Can Plant Medicines Heal Addictions?
2025-12-03 12:00 - 13:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual
Join us for a transformative conversation about plant medicines, addiction recovery, and the integration of healing across clinical, spiritual, and community contexts. This Community Forum brings together clinicians, practitioners, and recovered people to explore critical questions at the heart of psychedelic-assisted addiction treatment: How can plant medicine approaches reach those most affected by addiction, despite real barriers of cost, housing instability, and access? What role do trauma, stigma, and structural inequality play in shaping outcomes? And how might we honor Indigenous and traditional lineages while developing culturally responsive, ethically grounded models of care? We’ll examine the neurobiology and spirituality of addiction recovery together, exploring how ceremonial plant medicine work interrupts the isolation and disconnection that often characterize addiction, and what safeguards are essential to prevent spiritual bypass or subtle relapse patterns disguised as transformation. Speakers include Danielle Nova, Founder of Lumeria and Executive Director of the San Francisco Psychedelic Society; Ana Juliana Demme, holistic business coach, poet, and recovered addict practicing within the Santo Daime tradition; Nicky Mehtani, Assistant Professor at UCSF researching psychedelic therapies for addiction among medically and socially complex populations; and Danielle Herrera, licensed psychotherapist specializing in “full spectrum” drug use and psychedelic integration. Together, we’ll explore how plant medicines might heal not just individual brains, but fractured relationships to self, community, and spirit.

From Siberia to Super Mario: Amanita muscaria Reconsidered
2025-12-10 12:00 - 13:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual
Join us for a timely and necessary conversation about Amanita muscaria’s emergence as a global phenomenon, from traditional Siberian and Sámi ceremonial practices to rapidly expanding retreat centers, commercial markets, and unregulated products. This Community Forum explores the opportunities and urgent risks that accompany this medicinal mushroom’s growing popularity: What happens when untrained facilitators, inconsistent dosing, and commercial pressures outpace scientific and ethical understanding? How do we establish responsible standards for practice, product integrity, and professional competence? And critically, as Amanita muscaria retreats proliferate across North America, Europe, and Asia, what can we learn from the trajectories, both harms and innovations, of ayahuasca and psilocybin tourism?
We’ll examine the paradox of Amanita muscaria’s contemporary moment: a mushroom with deep roots in Indigenous traditions that remains strikingly understudied, overlooked by its own toxicological stigma, and caught in regulatory limbo, neither officially recognized as food nor as medicine. Key questions we’ll explore include: What are the psychological and ethical implications of commercialization, particularly around contested products like “Amanita gummies”? And how can we conduct responsible scientific research while ensuring that Indigenous and traditional knowledge holders are co-creators in relationships grounded in reciprocity and accountability?
Speakers include Kevin Feeney, PhD, JD, researcher in law and cultural anthropology and member of Chacruna’s Council for the Protection of Sacred Plants; Nora Mamblona Fischer, trauma-informed psychologist and neuroscientist conducting PhD research on low-dose Amanita muscaria and initiator of the Amanita Online Congress 2025; and Tristan Kallweit, researcher in social and cultural anthropology with expertise in Amanita muscaria history since 2018. Together, we’ll navigate how to honor this mushroom’s significance while building ethical, scientifically grounded, and equitable frameworks for its responsible use and study.

Course: Psychedelics 101 for Community Religious Leaders
2026-01-15 12:00 - 13:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual
REGISTER HERE
Do you wish you got into this event for free? Become a Chacruna member and receive free or discounted access to all Community Forums, Courses, Workshops, and more! Also get full access to our entire archive of past forum recordings and join our global network of psychedelic professionals and activists to dive deeper into discussion and discovery.
The Psychedelics 101 pilot seeks to build bridges between spiritual, psychological, and scientific understandings of psychedelics. Through interdisciplinary learning and dialogue, it enhances the ability of religious leaders to offer guidance consistent with their spiritual mission while acknowledging the profound potential of psychedelics for healing and personal growth.
By investing in this training, religious leaders can foster informed, inclusive, and spiritually grounded responses to the evolving conversation around psychedelics, strengthening the overall well-being of their communities.

