Two local churches – Holy Trinity of Divine Church and the Rising Phoenix Entheogenic Temple – now make it easy to become a member and “buy” a wide assortment of raw mushrooms, gummies, chocolates and capsules. Together, they make a Santa Cruz a national leader in envisioning what psychedelic legality might look like.
psychedelics
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Has Santa Cruz found a new graphic-arts identity? The colorful, playful, trippy vibe of Killer Acid
Now that it’s been picked up as a featured item at the new museum store at the MAH, the art of the small local company Killer Acid is likely to spread as a new kind of visual signature of psychedelia and the Santa Cruz vibe.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
Cooking, foraging have their place at Santa Cruz Mountain Mushroom Festival – even as interest in psychoactives blooms
The Santa Cruz Mountain Mushroom Festival is taking place Saturday and Sunday at Roaring Camp in Felton. The event features a wide array of demonstrations, lectures, discussions and nature walks on fungi in both the culinary realm and in the medicinal realm.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
Microdosing’s moment: An increasingly popular mental health treatment looks for mainstream credibility
James Fadiman, the man who coined the term “microdosing” and who is a part-time Santa Cruzan, has written a new book with his collaborator Jordan Gruber that serves as a kind of primer on the whys and wherefores of microdosing psychedelics, its benefits for mental and physical health, and the best protocols for doing it.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
California almost legalized psychedelics. Now, supporters are looking for a good test case
Two states legalized psychedelic therapies since 2020 and President Biden signed a law supporting studies of how they might help veterans. Proposals like those keep dying in California.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Comic Shane Mauss seeks to bring the fun back to psychedelics
Comedian Shane Mauss has built his entire act around his experience with psychedelic substances like LSD, psilocybin, MDMA and ayahuasca. He brings his show “A Better Trip” to the Rio on Saturday.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
Beyond Electric Kool-Aid: Santa Cruz emerges as a leader in the psychedelic revolution
In recent years, interest in the potential mental health benefits of psychedelic substances has mushroomed. And Santa Cruz, politically and culturally, has played a leading role in the revolution.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Newsom asked for a bill to legalize psychedelic therapy. Lawmakers move to give him one
California could follow Oregon in authorizing the use of psychedelics in therapeutic settings. Growing research characterizes certain hallucinogens as helpful in treating mental illnesses, such as depression and PTSD.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
UCSC’s Benjamin Breen illuminates history of psychedelics before the boomers began tripping
With psychedelics now undergoing a broad cultural reassessment as a tool for therapeutic use, UC Santa Cruz associate professor of history Benjamin Breen is filling in the colors on a crucial period in psychedelic history with his new book, “Tripping on Utopia: Margaret Mead, the Cold War and the Troubled Birth of Psychedelic Science.” Breen comes to Bookshop Santa Cruz on Jan. 23 to talk about the new book and the history it unfolds.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘I’m doing it to know myself’: Neuroscientist Katherine MacLean on the promise of psychedelics
Neuroscientist Katherine MacLean is set to discuss In her new book, “Midnight Water: A Psychedelic Memoir,” at the Museum of Art & History at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 26. The memoir explores MacLean’s personal experiences with psychedelics and their potential for healing after his sister’s death. While MacLean sees psychedelics having medical and therapeutic applications, she emphasizes the importance of psychedelics’ potential for creativity and spirituality.