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This week's guest is Natalie Lyla Ginsberg, MSW. Natalie is the Global Impact Officer at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) https://maps.org/ where Natalie works with her inspiration around the potential role of psychedelics' in healing intergenerational trauma and conflict, and for inspiring innovative community-drive solutions.

Natalie founded the Policy & Advocacy department at MAPS, and served as its director for 5 years. She also initiated and helped developed MAPS' Health Equity Program.

MAPS Mission statement from their website is: Founded in 1986, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit research and educational organization that develops medical, legal, and cultural contexts for people to benefit from the careful uses of psychedelics and marijuana.

Many of you have probably heard of MAPS through its founder Rick Doblin. Rick Doblin, Ph.D., is the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). He received his doctorate in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where he wrote his dissertation on the regulation of the medical uses of psychedelics and marijuana and his Master’s thesis on a survey of oncologists about smoked marijuana vs. the oral THC pill in nausea control for cancer patients. His undergraduate thesis at New College of Florida was a 25-year follow-up to the classic Good Friday Experiment, which evaluated the potential of psychedelic drugs to catalyze religious experiences. He also conducted a thirty-four year follow-up study to Timothy Leary’s Concord Prison Experiment. Rick studied with Dr. Stanislav Grof and was among the first to be certified as a Holotropic Breathwork practitioner. His professional goal is to help develop legal contexts for the beneficial uses of psychedelics and marijuana, primarily as prescription medicines but also for personal growth for otherwise healthy people, and eventually to become a legally licensed psychedelic therapist. He founded MAPS in 1986.

Natalie and I dive into so many things around psychedelic research, policy, and legality. From MDMA, psilocybin , LSD, DMT, Ayahuasca, Mescaline, Ketamine, and Eboga, we discuss what the current research is showing in terms of the various plant medicines and some of the developing legislation and licensure around being able to use these plant medicines in a legal and clinical/therapeutic setting within the United States.

We also touch on cultural appropriation of shamanism in the USA and the pros and cons of some spiritual plant medicine retreats.  

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Warmly,
Nico Barraza
@FeedTheSoulNB
www.nicobarraza.com