Cannabis & Capitalism: Is Justice Possible in Legalization?
2026-01-21 12:00 - 13:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual
January 21st, 2026, 12:00 – 1:30pm PST

REGISTER HERE
Do you wish you got into this event for free? Become a Chacruna member and receive free or discounted access to all Community Forums, Courses, Workshops, and more! Also get full access to our entire archive of past forum recordings and join our global network of psychedelic professionals and activists to dive deeper into discussion and discovery.
Join us for a critical examination of cannabis legalization’s trajectory in the United States and abroad, from grassroots movement to corporatized industry. This Community Forum explores the tensions between decriminalization, consumer and worker safety, and the realities of cannabis within traditional capitalist structures: How has free-market ideology subverted legalization efforts, particularly through moments like federal rescheduling? What’s the difference between legalization and regulation, and can we undo decades of propaganda-driven overtaxation and overregulation? As consolidation reshapes the industry, what models of organized resistance exist, and what can we learn from workers, drug war survivors, and community advocates building alternatives? Critically, what lessons does cannabis hold for emerging psychedelic markets and broader drug decriminalization efforts facing a re-branded global drug war? Speakers include Dr. Paulo J. R. Pereira, Associate Professor of International Relations at PUC-SP and author of Cannabis Global Co.: Cracked Consensus; Dr. Amanda Reiman, founder of Personal Plants and harm reduction researcher; Dr. Robert Chlala, Assistant Professor of Urban Sociology and Policy at CSU Long Beach, who co-led California’s first statewide cannabis worker equity study; and Chelsea Chism-Vargas, cultural practitioner, community organizer, and Development & Operations Intern at the Chacruna Institute. Together, we’ll examine how to center justice, equity, and solidarity in drug policy reform.

Course: Diversity, Culture and Social Justice in Psychedelics 2026
2026-01-26 10:30 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual
REGISTER HERE
Do you wish you got into this event for free? Become a Chacruna member and receive free or discounted access to all Community Forums, Courses, Workshops, and more! Also get full access to our entire archive of past forum recordings and join our global network of psychedelic professionals and activists to dive deeper into discussion and discovery.
Taught by leading experts and the first of its kind in the psychedelic field, this course will teach students to consider the cultural, social, historical, and economic context that influences the so-called “psychedelic renaissance.” Students will be introduced to basic concepts around psychedelics and justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion (JEDI). The goal of the course is to explore the ways in which psychedelics influence and are influenced by factors such as social justice, privilege, and diversity and to better understand their reciprocal influences on psychedelic science, therapies, and praxis.

Venezuela and Drug War: What are the Implications for the Psychedelic Movement?
2026-02-04 12:00 - 13:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual
February 4th, 2026, 12:00 – 1:30pm PST

REGISTER HERE

Do you wish you got into this event for free? Become a Chacruna member and receive free or discounted access to all Community Forums, Courses, Workshops, and more! Also get full access to our entire archive of past forum recordings and join our global network of psychedelic professionals and activists to dive deeper into discussion and discovery.

We invite you to a critical examination of US intervention in Venezuela, the enduring Drug War, and their implications for the psychedelic movement. This Community Forum explores the intersection of military imperialism, drug policy, and how decades of traditional drug war measures have caused the drug economy to evolve rapidly, letting the most efficient operations survive. Does the intervention in Venezuela signal shifts in US policy toward Latin America? How has the “Drug War” shaped relationships between nations? We’ll examine the concept of narco-terrorism and how such framings influence policy and perception. As psychedelic-assisted therapies expand to include veterans and active-duty military personnel, we’ll explore complex questions about access, accountability, and cross-cultural exchange. How do we thoughtfully address psychedelic tourism to Latin American countries, particularly in light of current immigration debates? How can US veterans and service members approach Latin American plant medicines in ways that honor their origins and the communities who have stewarded them? And how did the Trump administration’s intent to seize and control Venezuela’s oil open up the possibility of a prolonged insurgency in the country? Speakers include Sanho Tree, Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and director of its Drug Policy Project; Thiago Rodrigues, political scientist and author of Drugs and Capitalism: A Marxist Critique; Kat Murti, Executive Director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy; and Ryan P. Miller, Marine Corps veteran, behavioral health clinician, and advocate grounding his work in critical examination of US militarism and empire. Together, we’ll confront uncomfortable truths about power, extraction, and accountability in contemporary psychedelic spaces.

