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Who is our new board member? MAPS News – August 2009
Dear MAPS Members and Friends,
On July 22, 2009, MAPS’ Board of Directors held their biannual meeting and welcomed Robert J. Barnhart as the newest addition to the Board. You can read more about Robert in the summer edition of the MAPS Bulletin, which has gone to the printers and will be arriving in member’s mailboxes over the next few weeks. If you aren’t a member or would like to read the Bulletin before it arrives in the mail we currently have it available online as a single PDF file. The Bulletin has updates on all of our current research projects, so this email newsletter focuses on other issues related to MAPS.
Are you interested in going to the Drug Policy Alliance’s Reform conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico this coming November? If so, let us know soon. We will be having a special function for MAPS members and friends. We are looking for volunteers to help us at the conference, and we have discounted registration available.
We have a unique gift of the month for members who donate $25 or more, or for new members who donate $50 or more. A MAPS friend, supporter, and artist has provided us with a couple dozen one-of-a-kind medallions. Each piece of jewelry contains either a square of blotter art or a depiction of a psychedelic compound. Please make a donation today and receive one of these special gifts.
Sincerely,
Randolph Hencken, MA
Director of Communications and Marketing
Here’s a sample of what is happening this month at MAPS:
- News from MAPS Board of Directors Meeting
- MAPS Board of Directors Pledges $465,000 for FY 09-10!
- Kevin Herbert Donates Another $11,000
- Psychedelic Science in the 21st Century Conference: CME Credit Authorized and More Presenters Added
- MAPS co-hosting 2009 Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) International Drug Policy Reform Conference
- Brunch in Santa Cruz: Fun and Successful
- MAPS Staff Welcome Brad Burge to the Office
- Psychedelic Spotlight with John Gilmore
- New Interviews with Rick Doblin Now Available for Download
- Donate Items to MAPS for Holiday Auction
- MAPS Medical Marijuana Production Facility Patiently Waiting for New Leadership at DEA
- Correction: Chamberlain’s Psychedelic Pioneers Series at 99 High Art Collective in Venice, CA
- Space Available in Entheon Village at Burning Man
- Columbia University Researchers Seeking Club Drug Users for Brain Imaging Study
- Gift of the Month: Blotter Art and Psychedelic Molecule Medallions
* * * Dues-paying MAPS members are empowering staff, scientists, and volunteers to carry out pioneering research and educational projects. To donate, learn about the benefits of MAPS membership, or purchase books, clothes, art, and other merchandise, visit: store.maps.org/ * * *
1. News from MAPS Board of Directors Meeting
On July 22, 2009, Robert Barnhart became the newest member of MAPS’ Board of Directors. Robert has been supportive of MAPS from the beginning days. You can read more about Robert in our latest edition of the Bulletin.
Robert joins current Board members John Gilmore, Ashawna Hailey, and Rick Doblin, PhD, and replaces Marybeth Home, who has been a member of the Board since MAPS was founded in 1986. The Board expressed its profound appreciation for Marybeth’s 23 years of service to MAPS. Marybeth is now working full time taking care of her mother who is a remarkably active runner and javelin thrower in her 90s.
The Board reviewed the achievements, challenges, and financial statements of fiscal year (FY) 2008-09 (which ended May 31, 2009) and approved the projected research and educational projects and budget for FY 09-10. The Board voted that Rick remains President of the Board for two more years at his current salary of $60,000 per year.
In related news, Rick’s title has been changed to the more appropriate Executive Director. Valerie Mojeiko who has worked with MAPS for nearly 10 years has been promoted to Deputy Director (she was formally the Director of Operations).
2. MAPS Board of Directors Pledges $465,000 for FY 09-10!
After carefully considering Rick’s proposed ambitious plans for MAPS for FY 09-10, and various scenarios for income (low, medium and high), Board of Director John Gilmore offered to increase his pledged amount from $150,000 to $200,000. In turn, Ashawna Hailey, also pledged $200,000, up from $150,000. Robert Barnhart then offered to increase his pledge from $50,000 to $65,000! MAPS’ projected budget for FY 09-10 is about $1.2 million, so we have a lot more money to raise and we need all of the support people have been inspired to offer.
