MEDIA ADVISORY FOR:
Monday, May 9, 2022 – 12:00pm ET
CONTACT: Adam Eidinger
Press@RightToTryPsilocybin.com | 202-744-2671
MONDAY MAY 9 @ 12:00 PM: Rally Followed by Civil Disobedience Outside Drug Enforcement Administration Headquarters
Citizens Demand Agency Abide by the Right to Try Act of 2018
Terminally-Ill Cancer Patient, Palliative Care Nurse, Business Leaders, and Caregivers Plan to “Die-In”
The DEA is Preventing Terminally-Ill Patients Their Legal Right to Try Psilocybin by Invoking the Controlled Substances Act
ARLINGTON, VA — On Monday, May, 9, at 12:00pm ET, supporters of a U.S. citizen’s right to try psilocybin will hold a rally and engage in nonviolent civil disobedience at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) headquarters. Passed by Congress and signed by former President Trump in 2018, the Right to Try Act affords those with life-threatening conditions the right to use experimental drugs as long as the drug has completed at least one clinical trial and remains under investigation. Laboratory-produced psilocybin, the psychoactive chemical commonly found in psilocybe mushrooms, has completed Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials, remains under investigation, and has been designated as a “breakthrough therapy” by the Federal Drug Administration. But the DEA has prevented terminally-ill patients from receiving the drug for nearly two years by incorrectly citing the Controlled Substances Act and psilocybin’s status as a Schedule I drug.
Numerous people will attend the rally and engage in nonviolent civil disobedience to protest unjust stonewalling by the DEA. Featured participants will include:
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- Erinn Baldeschwiler – A terminally-ill cancer patient from Seattle, Washington who has waited for over a year to receive psilocybin therapy from her palliative care physician
- Kim Larsen – Palliative care nurse at the Advanced Integrative Medical Science Institute
- Kathryn Tucker – Leading patient rights advocate, Erinn’s attorney heading the legal challenge to compel the DEA to allow access
- Dr. Mikhail Kogan – Medical Director of the George Washington University Center for Integrative Medicine, which provides medical care to terminally-ill patients who could benefit from psilocybin therapy
- David Bronner – Cosmic Engagement Officer of Dr. Bronner’s Soaps, the nation’s leading organic and fair trade soap company
- Eric Swenson – Caregiver, whose partner died of terminal illness in 2020, and is an advocate for psilocybin therapy
- Melissa Lavasani – Executive Director of the Psychedelic Medicine Coalition, Proposer of Initiative 81, Chairwoman of Decriminalize Nature DC
- Adam Eidinger – Co-Founder of Decriminalize Nature DC and bladder cancer patient
WHEN: Monday, May 9th, 12:00pm ET
WHERE: DEA Headquarters, 700 Army Navy Dr., Arlington, VA 22202
LOCAL CONTACT: Adam Eidinger, 202-744-2671
WEBSITE: www.RightToTryPsilocybin.com
TWITTER: @RTTPsilocybin
LIVE STREAM: www.Facebook.com/RTTpsilocybin
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