What does art have to offer to psychedelic therapy?
2026-02-18 12:00 - 13:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
February 18th, 2026, 12:00 – 1:30pm PST
REGISTER HERE
Do you wish you got into this event for free? Become a Chacruna member and receive free or discounted access to all Community Forums, Courses, Workshops, and more! Also get full access to our entire archive of past forum recordings and join our global network of psychedelic professionals and activists to dive deeper into discussion and discovery.
We invite you to explore how art, design, and cultural identity shape experiences in psychedelic therapy spaces. This Community Forum examines the intersection of aesthetics, accessibility, and therapeutic outcomes in psychedelic research and practice. What makes a psychedelic dosing space feel welcoming and supportive, and whose perspectives should guide these decisions? The visual elements of a therapy room – from,, artwork to lighting to spatial design – interact with participants’ spiritual beliefs, cultural backgrounds, and sense of identity in ways that may influence their therapeutic experience. As psychedelic research expands, creating clinical environments that feel accessible and affirming across diverse communities becomes increasingly important. We’ll discuss innovative approaches to space design, including community-engaged methods for selecting artwork and creating environments that honor multiple cultural perspectives. How might the intentional use of art and aesthetic design contribute to therapeutic outcomes, and what can we learn from collaborative approaches to designing research spaces? Dr. Cody Wenthur, Founding Director of Graduate Studies for the MS in Pharmaceutical Sciences – Psychoactive Pharmaceutical Investigation program at UW-Madison will be interviewed by Owen Wheeler, MSc candidate in Psychoactive Pharmaceutical Investigation at UW-Madison and Education Support Intern for the Chacruna Institute.,

Direitos Indígenas e Propriedade Intelectual
2026-02-25 12:00 - 13:30 (America/Mexico_City)
February 25th, 2026, 12:00 – 1:30pm PST
REGISTER HERE
Do you wish you got into this event for free? Become a Chacruna member and receive free or discounted access to all Community Forums, Courses, Workshops, and more! Also get full access to our entire archive of past forum recordings and join our global network of psychedelic professionals and activists to dive deeper into discussion and discovery.
With Fernanda Kaingang, Maíra Smith, and Lígia Platero

How Cybersecurity, AI and Social Media Shape Psychedelic Future?
2026-03-04 12:00 - 13:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual
March 4th, 2026, 12:00 – 1:30pm PST
REGISTER HERE
Do you wish you got into this event for free? Become a Chacruna member and receive free or discounted access to all Community Forums, Courses, Workshops, and more! Also get full access to our entire archive of past forum recordings and join our global network of psychedelic professionals and activists to dive deeper into discussion and discovery.
Chacruna is glad to invite you for a conversation exploring the intersections of technology, AI, and psychedelic communities. Just as artificial intelligence increasingly shapes how we communicate, organize, and share information online, psychedelic organizations must navigate evolving challenges around data privacy, digital visibility, and algorithmic influence. This forum will examine how AI tools and social media platforms impact psychedelic discourse, from censorship and content moderation to the ways algorithms shape identity and narrative within these communities. We’ll ask: How can psychedelic organizations comply with cybersecurity and data privacy laws while using AI tools? What does fair information practice mean in the context of facilitator and organizational ethics? How do algorithms influence online visibility and community formation in the psychedelic space? Speakers include Victoria J. Cvitanovic, a lawyer specializing in psychedelic medicine, healthcare, and cybersecurity/data privacy; Milica Radovic Mandic, founder of Psilocybin San Francisco and Chacruna’s Digital, Design and Media Advisor; and Ibrahim Gabriell, Digital Operations Strategist for Chacruna. Together, we’ll reflect on how psychedelic communities can navigate the digital landscape ethically, protect privacy, and harness technology while maintaining human oversight and harm reduction principles.AI sych

Memory Emergence in Psychedelic Contexts: True, False, and Everything In Between
2026-06-10 12:00 - 13:30 UTC | Virtual
Do you wish you got into this event for free? Become a Chacruna member and receive free or discounted access to all Community Forums, Courses, Workshops, and more! Also get full access to our entire archive of past forum recordings and join our global network of psychedelic professionals and activists to dive deeper into discussion and discovery.