3. Kevin Herbert Donates Another $11,000
We want to extend our warmest gratitude to our good friend and faithful supporter Kevin Herbert for his recent contribution of $11,000. In late 2007, Kevin agreed to match end of the year donations by MAPS supporters. Neither Kevin nor we expected the swell of support that we received that year in response to his matching grant offer he ended up agreeing to match nearly $33,000 in donations. Kevin’s $11,000 donation is the third and final payment from his matching gift. Thank you, Kevin!
We are excited to announce that MAPS has received authorization to award CME credit to psychiatrists and other physicians, and to ancillary healthcare professionals attending our upcoming conference, Psychedelic Science in the 21st Century, taking place in the San Francisco Bay Area from April 15-18, 2010.
Several more stellar presenters have been added, including David Nichols, PhD, and Charles Grob, MD. They join dozens of other leaders in the field who will present the state of the art of psychedelic research from around the world .The conference is open to the general public and all conference attendees will be able to attend whichever conference sessions they wish. In addition to the seminars offering continuing education credit, there will be an additional, non-continuing education track with artists (Alex and Allyson Grey) and other culturally intriguing speakers.
The conference will begin with a reception on Thursday evening, April 15, and will conclude around 4 PM, on Sunday, April 18, 2009. We have chosen the Holiday Inn San Jose (formerly a Hilton) for its elegance, reasonable prices, and close proximity to the San Jose International Airport and public transit. Registration information will be available soon. In the meantime, you are welcome to send an email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to be placed on a registration list.
We are accepting applications for presentations. If you would like to present at the conference, please send a bio and an abstract of your presentation to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for review by our conference committee.
5. MAPS co-hosting 2009 Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) International Drug Policy Reform Conference
From November 12-14, 2009, MAPS will be co-hosting the Drug Policy Alliance’s International Drug Policy Reform Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. MAPS is working with a number of other organizationsincluding the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Marijuana Policy Project, and many othersto bring together all kinds of people who are interested in rethinking drugs and drug policy in the 21st century.
If you’re interested in participating in this extraordinary gathering, please contact MAPS at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). There will be special events exclusively for MAPS members, as well as registration discounts for those interested in volunteering. Please let me know if you’re going to be there so that we can save a space for you at a special MAPS networking event. Don’t delayearly registration closes October 9.
6. Brunch in Santa Cruz: Fun and Successful
On August 8, 2009, we hosted a brunch near our operational headquarters in Santa Cruz. MAPS Executive Director Rick Doblin, PhD, flew out from Massachusetts to speak with a room full of new and old MAPS supporters. Rick spoke to the 93 people who joined us at 10 AM on a Saturday for a little over an hour and spent a great deal of time afterwards continuing the conversation. Thirty-seven new members joined MAPS at the brunch and we brought in approximately $6150 for our research and educational projects. The brunch was an outstanding event and demonstrated the continual development of MAPS staff s operational capacity.
We also sold four authentic, autographed pieces of glassware from Sasha Shulgin’s (the godfather of MDMA’s) laboratory. Glass artist Logan MacSporan had incorporated one of Sasha’s pieces into a majestic glass sculpture. Sasha had given MAPS a total of 50 signed glass pieces for us to sell to raise funds. We will auction additional pieces off this coming holiday season.
7. MAPS Staff Welcome Brad Burge to the Office
Brad Burge, PhD Candidate, has been working with MAPS staff in the office this summer. Brad studies communication at the University of California San Diego and teaches undergraduate communication courses. He came to Santa Cruz at the end of July for a four-week internship with MAPS. Brad also interns with MAPS’ sister organization the Drug Policy Alliance. Brad has been a great asset to the team during his short internship and will be missed when he leaves next week. If Brad isn’t too swamped with his graduate studies this fall, expect to see an article authored by him in the winter MAPS Bulletin.
8. Psychedelic Spotlight with John Gilmore
On August 10, 2009, MAPS released a podcast featuring an interview with MAPS Board Member John Gilmore. MAPS podcast host Ken Allen interviewed him for the latest Psychedelic Spotlight, a series of psychedelic podcasts that Ken has been creating for MAPS members and friends. The podcast is available online in the MAPS A/V Archive in 2 sections: [Part A] and [Part B], and can be found on iTunes.
