BONUS EPISODE: Nationwide Decriminalization Efforts Decriminalize Nature founders Carlos Plazola and Larry Norris

In today's special bonus episode, we're talking with the co-founders of Decriminalize Nature, Carlos Plazola and Larry Norris. Their mission is to promote human health and wellbeing by decriminalizing and expanding access to entheogenic plants and fungi. By utilizing political and community organizing, education, and advocacy, they are closer than ever to their goal.

Carlos and Larry discuss how their organization began as an effort to help people reconnect with nature by way of using plants for their healing properties. This naturally led to them advocating for the removal of plants from their Schedule 1 status so that people can once again rediscover and utilize them as medicine.

For anyone who is interested in organizing change in their community, Carlos and Larry share their advice on how to get started. It begins by gathering a small group of like-minded community members and developing a resolution. From there, it can be shared with a broader coalition of people from various parts of the community. Once it has gained wider support, it can be brought before the local government.

As this movement increasingly spreads around the country, more and more organizations and individuals are getting involved. We talk about recent changes in attitudes that have taken place to make this possible and how this might lead to further developments in the near future.

In this episode:

• The grassroots mission of Decriminalize Nature and how it has spread all over the country
• How Carlos and Larry became involved in advocating for decriminalization efforts
• Practical advice on how to organize for decriminalization at the community level
• What decriminalization means on the local and federal levels
• How the decriminalization movement has spread to cities around the United States
• Lessons learned from the decriminalization of cannabis
• How the decriminalization movement has become more diverse than ever

Quotes:

"This is a moment when we can stand up and say that these are important for us to be able to work with, on a personal level, a spiritual level, and healing level. And now the science is showing that." [3:51]

"This is not a fear-based movement. This is a movement about liberation, equitable access, and remembering our connection to nature." [12:17]

"The more news that comes out, the more people see that it's possible. The more people see the support, then everyone gets excited to jump on it. It feels safe." [26:25]

"This is a non-political issue. It's very much a human issue." [32:49]

Links:

Decriminalize Nature

Follow Decriminalize Nature on Facebook | Instagram

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ERIE

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