Decriminalize Nature Massachusetts

[Help elect District Attorneys that would decriminalize Massachusetts]

Dear friends,

As you probably know, various decriminalization activists and organizations (including Decriminalize Massachusetts, of which I am part of) pushed for a major decriminalization bill in Massachusetts - Bill H.2119 which would have decriminalized possession for substances for personal use. We ran out of time in the current session, so we will continue the work on this bill in the next session starting in January 2023.

Between now and then, however, we can still do a lot on the decriminalization front.

So, I am sending this message with an ask for your help and some of your hard-earned dollars :-)

Decriminalization can take multiple forms. Certainly the most effective and durable one is to pass legislation that removes the penalties for possession of substances for personal use. But, even before such legislation, our elected officials have the power to decriminalize entire regions.

For example, if District Attorneys decided to stop prosecuting possession and focus resources on harm-reduction and support, they can in effect decriminalize their districts. Clearly, if a DA makes the announcement that his or her office will not prosecute possession (a victimless crime), the police would stop arresting people for possession, as they would know ahead of time that their work will not be followed on by prosecutors. For the police to be arresting people in the context of this knowledge would constitute a very significant -- and visible -- misuse of police funds.

Therefore, it is so important to elect District Attorneys that are in favor of decriminalization.

One such DA candidate is Rahsaan Hall.

Rahsaan is a former ACLU attorney who is currently campaigning for the DA position of the Plymouth District. If elected on November 8, Rahsaan will end prosecution of possession in his entire district.

So, with this message, I would like to ask you to help in two ways - first, by giving a generous contribution to Rahsaan's campaign, and second, by adding yourselves as a volunteer to Rahsaan's campaign.

How to donate and why:

Please use this link for your donation: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/2022hall4da_lakov

On the why - even though you may not be a resident of the Plymouth district, through your donation, you will do a very good deed of helping decriminalize that district. Less people will be thrown in jail, decriminalization there will show that it works and it leads to better social outcomes than the War on Drugs, more positive press will be created, and subsequent districts will have an easier time decriminalizing (as well as legislation will have an easier time passing in the future).

How to volunteer for Rahsaan's campaign:

To sign up as a volunteer, simply visit Rahsaan's DA campaign site www.hall4da.com and click Volunteer.

As a volunteer, you'll be able to join other volunteers (like myself) in making phone calls, canvassing, talking with potential voters, and in general, getting out the vote as much as possible for Rahsaan. Rahsaan is campaigning against the incumbent (Tim Cruz) who has been DA in the Plymouth District for 21 years so far, and has a very strong name recognition. As such, Rahsaan needs all the support in order to win - lets put our dollars and time to work and help him get elected.

Thank you so much for reading this and for your support.

Cheers,

Peter

P.S. For full disclosure - I am very excited to have the chance to work on electing a DA who will decriminalize his district, and so I am helping the campaign by both donating, and by volunteering. And I hope to be able to help even more by convincing a number of you to do likewise 🙂

I just gave to Rahsaan Hall for DA Chip in for Rahsaan now.

We are excited to announce that our event tonight for “International Psychedelics Day” is now open to the public! (REGISTRATION LINK IN BIO)

We have also added an entertainment segment of the evening from 10pm-12am with live painting by local visionary artist and a DJ set by !

This is a FREE, in-person, educational/networking event designed to deepen relationships in our community in order to build a local culture of and .

Networking/Panel Discussion 7pm-10pm

Live Music and Art 10pm-12am

Guest speakers will include:

🌿 Dan Bensenoff, lead advocate behind the Northampton decriminalization campaign

🍄Juliana Rose Goldstone, Psychedelics Integration Coach,

🌵Michou Olivera, Self Realization and Psychedelic Guidance coach,

🌼 Daniel Shankin, Founder of Tam Integration,

If you are interested in joining us, please let us know by registering for a FREE ticket (**LINK IN BIO**).

Space is very limited and we are prioritizing local practitioners, advocates and seekers... but if you are at all interested in learning more and supporting in any way then please don’t hesitate to register and attend!

