What
Decriminalize Nature (DN) is a decentralized, transparent, open-source movement to restore our connection to ourselves, community, and nature/Mother Earth, starting with the decriminalization of the consciousness-healing and consciousness liberating entheogenic plant and fungi allies. These entheogenic allies were co-created by our ancestors in partnership with nature, and for which our ancestors paid a heavy price of oppression and subjugation by controlling colonizing interests.
Why
We must decriminalize these entheogenic plants and fungi which are powerful allies for healing trauma and expanding consciousness. Our connections to our higher consciousness, our community, and our planet is being eroded--causing depression, isolation, and societal policies which are punitive and controlling, leading to higher incarceration rates, expansion of the wealth and income gap, and a breakdown of democracy.
How
The Decriminalize Nature movement recognizes the sacred relationship between humans, nature, and Mother Earth. As such, DN is not a psychedelics movement. It is a movement that advocates first and foremost, the need to remove all entheogenic plants and fungi from Schedule 1. We also recognize that:
-
We swim in a world that worships profit and control at the highest levels, so passing legalization models which enable profiteering and control BEFORE passing Decrim Nature legislation will threaten the Decrim Nature movement. Those who seek profit and control fear abundance most of all. Beware of co-option efforts of the movement.
-
Restoring confidence in our democratic process is key so we urge our chapters to engage with elected leaders directly rather than hand off the work to deep pockets via an expensive initiative process, thereby giving them control of the movement.
-
Decrim Nature leadership believes in “giving away control” to local leaders who can then become regional leaders. In this way, the movement will grow and advance without figureheads or charismatic controllers.
ETHOS
The use of entheogenic plants and fungi for healing and growth has roots in ceremonial practices of traditional communities that go back hundreds and thousands of years. Those uses are now re-emerging through rapidly unfolding legislative, economic, and public policy discussions across the United States. Decriminalize Nature ("DN") offers a Five- Point Plan to ensure that the benefits of emerging uses and markets derived from plant medicines flow to local neighborhoods and communities by incorporating reverence, social equity, and the creation of community-serving markets into these legislative processes and public policy discussions throughout the United States.
Our goal is to learn from society's experiences with how the cannabis legalization movement rapidly evolved over the last two decades, creating billions of dollars of new value through legitimization of the market, innovation of new processes, and development of new products. Unfortunately, very little of this value stayed in the neighborhoods which needed those economic resources the most, nor went to the people who paid the highest price of incarceration and persecution related to cannabis prohibition over last fifty years. Instead, the cannabis industry has seen value creation become increasingly consolidated into the hands of venture capitalist and corporate investors. We can learn from those mistakes in how we guide a new set of processes related to the use of entheogenic plants and fungi, as well as the emerging synthetic markets.
DN is pleased to offer the following five principles to guide these legislative and public policy discussions in a way that creates community-based healing and community-based, equitable economic opportunity.