9. New Interviews with Rick Doblin Now Available for Download
Hear Rick Doblin, PhD, MAPS’ founder and Executive Director, talk about MAPS’ latest projects, the new special edition of the MAPS Bulletin on psychedelics and ecology, and a smorgasbord of other topics from the therapeutic value of mystical experiences to the politics of psychedelic research in two parts. Special thanks to Joanna Harcourt-Smith and FuturePrimitive.org for making these great podcasts available. MP3s can be downloaded from FuturePrimitive.org or on the MAPS website (episode 1; episode 2).
10. Donate Items to MAPS for Holiday Auction
Do you have a piece of psychedelic history that you are willing to give away to help MAPS? Do you have a vacation home that you wish to offer for a week in order to raise funds for psychedelic and medical marijuana research? We are accepting anything of value for our holiday auction, which will take place in November. Your support is greatly appreciated.
If you have something you would like to donate, please contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
11. MAPS Medical Marijuana Production Facility Patiently Waiting for New Leadership at DEA
It has been over a month and a half since the effective date of DEA’s Final Ruling rejecting the recommendation of DEA Administrative Law Judge Bittner that it would be in the public interest for the DEA to issue a license to Professor Craker to grow marijuana for research. However, this is the first time since 2001, when Prof. Craker and MAPS began the effort to obtain the license that the DEA’s delay tactics have been something to smile about. We believe that our best strategy is to wait for a new Director of the DEA to be appointed by the Obama administration. The current Acting Administrator of the DEA, Michele Leonhart, is a Bush holdover who has already reversed the recommended ruling of DEA Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner. Bittner had found that it would be in the public’s interest to end the federal government’s monopoly and to allow Prof. Craker to grow a supply of marijuana for medical research.
An article in the July 31, 2009, edition of the Washington Post discussed the Obama administration’s search process for new leadership at the DEA. Although no timetable has been provided, something seems to be in motion. The most promising piece of information in the Washington Post article is that the front-runners are from outside the DEA. If Leonhart were to be reappointed, it’s doubtful that opposition to licensing Craker would change. But if the new leadership comes from outside DEA, there is at least some hope that its opposition to licensing Craker will be reversed and that we won’t need to sue DEA in the US Court of Appeals, First Circuit.
12. Correction: Chamberlain’s Psychedelic Pioneers Series at 99 High Art Collective in Venice, CA
The previous MAPS email update announcing the display of Dean Chamberlain’s visionary psychedelic included an incorrect address. The announcement should have read as follows:
Dean Chamberlain’s light paintings of psychedelic pioneers Timothy Leary, Albert Hofmann, Richard Alpert aka Ram Dass, Laura Huxley, Terence McKenna, Richard Evans Schultes, John Lilly, Nina Graboi, Ann & Sasha Shulgin, and Oscar Janiger, are on display at 99 High Art Collective in Venice, California. Proceeds from sales of the prints benefit MAPS.
99 High Art Collective is a medical marijuana dispensary and art gallery located at 1108 Abbott Kinney Blvd, Venice, CA. For more information on 99 High Art Collective contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call 310-450-8699.
13. Space Available in Entheon Village at Burning Man
Entheon Village would like you to know that if you’re thinking about attending Burning Man this year and are looking for a communal camp, there is still space available at Entheon Village. Space is limited to 250 people, so you may want to act fast. Check out www.entheonvillage.com for more information.
14. Columbia University Researchers Seeking Club Drug Users for Brain Imaging Study
Healthy male and female club drug users (age 18-55) are needed for brain imaging scans at the New York State Psychiatric Institute/Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. Earn up to $700. Call (212) 568-6850 for more information.
15. Gift of the Month: Blotter Art and Psychedelic Molecule Medallions
We have a very special gift of the month. MAPS friend and artist Jeremy has donated several hand made medallions. Each piece of jewelry is one-of-a-kind and either contains a piece of blotter art or a molecular depiction of a psychedelic compound. Some of the medallions even glow in the dark. These pieces truly are unique and you are unlikely to find them anywhere but through MAPS or directly from the artist. We will give one of these pieces of jewelry to any current member who donates $25 or more, or to any new member who donates $50 or more. We have a limited number of these gifts, so place your order quickly. Call our office at 831-429-MDMA(6362) to be sure that we still have these gifts in stock.
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