HomeMy WebLinkAbout042323 Support Monday Morning Resolution for Entheogens________________________________
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Hello,
I am a resident of nine and a half years in Jefferson, County, WA living where I hope to stay for the rest of my life. I am unable to be at the meeting on Monday but I would like to
write in my support.
I have read the Resolution in Support of Decriminalizing Entheogens in total and am in full agreement that the county need support this document.
I am a survivor of childhood trafficking and working with entheogens has literally saved my life, and helped me become a better member of my community. I have Complex Developmental Trauma
(CPTSD), severe anxiety and depression, Dissociative Disorders, and other physical problems such as seizures, muscle pain, and join limitations awaiting official diagnosis (Multiple
Sclerosis/Fibromyalgia) I treat my conditions without the use of pharmaceuticals and I am finding ways to love myself every day. Not only with entheogens, but with good counseling,
strong community support, and the presence of in-tact nature. Entheogens have helped me make the biggest progress in my mental and physical health.
I travel to the countries where these medicines are legal. While I love studying with indigenous peoples, I have a great conflict inside of me regarding the carbon impact of world travel.
In the past, when I have engaged with entheogens in my local area, I have had a layer of PTSD triggering regarding the need for secrecy that has coloured my work here, because when
the worst of the abuse was happening to me, I was told I would be in trouble if I told anyone what was happening to me as a child. That I would go to jail. I didn't know the difference
as a child, but as an adult, it is a part of engaging with this work that I still struggle with -- that in order to heal, I am risking imprisonment for trying to be free from the very
thing that frightened me of persecution in the first place. I feel like I have to "hide" my involvement with the things that have helped me the most, and because I have healed so much,
I want to be able to help others who are also still suffering from the effects of trauma, and I feel I cannot do it safely in my own home without risking my Life that I finally want
to live.
A few years ago, someone in my family had a parent suffering from dementia and they heard that entheogens can help with that. They also had their own healing they were curious to address.
But because they are illegal, they decided on their own, without consulting others because of the cultural shame surrounding their use, to get ahold of some, and take a high dose by
themselves without guidance, and they had a psychological break. It has created a rift in his marriage, instability in his relationship with his children, and the family is trying to
recover from it in secrecy, all the while then perpetuating a mis-nomer that entheogens would be considered "drugs" that cause "problems" when the problem is context, not the substance
itself. He needed a safe container.
Because of the layer of secrecy that currently surrounds this work in our county and country, it becomes easier for people with mal-intent to prey on people in need. For example, I met
someone who was looking for an opportunity to heal, and because she had limited resources, she consumed an entheogen with someone who raped her during her experience. I was part of
the team that worked with her to heal both from her original trauma and the trauma of this incident. This would not have happened if she had had access to safe containers in the first
place.
Most people in the "western" "first" world suffer from the effects of colonialism and generations of abuse passed down through the family. I believe having entheogens available in safe
places will create a more prosperous and innovative society. Greater health and wellbeing for everyone, rippling out to those who will never choose to engage with entheogens.
I would like to add that I have studied under indigenous North American people whose families have been persecuted for engaging in their native rituals by colonizers, and if we have
hope for reparations reaching into the future, this is one step in the right direction of acknowledging we have made error in our overdeveloped sense of control and judgement over the
lives of others', and we would do better to retract from this aspect of error we have made (as well as others).
Thank you for hearing my support, and thank you for being part of the leaders in North America willing to break out of the insanity of what our culture is doing to ourselves and other
cultures around the world.
Good luck,
~ Chonkush Tusa
+1 360-732-8002
About My New Name: tinyurl.com/chonkush <http://tinyurl.com/chonkush>
Earthen Building & Permaculture Business: placecraft.org <http://placecraft.org/>
Poetry: sauerkrautsoul.blogspot.com <http://sauerkrautsoul.blogspot.com>
Blog: https://medium.com/@chonkush
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