Decriminalize Nature in Texas

Please join us for this special event featuring decriminalization nature movement. In this roundtable discussion we will explore the mission and goals of the decriminalize nature movement. We will highlight where we are in the movement, and where the movement is headed. We will also include information about the current state of the decriminalization movement in Texas and give actionable suggestions for moving forward.

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://www.psytexas.com/events#section-1617834546163

**RSVP to this event is NOT registration to the even. Please use the link above**

Facilitators

At an early age, Carlos became confounded by the concept of the infinite and the end-of-life after learning about the death of a loved one. This obsession with understanding the existential questions carried him through various forms of childhood trauma that profoundly impacted those around him. Based on his desire to understand the nature of life, Carlos self-funded his way through college, working long hours, while also attending UCLA--where he received a BS degree in Biology and Anthropology. Seeking further growth, he lived with the Achuar of Ecuador for several months, where he saw, first-hand, the destruction of the rainforest and impact on ancient traditions. Carlos then obtained a Master of Science Degree in Environmental Science from Yale University. Upon graduating, he sought the tools to create global change at the local level, organizing with the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, ACORN, and the Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice. Carlos then spent 8 years learning the tools of political organizing, eventually becoming a field director for a mayoral campaign, and chief of staff to the Oakland Council President. His latest efforts since 2006 have been in manifesting creativity through the built environment, becoming a real estate developer, completing over 30 projects, including two mid-rises, and winning three Historic Preservation Awards, while also exploring and advancing methods of sustainable development. Upon the passing of my mother in 2013, he realized that the healing from his childhood trauma was not complete, despite years of effort, and he immersed myself in seeking greater understanding by studying physics and participating in yoga and meditation. While these were helpful, they failed to reveal the answers he sought. Carlos then engaged in two powerful and transformative journeys using psilocybin mushrooms and Ayahuasca. These journeys finally provided him the answers to the existential questions he’d sought his entire life and brought him the inner peace he'd sought. Due to the power of this experience, he has become an advocate for the decriminalization of entheogenic plants and fungi in a just and equitable way, ensuring they become accessible to all communities, especially to low-income communities which experience the highest levels of life-inhibiting trauma.

Larry Norris, PhD is a co-founder and on the Board of Decriminalize Nature and helped to co-author the resolution which received an unanimous decision from Oakland City Council and cities across the US. Larry is also the co-founder and executive director of ERIE (Entheogenic Research, Integration, and Education) 501(c)(3), a group dedicated to the development of entheogenic education, research, and integration models. He holds a Ph.D. from the East-West Psychology department at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco; his dissertation reviews archived ayahuasca experiences to identify transformational archetypes and insights and consider their implications for integration. As adjunct faculty at CIIS, Larry taught a graduate course called Entheogenic Education: Contemporary Perspectives on Ancient Plant Wisdom in order to discuss the concept of entheogens as educational teachers and cognitive tools. He was also an adjunct faculty at John F. Kennedy University teaching a class titled Paradigms of Consciousness. A dedicated activist and proponent of cognitive liberty, Larry’s efforts are a contribution to not only change the Western legal status of these powerful plants, fungus, and compounds, but also to emphasize the potential sacred nature of entheogens given the right set and setting.

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