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4/20 - A Celebration of Freedom of Choice

Today, people across the globe people will be celebrating The 4/20 Holiday, and in this great year of our lord 2015, we do have a lot to celebrate!

After over 70 insane years we're finally seeing some progress towards the end of Cannabis Prohibition!!!! We've legalized medical use of Cannabis in 23 states, with nine more pending, along with its recreational use in two states, with an estimated 10 more pending. People of all ages and from all walks of life are openly discussing spiritual and medical uses of Ayahuasca, MDMA, and Psilocin - topics that were only for the wild fringe just five years ago. This makes me more optimistic than I could have ever hoped to be that in my lifetime we will continue seeing much needed change in the way we view and manage mind altering substances. 

Hmm...haven't we been down this road before?
But, we must not get complacent. We must remember there are still many states and nations that do not yet have safe access to Cannabis, even medically. And we still have a long ways yet before we've overcome The War on Consciousness, aka The Drug War. If we as adults don't have the right to explore our minds and bodies, then how can we call ourselves free?Why are drugs like alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine culturally sanctioned, but cannabis, LSD, and mushrooms remain taboo? What makes one drug "good" and one "bad" in the eyes of a society? Certainly not factors like safety, considering there is NO known lethal dose of LSD and no recorded deaths from Cannabis, while countless deaths related to alcohol and tobacco use occur every year. 

It's time to ask questions, it's time for answers. It's time for education, not fear mongering.

I am a Psychonaut, and proud of it! And I'm a grateful Medical Cannabis patient. I seriously don't know how I'd manage my Fibromyalgia without this amazing and versatile plant. It breaks my heart to see how many people could benefit from medical alternatives like Cannabis, but are prevented from even trying them because of local laws created out of fear, not logic. 

Wish I could be in Colorado. celebrating this day as only they can. But, I'm out in the rural country of the Green Mountain State, so I will be celebrating virtually with the Global Tribe. 
And that is more than enough :) 



Want to get involved? Check out The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, The National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, and Americans for Safe Access. 

Let's all keep working towards change! 

An anti-prohibition poem I wrote this morning: 

Today
We celebrate
Freedom of Choice
Today
We stand 
United as one voice
Today
We honor
Those who came before
Today
We speak
For our right to explore
the inner planes of body and mind 
It's not immature, or reckless
It's a natural part of human nature to expect this
Desire
This unquenchable thirst
You can try to stop the fire
but it was burning first
And always will be
So long as there's human curiosity
An ember glows within us all
Can't you see 
Your delusion will be your downfall
Under the illusion that there's Justice for All
While lives are destroyed for heeding the call
To explore 
The inner planes of body and mind 
It's completely insane
How can we be so behind?
For such an advanced society
We're as arcane as the Inquisition used to be
How many more must suffer or go to jail
Before we admit Prohibition has failed?
Has robbed us of options, of choices
I dream of living in a world where our voices are heard
Where our rights to explore body and mind aren't deterred
Where Drug Cartels are a thing of the past
Where doctors and patients are free to ask
"What if?
What if this works?
What if there are cures 
We haven't been allowed to research?"
It's about time 
We're free 
To explore body and mind
An inalienable right
To all Humankind



Here's some Cannabis related material for your entertainment and enlightenment:





A few people to remember as we celebrate:

Robert Randall - First ever legal US Medical Cannabis patient under the US Investigational New Drug Program. He went through legal and physical hell to make this happen. He then went on to co-found the Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics with his wife, Alice O'Leary, to push for the end of prohibition of medical cannabis. Robert died in 2001 after decades of fighting Glaucoma and serious illness. To learn more about Mr. Randall and the Federal New Drug Program he was a patient under (and is still a technically active program) go to: Federal Investigational New Drug Program (Original Medical Cannabis program)

Jack Herer - A brutal pro-war Republican prohibitionist, transformed into one of the most renowned Cannabis Activists in modern history. From 1967 to 2010 he dedicated his life to pushing for prohibition change, risking it many times in the process. He died in 2010 due to complications from heart attack. For more information on Mr. Herer's life, and a bunch of useful books, videos, and links, go to http://www.jackherer.com/.

Terence McKenna - A silver tongued bard, bold psychonaut, author, ethnobotanist, lecturer, and cannabis enthusiast. He was not afraid to speak of his discoveries deep in the wilds of the jungle, or altered states, and co-wrote Psilocybin: Magic Mushroom Grower's Guide: A Handbook for Psilocybin Enthusiasts. Check out Terence McKenna on Cannabis  for a nice intro to his thoughts, on one of my favorite podcasts, The Psychedelic Salon.

You tell 'em, buddy!
I hope you found this to be entertaining and enlightening :) 
Who are some of your favorite psychonauts and/or Anti-Prohibition activists?
Happy 4/20 my fellow Explorers! Be  sure to party safely!

*Love & Light*
Renata Carmen


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