From May 31 to June 2, 2019, MAPS staff including MAPS Policy and Advocacy Counsel Ismail L. Ali, J.D., MAPS Founder and Executive Director Rick Doblin, Ph.D., MAPS Sales and Outreach Assistant Rudy Maldonado, and MAPS Policy and Advocacy Director Natalie Ginsberg, M.S.W., attended the third annual World Ayahuasca Conference, hosted by the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research and Service (ICEERS) in Girona, Spain. Ginsberg presented “Palestinians, Israelis, and Ayahuasca: Can Psychedelic Medicines Promote Reconciliation?” with partners Dr. Leor Roseman from Imperial College Center for Psychedelic Research and Antwan Saca. This is a collaborative study which interviews Palestinians and Israelis who drink ayahuasca together. Ali led a workshop entitled “Sacred Reciprocity,” which explored effective strategies and approaches for the intentional expansion of ayahuasca.
On June 5, 2019, Ginsberg and Ali visited Energy Control in Barcelona, Spain, a government-sponsored drug purity analysis facility. Drug possession is decriminalized in Spain, allowing government-funded drug checking facilities.