We invite you to explore the complex terrain where memory, trauma, and psychedelic states intersect. This Community Forum examines how memories emerge during psychedelic experiences, whether true, false, or somewhere in between, and what this means for therapists, guides, and the people they support. How can clinicians distinguish between implicit somatic memory activation, symbolic material, and autobiographical recall in altered states, and what responsibilities do they hold in preventing premature narrative consolidation? The suggestibility and autonomic activation characteristic of psychedelic states raise profound questions about how ambiguous internal experiences become organized into memory, and how therapeutic relationships and cultural context shape that process. As psychedelic-assisted therapy expands into mainstream clinical settings, ensuring that practitioners are equipped to navigate these vulnerabilities with skill and ethical clarity becomes increasingly urgent. We’ll discuss the risks of inadvertent memory implantation, the power dynamics inherent in therapeutic relationships, and the competencies therapists need before working with trauma-related material in psychedelic contexts. How should the field balance honoring the lived reality of a client’s experience while remaining epistemically careful about its historical truth? Manuela Mischke-Reeds, somatic trauma psychotherapist and author of Embodied Psychedelic Therapy; Dr. Jim Hopper, Harvard Medical School psychologist and leading researcher on traumatic memory; Dr. Elowyn Samadhi, clinical psychologist and psychedelic-assisted therapy specialist; and Dr. Franklin King IV, Director of Training at the MGH Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics will explore these questions together in a conversation moderated by Ali McGhee, co-founder of Appalachian Psychedelic Society and part of the Chacruna Chronicles editorial team.

Psychedelics and the Future of Pain Care
2026-06-17 12:00 - 13:30 UTC | Virtual
Do you wish you got into this event for free? Become a Chacruna member and receive free or discounted access to all Community Forums, Courses, Workshops, and more! Also get full access to our entire archive of past forum recordings and join our global network of psychedelic professionals and activists to dive deeper into discussion and discovery.
We invite you to explore the emerging intersections of psychedelic medicine and chronic pain care in our next Community Forum, which will examine how psychedelic-assisted approaches to pain may both align with and challenge existing mental health treatment models. As interest in psychedelic therapies continues to grow, important questions remain about how these interventions work in the context of long-term pain conditions, and whether current frameworks adequately address the realities faced by people living with chronic pain. We’ll discuss the mechanisms through which psychedelics may influence pain, whether by reducing pain itself, transforming the relationship individuals have with pain, or improving overall quality of life. What role do factors such as dose, intensity of experience, and therapeutic support play in pain outcomes? Do all patients benefit from traditional talk-therapy models as part of care? And as the field advances, how can clinicians, researchers, educators, and patient advocates work together to develop responsible, evidence-based models of care? We’ll also discuss the key issue of how to communicate both the promise and the limitations of psychedelic therapies without creating unrealistic expectations for those living with serious pain. You’ll hear from Joe Moore, co-founder and CEO of Psychedelics Today; Tess Veuthey, neurologist and pain physician; and Jagpaul Kaur Deol, Clinical Advisor with TheraPsil and member of MAPS Canada Board of Directors; in a conversation moderated by Lorien Chavez, Development and Operations Officer for the Chacruna Institute.

