Professor Forrest Tahdooahnippah (second from left) speaking at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies conference in Denver.
Professor Forrest Tahdooahnippah (Comanche Nation) was featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition in a story about a conference in Denver last week where he spoke about the potential unintended consequences of legalizing the kinds of psychoactive plants used to make psychedelic drugs.
The event, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies 2023 conference, was organized after the state of Colorado decriminalized several types of such drugs, including hallucinogenic mushrooms. Now the state is setting up a legal framework for psychedelics to be used in therapy.
Tahdooahnippah discussed the move to legalize as it relates to centuries of tradition and history in Indian Country with natural medicines, and how the U.S. government has long suppressed those actions.
“The commodification of psychedelics is certainly against the Indigenous tradition,” said Tahdooahnippah, in an interview for NPR’s Weekend Edition. “One of our primary teachings is it’s not for profit, it’s not for sale. The purpose is healing and spiritual well-being.”
Tahdooahnippah took part in two presentations: a panel (“Conservation and Justice of Peyote in the Americas”) and a solo presentation (“Retelling the story of peyote’s past, present, and future”).
To hear more about Professor Tahdooahnippah’s appearance at the conference, listen to the NPR story below.