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.
Mitchell Hamline faculty
The latest from Faculty in the News
FOX 9 November 18, 2024
Professor of Law
KARE11 November 18, 2024
Professor of Law
Sahan Journal November 14, 2024
Professor of Law
The latest faculty publications
Minnesota Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers Blog (October 29, 2024) October 29, 2024
Associate Professor of Law
24(11) The American Journal of Bioethics, 78–80 (2024) October 14, 2024
Professor of Law
32 American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law 279 (2024) October 15, 2024
Professor of Law
The latest faculty headlines
Kaori Kenmotsu brings embodied approach to teaching DRI courses
Returning to her alma mater as an assistant professor of law, Kaori Kenmotsu ’22 brings to Mitchell Hamline a breadth of experience in the worlds of dance, theater, yoga, public policy, community organizing, teaching, and now law. For Kenmotsu, however …
September 30, 2024
Peter Larsen seeks to inspire students to use the law to help others
Peter Larsen remembers the very day he became interested in pursuing law. It was his junior year of high school, and the Minnesota Supreme Court was hearing a case at his school about a drunk driver who hit a family of four after leaving a local Americ …
September 20, 2024
New faculty strengthen legal writing program
“We can’t underestimate the power of the written word,” said Visiting Professor Udoka Nwanna, describing what she loves about teaching legal writing. A fundamental skill for lawyers, legal writing is often a brand-new way of thinking and writing for la …
September 11, 2024