Who Owns Psychedelic Knowledge?
2026-06-24 12:00 - 13:30 UTC | Virtual
Do you wish you got into this event for free? Become a Chacruna member and receive free or discounted access to all Community Forums, Courses, Workshops, and more! Also get full access to our entire archive of past forum recordings and join our global network of psychedelic professionals and activists to dive deeper into discussion and discovery.
We invite you to explore the contested landscape where knowledge, authority, and psychedelic experience intersect. This Community Forum examines who gets to define legitimate expertise in psychedelic studies, whether rooted in clinical research, lived experience, Indigenous tradition, or social media influence, and what is at stake in those definitions. How can researchers, practitioners, and communities distinguish between biomedical authority, embodied knowledge, and influencer-driven narratives in a field undergoing rapid transformation, and what responsibilities do institutions hold in preventing the consolidation of new epistemic hierarchies? The visibility and charisma characteristic of today’s psychedelic renaissance raise profound questions about how certain voices come to be trusted over others and how commercial, cultural, and therapeutic contexts shape what counts as credible knowledge. As psychedelic-assisted therapy expands into mainstream clinical and public discourse, ensuring that diverse forms of knowing, including Indigenous and Global South perspectives, are not marginalized or commodified becomes increasingly urgent. We’ll discuss the risks of epistemic injustice, the power dynamics embedded in competing knowledge claims, and the ethical standards the field needs before expertise can be responsibly exercised or publicly communicated. How should the field balance honoring the experiential reality of psychedelic states while remaining critically attentive to who benefits from particular definitions of truth and authority? Deepak Sarma, Distinguished Scholar in the Public Humanities and Professor of Religious Studies and Bioethics at Case Western Reserve University; Pierce Flynn, cultural sociologist and ethnographic researcher with deep expertise in psychedelic cultures and sacred plant medicines; and Paulina Valamiel, sociologist of religion and Research and Communications Officer at Chacruna Institute, will explore these questions together in what promises to be a rich and necessary conversation.

Memory Emergence in Psychedelic Contexts: True, False, and Everything In Between
2026-07-16 08:00 - 17:00 UTC | Virtual
We invite you to explore the complex terrain where memory, trauma, and psychedelic states intersect. This Community Forum examines how memories emerge during psychedelic experiences, whether true, false, or somewhere in between, and what this means for therapists, guides, and the people they support. How can clinicians distinguish between implicit somatic memory activation, symbolic material, and autobiographical recall in altered states, and what responsibilities do they hold in preventing premature narrative consolidation? The suggestibility and autonomic activation characteristic of psychedelic states raise profound questions about how ambiguous internal experiences become organized into memory, and how therapeutic relationships and cultural context shape that process. As psychedelic-assisted therapy expands into mainstream clinical settings, ensuring that practitioners are equipped to navigate these vulnerabilities with skill and ethical clarity becomes increasingly urgent. We’ll discuss the risks of inadvertent memory implantation, the power dynamics inherent in therapeutic relationships, and the competencies therapists need before working with trauma-related material in psychedelic contexts. How should the field balance honoring the lived reality of a client’s experience while remaining epistemically careful about its historical truth? Manuela Mischke-Reeds, somatic trauma psychotherapist and author of Embodied Psychedelic Therapy; Dr. Jim Hopper, Harvard Medical School psychologist and leading researcher on traumatic memory; Dr. Elowyn Samadhi, clinical psychologist and psychedelic-assisted therapy specialist; and Dr. Franklin King IV, Director of Training at the MGH Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics will explore these questions together in a conversation moderated by Ali McGhee, co-founder of Appalachian Psychedelic Society and part of the Chacruna Chronicles editorial team.

Conspirituality: Seeking (Hidden) Truths in the Post-Truth Era
2026-08-26 12:00 - 13:30 UTC | Virtual
Do you wish you got into this event for free? Become a Chacruna member and receive free or discounted access to all Community Forums, Courses, Workshops, and more! Also get full access to our entire archive of past forum recordings and join our global network of psychedelic professionals and activists to dive deeper into discussion and discovery.
We invite you to explore how spirituality and conspiracy thinking intertwine in the search for hidden truths in our post-truth era. This Community Forum examines what “conspirituality” actually names – a belief system, a political alignment, or a broader configuration of capacities and frameworks – and why that distinction shapes how we respond to it. Psychedelic and contemplative practices can produce a powerful felt sense of disclosed truth; we’ll ask when that certainty becomes self-sealing and unfalsifiable, and how it comes to be maintained by emotional necessity. The panel will also consider practices of epistemic discernment that don’t require foreclosing on ontology, and how to critique conspirituality without reproducing its own logic of locating contaminated others. Broader threads include the discursive meanings of “spirituality” and “conspiracy theory,” parallels between religious and conspiratorial narratives, the causes of the “post-truth” era and the crisis of meaning, the shift toward metamodernism, and the challenge of navigating emic-etic boundaries in research on spirituality and psychedelics. This Community Forum brings together Dr. Daan Frans Oostveen, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Humanistic Studies; Dr. Sharday Mosurinjohn, Associate Professor in the School of Religion at Queen’s University; Li Chun Marina Lin, a former travel journalist and shamanic practitioner; and Dave Vliegenthart, an interdisciplinary scholar of new religious movements and contemporary spirituality.

