Decriminalizing Nature with Dr. Larry Norris | The Unalienable Natural Right to Plant Use

Today we have Dr. Larry Norris on the podcast with us who is the Co-Founder of Decriminalize Nature. He believes it is an unalienable right to have one’s own relationship with Nature, and that human beings and American citizens have an unalienable natural right to use plants of their choice. He encourages empowering grassroots communities to build local and culturally relevant support structures related to entheogens. His doctoral research focuses on ayahuasca experiences and integration, as well as expanding integration concepts beyond the psychotherapeutic paradigm and we discuss many of these aspects. Join us as we have a wide open discussion about building a bridge between the science and the spiritual. What is Decriminalize Nature? 1:20The initial motivation to decriminalizing nature 16:37Focusing on what is right and how this is helpful for the community 22:10Studying ayahuasca in Hawaii 30:09The meaning of words and communication 42:00Planting seeds and being stewards 51:30What’s on the horizon 57:00“What’s the best way to help our communities out? We’re not trying to push it down everyone’s throat, we’re just saying ‘Let’s not arrest people because is throwing someone in jail a safer scenario than letting people engage in these experiences and really see decriminalization as a risk reduction strategy by decriminalizing a lot of the people who are underground so they can actually come above ground now and talk about their experiences, and share with the others.’ They can have support groups or folks that come in and learn about these experiences.” 24:54www.decrimnaturemi.orgwww.decriminalizenature.org