Inne Trek is a newly formed legal psilocybin therapy and wellness program in Oregon: https://www.innertrek.org/
Innertrek is truly progressive and an amazing supporter of innovation. As part of my educational program, we devised a work-study project to defer some admission fees, and it was a remarkable experience. Essentially, I presented on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) through the lens of disability, which was catered to clients in psychedelic therapy.
First and foremost, I was partnered with a mentor and instructor, Tal Shibari, who helped me explore the concept of disability and psychedelics and the need for inclusion in Measure 109. Aside from being an advocate and ally, Tal helped me find disability issues as both a client and facilitator and how to accommodate these challenges. She also helped me with the slides and answering questions. I cannot thank her enough!
The concept of equity is particularly important for new professionals entering a fledgling industry that favors people of socioeconomic status. Often, it is those who can’t pay who would benefit most, and so fairness and equality must be checked. Most disabled people are poor but in great need of this service. How can we help them?
Creating systems that are truly inclusive by being affordable, having service centers that are accessible and facilitators that are aware of disability challenges is a great place to start. This means talking about what does and what doesn’t work in these systems and how we can change them for the better. As more centers come online, ensuring that they are accessible and safe for even the severely disabled will become the norm.
A great coincidence occurred just a few days after the presentation: the Oregon Health Authority that oversees Measure 109 was sued by facilitators under the ADA for not being accessible for those at the end of life or profoundly disabled (kind of like I was saying) and they want to see changes to the law.
There was a similar challenge in Washington state for end-of-life or hospice patients to be able to use psilocybin, and it failed. They primarily want to be able to do in-home visits or at medical facilities, both of which have their own issues but are ultimately more accessible than service centers. The outcome of this lawsuit is still pending in Oregon.
Regardless if it is successful in expanding access to psychedelic therapy in the home or nursing facility, the continued need for accommodations at service centers is obvious and if the are truly accessible for severe cases none of the legal challenges would arise and this is my message: build it correctly to code the first time. Psychedelic therapy should be available to all.
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