The Blessings and Challenges of Plant Medicine and Psychedelic Legalization

Art by Aldo Carhuancho Herrara

Welcome to the Plant Medicine and psychedelic renaissance! People of all ages, ethnicities, and walks of life are feeling the call to alternate methods of healing, and an altered state of consciousness seems to be tops on the list of must-try fringe experiences these days. It’s easy to ascertain why; the internet is now bursting with thousands and thousands of stories on how magical and healing these experiences can be. It turns out we need to change our perspective when we are feeling stagnant, ill, confused, depressed, or anxious, and nothing stirs the pot more than a wild trip through the corners of our psyches and the cosmic universe.

Because the masses are finding great value in accessing medicines like Ayahuasca and Psilocybin Mushrooms in the underground, the mainstream has been taking notice for some years now too. That means governments, medical institutions, and academic circles have also thrown their hats in the ring, wanting to both validate and profit off of the obvious potential of these incredible beings.

This presents a wholly complicated duplicity of blessings and crippling challenges. On the one hand, it’s an inarguable basic right (at least through my lens) that everyone should have access to natural substances that provide profound possibilities for healing and expansion. On the other hand, decriminalization and legalization often perpetuate the colonialization of what has traditionally been indigenous medicines and lineages. And we all know the white elite rarely actually want to give credit where credit is due and share the wealth.

So is it really advantageous for these medicines to be legally accessible?

Without a doubt, but we need to get it right this time.

Let’s Not Repeat the Travesties of Our Past Relationship with Psychedelics

This isn’t our culture’s first go-round in attempting to mainstream psychotropic substances. It’s a long, sordid history, but it’s true that psychedelics like Mescaline (extracted from Peyote and Huachuma) and MDMA had their brief but potent legal heydays. Even the cocaine alkaloid from Mama Coca was once legal, and distributed by Merck Pharmaceuticals as a prescription medicine (if you don’t know how unbelievably medicinal and magical Ms. Coca is, trust me when I tell you she’s pure love, and wrongfully vilified for being the substance that, when abused and chemically altered, creates cocaine.)

We also all know some of the complicated details of the flower power 60’s, when the counterculture wholly embraced just about any altered state. There’s a gazillion multifaceted reasons why this mainstream quasi-acceptance was so heartbreakingly short-lived, but there’s one core truth that caused psychotropic medicines to move from darling to devil: They are woefully, deliciously unpredictable.

One of the cornerstones of modern science is that hypothesis can be proven, and most importantly, repeated. Plant Medicines laugh in the face of our deep-seated desire to predict and control any outcome.

Because the egos of man could not accurately explain, manipulate, and/or achieve repeatable results, the plants got the boot. Worse yet, we were programmed to believe they were dangerous. It is the human ego, in actuality, that we ought to really fear.

Then came the War on Drugs – arguably the most expensive and fatal war we’ve ever fought, and absolutely no one prevailed as a victor. This misplaced blame and hatred pointed to substances and even nature as the enemy, and created countless victims in the form of innocent people who simply wanted to alter their consciousness: To heal, to learn, to escape, to have fun. And these desires placed thousands and thousands of them in prison. Some even died for the cause, and continue to do so.

The same people who proclaim that guns aren’t the problem--the people who use them without reverence and respect are--in turn try to convince us that medicines like Ayahuasca, LSD, and Cannabis are to blame for the unfortunate aftermaths of reckless usage. If our nation can fight like hell for the right to carry a deadly weapon, isn’t it time we put equal effort into allowing substances that actually heal our suffering and dis-ease as legally and safely accessible too?

Yes, thankfully, we’re wising up, piece by piece, and the legalization / decriminalization movements are in full effect. Yet this slippery slope has completely imploded in previous efforts, so let’s lean in and learn from those mistakes so we need no replicate them.

Why Decriminalization and Legalization is Goddamn Beautiful and Necessary

I’ll admit I’m massively biased about this subject, as my life was saved and is improved daily by these sacred plants, and I had to originally travel to the Peruvian jungle in order to access MamaHuasca. Not everyone has this luxury or opportunity, and yet everyone deserves any and all paths available for healing. The fact that many of these completely organic psychotropic medicines are considered Schedule 1 “drugs” is an absolute abomination.

What is equally abhorrent is that the brave souls who take on the task of sourcing and serving these medicines to sincere seekers put their freedom in jeopardy each and every time. So to all those who say these medicines should not be legal, I ask you to walk in the shoes of a medicine carrier who is deeply called to helping humanity through these sacred plants, and yet has to live in fear of some ridiculous authority deciding to lock them up. It’s controlling and it’s insidious and these laws have nothing to do with safety, and everything to do with power and greed.