Big thanks to for organizing this, as well as .plazola, , and for your guidance and support!

“The most fu***ng terrifying thing I have done in my entire life,” said Gail Bradbook of her ayahuasca ceremony in Costa Rica, 2016. “But I was willing to do it because I needed help.” Before the trip began, she offered up a prayer to be shown the “codes for social change”. Those words would have a key role to play in the emergence of Extinction Rebellion.

Our work with entheogens is awakening us to the pain of a biosphere in collapse, into a realization that we are the Earth becoming conscious of themself. As a matter of self-defense, we are rising up.

⌛ Time is up. Turn on, tune in, take action.

🌱 🍄 What are the medicines guiding you to do?

🌎👂💚 Dedicate your next ceremony to the healing and defense of the Earth... and listen.

In the words of Extinction Rebellion:

Life on Earth is in crisis. Our climate is changing faster than scientists predicted and the stakes are high. Biodiversity loss. Crop failure. Social and ecological collapse. Mass extinction. We are running out of time, and our governments have failed to act. Extinction Rebellion was formed to fix this.

📣 Follow Extinction Rebellion NYC - join/view/signal boost the Spring Rebellion under way in NYC this week.

📣 Follow Extinction Rebellion Boston and Extinction Rebellion Western MA for upcoming events this week and escalating actions in Massachusetts in coming months.

This Earth Day, Friday, 4/22:

Boston - Copley Square - Freedom From Fossil Fuels Tour: https://www.facebook.com/events/477606903869111/

Northampton - Pulaski Park - Vigil For Truth
https://www.facebook.com/events/1263511810842869/





Opening excerpt from "The evolution of Extinction Rebellion," (The Guardian, Aug. 4, 2020)

"Life on Earth" excerpt from rebellion.global

Artwork: "From The Box," by Martin Bridge (XR hourglass overlay added) Image used with the gracious permission of the artist.

To lend support in our neighboring state: PUBLIC HEARING THIS THURSDAY, JANUARY 20: HB1349 decriminalizes the possession or use of a certain amount or psilocybin mushrooms by a person 18 years of age or older. NHLA *SUPPORTS* this bill. This bill will be heard at 9:00 AM in Representatives Hall. https://www.gencourtmobile.com/2022/HB1349.

HB1349 - decriminalizing the possession and use of psilocybin mushrooms.

If anyone is able to lend support to our neighboring state: PUBLIC HEARING THIS THURSDAY, JANUARY 20: HB1349 decriminalizes the possession or use of a certain amount or psilocybin mushrooms by a person 18 years of age or older. NHLA *SUPPORTS* this bill. This bill will be heard at 9:00 AM in Representatives Hall. https://www.gencourtmobile.com/2022/HB1349. Thanks to Devon Claire for sharing the info!

HB1349 - decriminalizing the possession and use of psilocybin mushrooms.

“I am convinced that the universe is under the control of a loving purpose and that in the struggle for righteousness man has cosmic companionship.”
—Martin Luther King Jr., Pilgrimage to Nonviolence, 4/13/1960

We’re glad to see Harvard deepening the research in specific regard to the ethnical, legal, and social implications of psychedelics. It seems that the writing is on the wall about the inevitability that we’ll see psychedelics in the mainstream. Now let’s make sure it’s implemented responsibly.

The Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation (POPLAR) The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School is engaged in a three-year initiative to examine the {/exp:chopper}

Happy New Year!
May 2022 be nourishing, fruitful, and abundant for all!

Here's to the continued growth of the Decriminalize Nature movement!

Thank you to all for your continued support! Go team Nature!

!!!!

As we have long suspected: Evidence for Mycelial intelligence.

"The fungus in these experiments showed spatial recognition, memory and intelligence. It’s a conscious organism."

Article: https://psyche.co/ideas/the-fungal-mind-on-the-evidence-for-mushroom-intelligence
(Clickable links at PaulStamets.com)

Nicholas P Money is a professor of biology and Western programme director at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

(See also my book wherein I postulated that mycelium has a consciousness: Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World.)

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878614621000246