In 2017 I wrote an article for The MAPS Bulletin, called ‘The Elephant in the Room: The Need to Address Race in Psychedelic Research’. Over the last seven years, I have been an advocate, and advisor within the psychedelic assisted therapy space, with the intention to reduce harm and expand access for communities most impacted by the war on drugs. As someone who finds psychedelic exceptionalism quite dubious, it’s been nourishing to deepen my entanglement with the drug policy reform movement, as well as harm reduction more broadly. I am grateful to all the people who have been working to create access to safe consumption spaces, support services, housing and health care for drug users, as well as dismantling harmful policies woven into the drug war and creating reparative policies that can tend to some of the wounds. However, I notice another elephant within the drug policy and harm reduction space: the lack of attention to grief…
