A Big Moment for Vancouver
At the recent Spirit Plant Medicine Conference in Vancouver, Mark Haden who currently serves as the Clinical Supervisor at Qi Integrated Health, and whom I worked alongside for 3 years with MAPS Canada, announced that their team had just launched the Helping Heroes Program.
This is their flagship program offering ketamine treatment to people in uniform; we’re talking police, paramedics and fire-fighters doing ketamine in a controlled therapeutic setting.
This announcement got a big round of applause and rightly so! This is big news for Vancouver and for the psychedelic scene at large.
Let’s take a moment to contextualize this important milestone.
Underground vs Above Ground
It is important to recognize that first responders have been doing psychedelics for a while now. Focus on treating this population is a direct result of the strategic focus Rick Doblin has placed on treating veterans since the inception of MAPS. In the last few years, veterans like Jon Lubecky have been placed in the spotlight advocating for these powerful new treatments.
In addition, veterans and first responders have also been seeking treatment in the underground. I know this because I have treated two different first responders now firsthand utilizing psilocybin-assisted therapies. As well, I know of other underground practitioners in the community that have served 5-MEO and ketamine to first responders too.
Vancouver first responders are accessing ketamine, 5-MEO and psilocybin for their own mental health treatment both in legal and illegal contexts.
That’s a powerful statement which I am sure evokes mixed feelings for people.
On the one hand, it feels comforting. Although it is getting better as time goes on, there is still a lot of stigma around psychedelics which is strongly felt by anyone working in this space. Whether you are a practitioner, facilitator, therapist, clinic owner, mushroom grower, marketing consultant or any other professional that interfaces with this industry, knowing that police are smoking toad venom or tripping on mushrooms brings a certain level of reassurance that it’s all going to be alright and that all the work is paying off.
On the other hand, there is also a sense of irony at play here which is worth noting.
Vancouver Dispensary Raids
There are almost a dozen psilocybin dispensaries openly operating in Vancouver at the moment. Some of them have been open for almost three years now.
Dana Larsen is the proud owner of three of these dispensaries operating under the name The Medicinal Mushroom Dispensary. His most famous location is also known as the Coca Leaf Café where you can purchase coca, psilocybin, 5-MEO, 4-ACO and a few other interesting natural and synthetic compounds.
On November 1st, all three of Dana’s Vancouver dispensaries were raided. According to Dana, police seized all of their money, cannabis, mushrooms, LSD, DMT and coca leaf before he was taken into police custody for 7 hours, then released without any charges or conditions.
Following up on the incident, the Vancouver Police Department stated…
“Our investigation is ongoing. We will continue to monitor the activities surrounding these illegal storefronts. Their actions in the coming weeks and months will be considered within the large body of evidence we have already collected in the case”
It’s an interesting statement to read given that these stores have been open for years now and an even more interesting statement to read knowing that Vancouver first responders are doing psychedelics. If you would like to learn more about the Coca Leaf Café, check out this video…
Canadian Senate Calls for Research
Zooming out from Vancouver, I want to bring in another announcement here that was brought to my attention through TheraPsil.
The Senate of Canada recently released a groundbreaking report signalling their support for psychedelic medicines…
“Alarmed by the prevalence of suicide and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Canadian veterans, the Senate’s Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs is urging federal, provincial and territorial governments to launch and fund a large-scale research program on psychedelic-assisted therapy.”
The report recommends that a large scale research program be launched immediately and that the public be informed about psychedelic therapies to mitigate stigma and enhance understanding.
I share this amazing milestone here in hopes of illuminating the incredible efforts that are being made to move the needle forward across Canada.
All of these triumphs are connected and it is so important to recognize all the small wins that add up…
Telling your friend about your microdosing practice.
Sharing a meaningful psychedelic experience you had with your teacher.
Integrating your own psychedelic journey so that you can embody the teachings you received.
True change requires both top-down and bottom-up initiative.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
- Margaret Mead
Saying Farewell to 2023
I wanted to take a bit of time here to recap what a big year it has been for the community. Thank you to everyone that has tuned in to our initiatives, attended an event and been a subscriber here on The Flying Sage journal…
This year, as a community, we …
Hosted 130 events
Increased our offerings to 4-5 events per week
Issued 2100 tickets
Grew to 140 members
Had 244 people sign up for our Cold Plunge Challenge
Grew to past 5000 followers on Instagram
Launched our first sponsorship programs
Offered harm reduction at our first festival
Hosted our first intention circles
Released 7 podcast episodes
and probably a lot more I am not thinking of!
This would all not be possible without the support of our members and generous sponsors. Thank you so much. You make this community possible. 🤍
For those of you around Vancouver for the holiday season, I hope to see you at our by-donation holiday party or maybe at our solstice event Stillpoint or New Year’s Ceremony Emergence. These will be our last big events of the year in addition to our regular programming!
Farewell Until Next Time
I hope you have enjoyed this edition of The Flying Sage Journal which will likely be the last for 2023. If you would like to read more things like this, please consider subscribing and sharing this with a friend. Also, please follow me on Twitter as well! I hope to post there more often.
I would LOVE to hear any feedback you have on this newsletter and what I have shared. Please feel free to reach out to me directly: michael@theflyingsage.ca
With psychedelic love and gratitude,
- Michael 🤍
Another Newsletter: The Voyage 📧
Oh, hi! You have made it to the very bottom of this newsletter! I just wanted to let you know that if you enjoy what I write here, you might also enjoy some things I have to share over at my new newsletter called The Voyage.
This will be a place for me to share my thoughts on community, cognitive science, relationships, entrepreneurship and whatever else I feel inspired to share. Check it out! Surprisingly, I have other interests aside from psychedelics!