Short Takes on Current Events

Ayahuasca Legal Victory; Biden Supports Arctic Drilling; Silicon Valley Bank Implodes

Some Good News!

Peruvian shaman Jose Campos runs Centro Munay

I just learned that the ayahuasca maestro Jose Campos won his case in Mexico and is out of jail. I met Campos once and thought he was a great person. Although I never sat in ceremony with him, many friends of mine have worked closely with him.

The case was won by International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service (ICEERS). Here is an account from their website on how they handled the case, which sets a great precedent. They used a multi-pronged approach. They presented evidence on the therapeutic benefits of ayahuasca. They also pointed out the difference between synthetic DMT as a restricted chemical and ayahuasca as a natural plant mixture used traditionally by many indigenous groups. According to Natalia Rebollo, lawyer and coordinator of the ICEERS Legal Defense Program (ADF): “This first case involved weighing and prioritizing the human rights of Indigenous peoples against a rigid drug control system. This system is not based on human rights nor the ample scientific evidence available, which deserves to be revised.”

I recommend checking out ICEERS’ website, which includes many useful resources, as well as financially supporting them if you can. I just discovered they have a support center for people who have gone through a traumatic or difficult process as a result of psychoactive plant ceremonies, offering free integration sessions to those in need. I appreciated this article: Avoid Taking What Ayahuasca “Tells” You Literally. They note:

“People can make decisions based on messages “received” from ayahuasca during the experience. They interpret it as something coming from the outside. And this can lead to disappointment with the medicine when they realize they made a mistake. Some examples of this include separating from a partner, moving to another country, or giving someone a considerable amount of money.”

I still hear frequently from people who change their lives radically after receiving “messages” from ayahuasca, as well as other psychedelic compounds. Sometimes this may be the right thing to do, but generally, more time, care, and perspective is needed.

Biden Approves Oil Drilling in Arctic

President Biden just went against his campaign promise to prevent further drilling for oil in the Arctic by approving Conoco Phillip’s Willow Project, “an enormous $8 billion plan to extract 600 million barrels of oil from pristine federal land in Alaska,” according to The NY Times. This occurred despite a large-scale activist campaign that mobilized young people on Tik Tok as well as delivering a million letters to the White House.

Personally, I don’t find this surprising in the slightest. Quite the opposite. The structural realities of our current world system make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to prevent further extraction of fossil fuels, despite the devastating ecological consequences for our immediate future, without system change.

As I explored in How Soon Is Now?, if we want to reduce the severity of the ecological catastrophe looming ahead of us, this requires a deep transformation of our society. We have to radically change our beliefs, values and practices, as well as the economic model that drives profits and growth.