May 28, 2019
From the event website:
At 6 PM on Tuesday, May 28, the Oakland City Council’s Public Safety Committee will be hearing our “Resolution Supporting Entheogenic Plant Practices and Declaring that the Investigation and Arrest of Individuals Involved with the Adult Use of Entheogenic Plants on the Federal Schedule 1 List be Amongst the Lowest Priority for the City of Oakland”. Please arrive by 5:30 PM. Four city councilmembers sit on this committee. They will consider the public safety aspects of the resolution and if they conclude that the resolution does not pose a significant public safety issue and warrants their support, they will then forward the item to council, hopefully in early June. The earliest would be on the June 4th council agenda but this is not certain.
Please come out to the May 28th Public Safety Committee of the Oakland City Council at 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza, 3rd Floor. Arrive by 5:30 PM. Be prepared to show your support for the resolution by either speaking in support or wearing a “Decriminalize Nature Oakland” sticker or your “Decriminalize Nature Oakland” t-shirt and rising when we ask all supporters to stand. (If you don’t have a Decriminalize Nature T-shirt yet, order one soon [takes 1 week to arrive] : here
If you choose to speak, you will have no more than 2 minutes. First, state your name and if you reside, work, or have affiliations with Oakland. If you have specific qualifications in the field of entheogenic plants and fungi, briefly state this. It is not required that you have such an affiliation or that you work or live in Oakland, but if you do, it is useful to state this. Then state why you are there to speak. What is your personal motivation? Keep it succinct and direct and respectful. The councilmembers are compassionate and intelligent, and want to understand why community members believe these should be decriminalized. Points to consider speaking on are:
- Any experience you want to share about how these plants or fungi have helped you. If you had a “bad trip” or shadow journey experience and learned/grew from it, good to share these too in order to demystify the stigma.
- Any scientific evidence you believe is important for the council to know. Keep in mind this is a Public Safety Committee so any information related to low public safety risk is good to share
- Any personal cultural experience with traditional practices that should be honored and respected
- Ideas you have for expanding education about safe and responsible plant practices in diverse communities
Look for an organizer wearing a Decriminalize Nature T-shirt when you arrive, introduce yourself to them, and inform them if you intend to speak so they can coordinate with you. If you’re filling out a speaker card, hand it to the organizer so DNO can coordinate a well-organized speakers’ presentation. The more organized we are, the better.
If you have any questions, contact vienna@chapters.ssdp.org.
For more information, visit the event website.
