According to Trust for Americas Health & The Well Being Trust‘s study on ‘Pain in the Nation Update: Alcohol, drug & suicide deaths in 2018’, “69% of black adults with mental illness and 42% of black adults with serious mental illness received no treatment in 2018. Similarly, 88% of black adults with substance use disorders reported receiving no treatment in 2018”. Before the pandemic, Black Americans were experiencing mental health impacts born of intergenerational trauma, community violence, lack of culturally competent health care and a higher likelihood of misdiagnosis of schizophrenia.
Lack of access to medication and therapeutic support results in untreated mental illnesses.
And often, Black & Brown communities are disproportionately likely to be uninsured or underinsured.
But, thanks to an ever-growing body of research, the stigmas, fears and false stories that kept psychedelic medicines out of the hands of both patients and therapists are beginning to fade and disappear.
In 2019 Oakland’s City Council passed a resolution to decriminalize ‘Entheogenic Plants’- a classification that includes plants and fungi containing psychoactive substances. The resolution says that “city money will not be allotted to assist in the enforcement of laws imposing criminal penalties for use and possession of entheogenic plants by adults and investigating people for growing, buying, distributing or possessing the substance shall be amongst the lowest law enforcement priorities for the city of Oakland.”
This important step in decriminalizing, possessing and using psychedelics is part of a larger movement to end the predatory war on drugs and its failed & destructive policies. Today ‘Psychedelics’ are used as medicine in personal and therapeutic contexts.
While the psychedelic market is still in its early stages (think of the legal cannabis industry 10 years ago), research and markets project that its size will reach $10.75 billion by 2027.
Psychedelic products like Magic Mushrooms have long been a traditional staple among Native Americans for their fantastic health benefits. Although these herbals are both famous and infamous for hallucinatory experiences when consumed in microdose, psychedelics have been shown to offer a long list of health benefits. Recently, even Western mainstream physicians have also affirmed the health advantages of psychedelic products. Acknowledgment from clinical practitioners is one of the critical reasons behind the decriminalization of psychedelic products in San Francisco and Oakland. Psilocybin, the active ingredient in ‘magic mushrooms,’ can be taken in more significant amounts, which can have profoundly positive impacts and has been proven an effective treatment for PTSD and several other psychological disorders, especially when taken in a therapeutic setting. It can also be taken in smaller ‘micro-dose’ amounts that don’t dramatically alter consciousness or sensory perception but can still have an incredibly deep & positive impact. When taken regularly and over longer periods, ‘micro-dosing’ has been proven to lead to:
* Enhanced mood & increased creativity
* Reduction in anxiety and depression
* Improved vitality & energetic support
* Upgraded memory and recall
* Boosted problem-solving ability
* Enriched meditation & flow state
* Promotion of neuroplasticity and regrowth of neural pathways in the brain
Enter Bliss Mushrooms- a 100% Oakland-owned and operated luxury psychedelic company which serves marginalized, disenfranchised and under-served people. Bliss provides ultra-high quality micro-dose pills and delicious chocolate bars as well. Their products are vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO and fair trade in a relatively new psilocybin industry- they are leading the way and building their brand one great product at a time.
For more information on Bliss Mushrooms and to get in touch with them, be sure to follow them on IG and Twitter, feel free to shoot them a DM and look out for their website www.blissmushrooms.com and their YouTube channel, both of which will be launching soon!
