Activists Protest At DEA HQ, Demand Legal Access To Psychedelics For Terminally Ill Patients

Activists held a protest, including a die-in outside of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) headquarters in Virginia. They were protesting against the DEA's “obstruction of Right to Try statutes at the federal and state level that patients and advocates say should facilitate the legal use of psychedelics,” reported Marijuana Moment.

Patients, veterans, and advocacy leaders brought colored smoke bombs and violation notices and painted messages on windows. In addition, protesters staged a die-in outside one of the entrances.

Although the police attempted to mediate, some protesters were arrested including Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps CEO David Bronner and Erinn Baldeschwiler, a terminally ill patient who sued the DEA over its refusal to give her and others access to psilocybin.

“We’re here today to demand that the DEA open a pathway to access,” said Kathryn Tucker, who represents Baldeschwiler. “Not one more dying patient [should have to] endure debilitating anxiety and depression when relief could be had.”

“We’re not asking DEA to be compassionate,” Bronner said. “We’re asking them to follow established law.”

The protest convened Melissa Lavasani from the Psychedelic Medicine Coalition, a women-led, non-profit advocacy organization working to promote safe and equitable access to plant medicines, and Adam Eidinger, co-founder of Decriminalize Nature DC, a political campaign to lower the law enforcement priorities for entheogenic plant and fungi medicines.

Photo via Right To Try Psilocybin - @RTTpsilocybin