Psychedelics Group Dispatches First Batch of Grant
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Plant Medicine Coalition (“PMC”), a nonprofit based in Washington D.C. has issued about $50,000 in grants to about 12 groups in D.C. The funds are intended to facilitate those community groups in their efforts to spread awareness about plant medicine and how people can benefit from it.
PMC traces its origins to the leader of the group, which spearheaded the campaign that saw entheogenic plants as well as fungi decriminalized in the capital during the elections in November last year. The money that PMC issued to the community groups was provided by a wellness company called Dr. Bronner’s. This company has actively participated in multiple efforts to bring about psychedelic and cannabis policy reform in different places around the country.
The issuing of these grants is one of the strategies that PMC is using in its mission to ensure that psychedelic policy reform takes place not only at the local level but also at the state and federal levels. Among the recipients of this initial phase of grants are groups involved in providing psychedelic education, art collectives, and organizations focusing on mental health.
Melissa Lavasani, a cofounder of PMC, revealed during an interview that the group was using this particular round of grants as an experiment to inform the best ways in which the organization could disburse funds in future. The nonprofit has its eyes set on activities at a federal level, so this local effort in D.C. is a kind of curtain raiser.
Lavasani further explained that her group felt that there was a need to tie up some loose ends in D.C. even after psychedelic decriminalization was approved via the ballot last year. For example, the money issued will go towards holding training workshops on how people can form psychedelic communities in the localities where they live, receive training on how to grow the entheogenic fungi and plants, host lectures to explain the latest scientific discoveries on psychedelics, and other initiatives intended to guide the discourse and use of these substances.
PMC wants to ensure that the D.C. ballot measure that was passed last year is correctly implemented; the group also wants to drive psychedelic reform on Capitol Hill by advocating for the enactment of laws enabling the allocation of federal funding towards studies geared at exploring the medicinal potential of ayahuasca, magic mushrooms and other such substances.
The push for psychedelic reform is gaining momentum in various places around the country. For example, the Massachusetts cities of Easthampton and Northampton along with Seattle, Washington, and Grand Rapids, Michigan, have recently approved policies urging for or actually reforming psychedelic policy in their jurisdictions.
These successes add momentum to the reform movement, and the calls for change are likely to get louder as the years go by. And with companies such as Cybin Inc. (NYSE American: CYBN) (NEO: CYBN) engaged in psychedelic drug development, approved therapies from these substances could soon be on the market.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Cybin Inc. (NEO: CYBN) (NYSE American: CYBN) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CYBN
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