Queering Psychedelics 2026
2026-09-05 12:00 - 15:00 UTC | 9845 Erma Rd STE 200, San Diego, CA 92131, USA, 9845 Erma Rd STE 200, San Diego, CA, 92131, United States
As part of Chacruna’s 10th anniversary celebration, Bia Labate and Clancy Cavnar join Paulina Valamiel for a conversation on why psychedelics cannot be separated from social justice. Over the past decade, Chacruna has championed the idea that expanding consciousness must go hand in hand with expanding equity, amplifying marginalized voices, and challenging systems of exclusion. This panel will explore how gender, sexuality, and queer perspectives have shaped Chacruna’s work and why they remain essential to building a more inclusive, ethical, and transformative psychedelic future.
Joined by the Queer Sol Collective, Mikaela de la Myco, and Queer Psychedelic Society for a community discussion that centers local queer and Indigenous voices. This gathering is designed to be both educational and deeply connective, creating space not only to learn from our speakers but to engage in meaningful conversation with one another. Following the presentations, attendees will have the opportunity to participate in an open Q&A, explore the ideas and questions that emerge, and spend time connecting with others in the community. Snacks and refreshments will be provided.

Join the Journey Toward Ethical Plant Medicine Facilitation: Certificate in Ceremony, Ethics, & Reciprocity
2026-10-22 00:00 - 2027-04-08 00:00 UTC | Virtual
Do you wish you got into this event for free? Become a Chacruna member and receive free or discounted access to all Community Forums, Courses, Workshops, and more! Also get full access to our entire archive of past forum recordings and join our global network of psychedelic professionals and activists to dive deeper into discussion and discovery.
REGISTER HERE
Ticket Prices
Tuition + in-person component*: $2000
Tuition (not including in-person component): $1800
Tuition for folks from the Global South: $700
This certificate is a 5-month, 60-hour journey designed for those already facilitating or assisting in ceremonies, aiming to create a safer, more equitable, and informed space for plant medicine practices. It focuses on reducing risks, strengthening community accountability, and cultivating skills for ethical ceremonial leadership outside of traditional Indigenous contexts.
Whether you’re looking to refine your skills, gain new insights, or build bridges between ceremony and psychedelic therapies, this program provides the tools to make a meaningful impact in your community.
*This certificate does not qualify students as ceremonial leaders, facilitators, or shamans. Instead, it provides foundational education in connection, ethics, safety, and ongoing learning for those involved in psychedelic plant medicine ceremonies, whether as leaders, facilitators, guides, or participants

Psychedelic Culture 2027: Beyond Consensus
2027-03-12 - 2027-03-13 | Brava Theater Center, 2781 24th St., San Francisco, CA, United States
Chacruna’s work aims to curate critical conversations and uplift the voices of women, queer people, Indigenous peoples, people of color, and the Global South in the field of psychedelic science. In doing so, we foster cultural and political reflections on the field of psychedelic science and facilitate conversations about controversial topics that have been simmering on the sidelines as psychedelics go mainstream. At a time when big corporations, big tech and Western science are at the forefront of the conversations around psychedelics that we see at major conferences, Psychedelic Culture 2027: Beyond Consensus strives to bridge the gap between all sides of the spectrum, bringing together unlikely perspectives and pushing beyond the echo chamber of agreement without action.
Register here.
