PRESS RELEASE
FEBRUARY 17, 2016
CONTACT:
Brad Burge
Media Requests:
Press Resources:
831-429-6362 x103
Global Psychedelic Dinners Bring Communities Together to Make MDMA a Legal Medicine
MAPS celebrates three decades of advancements with
worldwide benefit events to raise $400,000 for MDMA research
OAKLAND, CALIF. – This April, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) celebrates 30 years of pioneering non-profit research and public education with the Global Psychedelic Dinners and 30th Anniversary Banquet and Celebration on April 17 at the Scottish Rite Center in Oakland, Calif.
These worldwide community-supported benefit events will support MAPS’ $400,000 purchase of one kilogram of MDMA manufactured under current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) to be used in MAPS’ Phase 3 clinical trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other MDMA research worldwide.
Taking place throughout April, the Global Psychedelic Dinners are a way for people around the world to gather their community, host an open conversation about psychedelics and psychedelic experiences, and help raise funds to help make psychedelic therapy a legal treatment. Local hosts will plan their dinners; promote their dinners via personalized online fundraising pages; and ask their friends, family, and colleagues to donate in support of psychedelic psychotherapy research.
Starting today, the first $33,000 in donations to the Global Psychedelic Dinners will be doubled, thanks to a community challenge gift from Steve Chapman ($18,000), René and Susan Ruiz ($10,000), and Carey and Claudia Turnbull ($5,000). Donations must be made through the Global Psychedelic Dinners Razoo fundraiser page to be matched.
Since the Global Psychedelic Dinners launched on February 2, over 124 people in 19 countries have registered to host their own dinner. Over 34 people have joined the Global Psychedelic Dinners team on Razoo.
“The Global Psychedelic Dinners give people around the world a chance to help legalize psychedelic therapy by growing their own local communities, sharing their stories of what psychedelics mean to them, and raising funds for MAPS’ research,” says Brad Burge, Director of Communications and Marketing for MAPS. “It’s equal parts social movement, peer-to-peer fundraising, and community health advocacy. In addition to funding vital medical research, it’s also helping ignite conversations and raise awareness about the profound healing potential of psychedelic therapy.”
MAPS’ 30th Anniversary and Celebration will take place on April 17 at the historic Scottish Rite Center in Oakland, Calif. The Banquet includes an exquisite buffet dinner, a virtuoso cello performance by Cello Joe, and benefit addresses from leading psychedelic researchers, participants in MAPS-sponsored trials, philanthropists, acclaimed visionary artists Alex and Allyson Grey, and others.
The Celebration begins after dinner with a keynote address from MAPS Founder and Executive Director Rick Doblin, Ph.D., and continues into the night with a multimedia performance from internationally renowned artist Android Jones and Phadroid, a live performance of DJ Spooky’s “The Hidden Code,” and more to be announced. A visionary art gallery and a silent auction featuring rare artifacts from the psychedelic research community will also benefit MAPS.
All donations and ticket sales for the Global Psychedelic Dinners and 30th Anniversary Banquet and Celebration support MAPS’ work to make psychedelic therapy a legal treatment.
Founded in 1986, MAPS is a 501(c)(3) non-profit research and educational organization that develops medical, legal, and cultural contexts for people to benefit from the careful uses of psychedelics and marijuana. Since its founding, MAPS has disbursed over $26 million for psychedelic therapy and medical marijuana research and education, all donated by individuals and family foundations.
MAPS has completed an international series of Phase 2 clinical trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD, and is now preparing for the FDA meetings to plan the Phase 3 trials required to obtain U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, starting in 2017. MAPS anticipates FDA approval for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD as early as 2021.
More information: psychedelicdinners.org
Sponsorship opportunities: psychedelicdinners.org/sponsorship
Event tickets: psychedelicdinners.org/banquet