We do not live in a free society when on the one hand we are threatened and coerced into taking an untested and unverified pharmaceutical vaccine, yet told we are criminals for consuming plant medicines that have been used for centuries. The mere fact that sacred plants are considered “alternative medicines” is hilarious – they’ve been around for thousands of years, and the pharmaceutical industry has really only been active for a little over a hundred years. And yet most folks have been brainwashed into thinking it’s a fringe idea to turn to nature for help in healing.

It truly shouldn’t be an issue in the least that we have an inalienable right to work with nature in all her forms. And yet the current trend of making this a reality has plenty of concerning elements to it too.

The Danger of White Elitism and the Capitalist Machine

We are poised on the precipice for mass acceptance of plant medicines and psychedelics, but it’s coming at a cost; those that once shunned these medicines and vilified them now wish to profit off of them. The powers that be are touting substances like Psilocybin Mushrooms as “new treatments for anxiety and depression,” yet the indigenous tribes never ever forgot this.

We can’t let the white elite take credit for this “discovery”, and in turn take the rightful credit and guardianship away from the people and tribes who never turned their backs on nature. THAT is criminal.

And yet here we are, experiencing the psychedelic renaissance, and watching corporate entities pop up on with stock tickers, run by people who know nothing of the sacredness of these spirits, the lineages they come from, and the people who we should be bowing down in reverence who have made this new world possible.

We cannot allow the corporate elite to create their new systems of accreditation whereby only THEY decide who is qualified to administer a sacred plant. This will most certainly only end badly, as it always has.

Art by Alma Yamazaki

As a white woman who has been studying shamanic traditions for almost two decades, I am overjoyed to witness the global acceptance of my beloved plants. And I am equally horrified that government entities are poised to deem me unworthy of doing my job because I refuse to be given a gold star by their academic accreditations. They only wish to do what they do best: Control the revenue streams, spread fear, and keep people disconnected and in dis-ease.

In that sense, it really doesn’t matter to me on a personal level if the legalization ever reaches the national level, as I know I will never play within the system that pretends to carry authority over things like plant medicine ceremonies and healing. But for the masses, I deeply wish to see all the plants accessible to every sincere seeker who deserves to experience their magic, without threats or negative repercussions.

As usual in this modern world, it’s complicated.

What Can We Do to Protect the Sacred Plants?

First and foremost, for all of you reading this with a sincere desire to be of service to nature and the Sacred Plants, the most important thing we can do is to continue to cultivate our own loving, respectful relationships with the ones we adore. Treating them as sentient and conscious beings that are worthy of protection is the game changer, because that relationship asks that we listen to them, that we ask for permission, and that we consult them regarding everything we create.

If we all treated them in this capacity, they would have a say in what is transpiring. They could keep us honest and clear, uplifted and empowered. But we have to acknowledge their sovereignty and sacredness, and to listen. To deeply, deeply listen.

Additionally, I ask everyone who loves the plants to only support the businesses and individuals that clearly love them, too. Support those who are supporting nature.

For example, if you’re buying CBD products to support your healing, do you happen to know if the plants actually ever see the light of day? Are people growing her with love and respect, without pesticides, and in a natural environment?

In the Ayahuasca circles you sit in, are the facilitators working just as hard to put plants back in the ground as they are to take them out and make medicine?

Do the people your dollars and words support also speak out about protecting indigenous cultures, and giving back to them in reverence for everything they have made possible?

We have the power to support those in alignment if we, too, are aligned. So let’s remember our priorities, and that none of this would exist without Pachamama, and those who have respected and guarded her for centuries.

Thank you for reading, for caring, for showing up for Nature; she doesn’t have a voice, so let’s let her use ours.

Be safe, and journey well <3

UP NEXT: The Economics of Ayahuasca: Should Healing be Free? 

About the Author

Tina “Kat” Courtney is the author of Plant Medicine Mystery School Vol 1: The Superhero Healing Powers of Psychotropic Plants. She’s a traditionally trained Ayahuasquera + Huachumera and a vocal advocate for all sacred psychedelic spaces. Kat is an experienced Ayahuasca coach and guide, helping anyone prepare for and integrate this amazing medicine. She’s also a certified death doula, working with people confronting issues around death and shadow, and anyone looking to be more deeply connected to soul. Kat’s calling is to be a light as we walk through our darkness, and to remind us that everything is always OK.