Public Policy Lessons from "How To Change Your Mind”

Melissa King

Episode 4 of the Netflix mini series “How To Change Your Mind,” based on Michael Pollan‘s book with the same title, is not only an education on psychedelics and their history – in particular in, this case, mescaline and it’s rich history in Native American culture – but this episode is also a great education in public policy, going back centuries.

• Native Americans were driven from their land by the US government, forced onto reservations and forced, by law, to send their children to government-run boarding schools where we know they were forced to give up their own culture (the schools were created to “kill the Indian, save the man”), and were “christianized” to resemble those who had stolen their lands, in a clear effort to snuff out the likelihood of them trying to get their lands back.

• Native Americans working together with people from various religions to overcome a supreme court decision in 1990 that made it illegal for Native Americans to use peyote-sourced mescaline in religious ceremonies as they had for centuries.

  • This SCOTUS decision on Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith, ruled that the use of peyote was not any longer protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution, as the “right to religious beliefs and practices” had been since that Amendment was passed along with the rest of the Bill of Rights, by way of a Joint Resolution passed by the US Congress in 1789.

  • The so-called “Smith Decision” of 1990 was particularly outrageous given that it flew in the face of the very origins of this country, which was founded by people who wanted freedom of religion. The outrage at this decision drove hard work toward creating new public policies to address it.

  • The Native American community along with leaders from multiple religious groups worked together to inspire Congress to act in response to the Smith Decision.

  • Congress voted overwhelmingly to pass the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, sponsored by then-US Rep Charles Schumer (D-NY), which returned religious exercise cases to the pre-Smith standard.

Those are just some of the public policy and history lessons included in this single episode of Michael Pollan’s series. He’s that good. In the same 53 minutes of viewing, you will also learn about more recent policy work, at the local level in now dozens of cities around the US, started by a group in Oakland, California that just wanted to be able to grow plants, part of nature, in their own gardens for their own use.

Decriminalize Nature worked to have the Oakland City Council pass a resolution “decriminalizing” the growth and use of plants containing psychedelic substances, making them the city's lowest level law enforcement priority. This is not the same as “legalizing” these substances, nor does it provide funding or structure to study the use of these substances to treat mental health or anything else. However, it does allow people to choose to grow and use psychedelic plants without law enforcement interference, which many people now want to do. There is a growing, grassroots movement. Similar city-based resolutions and initiatives are being passed around the US.

We at Be HERD are also working toward shaping public policy, with the 2024 TREAT Initiative to fund research into the use of psychedelic medicines to address mental health issues. Our aim is to have Californians vote to fund this critical research, including large scale clinical trials, so we can learn whether, which and how psychedelic substances can be used to help people suffering with PTSD, depression, anxiety, addiction and other issues.

Watch this space for updates and commentary on related public policy efforts around the country and, in some cases, the world.