PLANT MEDICINE

BY HEATHER DEROSE

In Grass Roots America Magazine, we discuss plant medicines and the science surrounding their uses, along with stories about the people’s lives they affect. Our previous issue featured interviews with U.S. Army Veteran, Matt Kahl, and Dr. Sue Sisley. Matt shared about his positive experience with ayahuasca, and how it helped with his PTSD. Dr. Sisley, the world’s leading researcher on cannabis and PTSD in veterans, also discussed how she’s heard reports of veterans feeling better and more joyful after going on their own journey with things like psilocybin, ayahuasca, and/or ibogaine. In addition to our interviews, the GRAM team attended the 2019 Cannabis Science Conference West in Portland, OR, where Olivia Newton John explained how cannabishelpedhergetoffmorphineandhowayahuasca allowed her to quit taking antidepressants.

In addition to these powerful testimonials, psychedelic legal reform is continuing to progress around the country. In 2019, Denver became the first major city to decriminalize psilocybin possession and personal use for those ages 21 and above. A month later, Oakland became the second major city to decriminalize psilocybin, as well as other psychedelics that come from plants and fungi, including ayahuasca, ibogaine, and peyote. Supporters share how they found the plants helpful for overcoming trauma, depression, addiction, and anxiety. This psychedelic movement is advancing quickly with Portland, Dallas, Chicago, and Berkeley proposing to decriminalize some sort of psychedelic plants.

Even scientific research in the United States is beginning to rapidly expand as people become more interested in the possibility of psychedelic therapies becoming a natural option for medical treatment. In the fall of 2019, a group of private donors gave $17 million dollars to start a Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins Medicine. “Johns Hopkins is deeply committed to exploring innovative treatments for our patients,” says Paul B Rothman, Dean of the Medical Faculty at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine. “Our scientists have shown that psychedelics have real potential as medicine, and this new center will help us explore that potential.”

IT’S A PRIORITY TO SHARE THESE NEW DISCOVERIES.

Inspired by our interviews, the progression of decriminalizing natural plant medicines like cannabis, psilocybin, and ayahuasca throughout the U.S., and the advances of plant medicine research, we feel it’s a priority to share these new discoveries. This is why we’re beginning this plant medicine column, which will be featured every month, leading up to an entire issue focused on all plant medicines, later this year. Plant medicine topics we will cover will include things like cannabis and psychedelics, but also how differentplantfoodsworkasamedicine, thehealth benefitsofthingslikeessential oils, andmore. Ifit’s a natural medicine that comes from plants, we’ll cover it here, because we are dedicated to delivering Great Research About Medicine, one GRAM at a time, with informative material empowering you to take control of your health and well-being.