to sign on in support of this understanding of harm reduction in the pursuit of life—which is far, far greater than any law or legal statute might hold. 

Colleagues in places like Puerto Rico, West Virginia and Florida have been facilitating sterile syringe access in highly contested legal environments. We have faith leaders who were insistent that they be able to step into that gap, so that folks who use drugs were not the ones absorbing the risk.

As a movement, we’ve now got a presidential administration that’s dedicating federal funding for harm reduction, that’s articulating it as part of their National Drug Control Policy, and so all of a sudden we’ve got a whole lot of folks stepping into areas that historically they’ve been really reticent to. So some of the challenge is ensuring continued leadership by the folks who have been doing this work since long before many of us were willing to take the risk, and who are the experts.

“We really need change on structural levels, in addition to hearts and minds.”

Prisons, especially in the South, hold a lot of people of faith who have lived experience of drug use and sex work. But the reality is that our capacity to organize around this kind of work is limited, and we need an infrastructure that’s rooted in outside support. Does FIHR’s community organizing work reach those who are currently incarcerated?

Colleagues in Indianapolis have been encouraging us to partner with folks who are [currently] incarcerated. We have also just recently expanded to have some designated Southern work based in North Carolina, and really attempting to expand where there’s unmet need. Colleagues in Texas and New York who were formerly incarcerated have been very interested in growing this part of FIHR. But beyond that…

This is what we’re recognizing now—that we really need change on structural levels, in addition to hearts and minds. 

After the [UCC] resolution passed, someone who’d previously expressed concern told us that they’d finally, finally realized what the work was about. That it was not people who use drugs or people who trade sex that needed to be healed or saved. It was the church, and then it was people such as themselves, who were the ones who needed healing.

Photograph of Judson Memorial Church via National Harm Reduction Coalition

The post “A More Loving, Just Church”: Harm Reduction and Faith Communities appeared first on Filter.