Micro Dosing Mums: How White Women are Co-Opting Indigenous Healing Methods

Illustrated by Sara Moana

This week for our Drugs and Alcohol issue, I have looked into a new demographic of drug users that are partaking in the rising trend of psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Western mothers across the globe are increasingly turning to micro dosing capsules of magic mushrooms to ease the stress of parenthood.

This is a vastly new demographic than has previously been known to society. It is likely this is owed to the various states across the US that have changed their policies regarding psychedelic usage therefore altering their criminal status. Due to these changes, these types of therapeutic sessions are becoming more available.

Although, it is becoming clear that the benefits of these drugs are not being distributed evenly with sessions costing exuberant amounts, ensuring that only the wealthy are experiencing access.

The Science

It is considered by a range of studies that psychedelic drugs result in an increased ability to react to situations with empathy, compassion and vulnerability (Stanley, 2022).

The brief science behind this is that psilocybin, which is the mind-enhancing chemical within magic mushrooms, affects our ability to control our sense of self or ego (Dy, 2021). 

The noteworthy aspect of these studies is the effect this has on parent’s ability to be responsive rather than reactive to their children through a better understanding of their own vulnerabilities and trauma (Stanley, 2022).

According to Rebecca Kronman, a clinical social worker who administers ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, setting up a safe and therapeutic trip setting and getting into a more mindful state to explore intentions are important features to this practice. In other words, you need to make sure you’re translating your experience on psychedelics into direct action within your life.

These factors can enable users to experience “this feeling of healing within themselves of generational trauma that has been passed on to them and how that has helped them show up as better people, better parents”.

Many mothers have discussed their fear of being associated with their drug use because of the criminality it carries. The United States Federal Government still classifies psychedelics as Schedule 1 drugs, the same category that cannabis sits within.

The state of Oregon has now decriminalised psychedelics, while many others have altered their state policies to deprioritise the use of psychedelics for law enforcement arrests.

But what is often missed from these conversations is that we are seeing another co-option of an indigenous practice that has been criminalised for years to benefit the livelihoods of white women now crediting micro dosing with improved health benefits.

The Question of Access

This is not about gate-keeping. Rather I am trying to articulate that indigenous healers, those within the regions of the Amazon, Mexico, and Africa, among many others, have used psychedelics for thousands of years and have not been thought of or involved in the process of these substances moving into the mainstream of western medicine.

This is about access and the privilege of the upper class to be able to partake in these therapies and retreats that are largely unaffordable for the average person. What is a long-standing indigenous tradition has become commodified to benefit only the wealthy, keeping out the original holders of this knowledge.

The term psychedelic was only introduced in 1956 by a British psychiatrist and was posited to mean ‘mind manifesting’ (Stanley, 2022). While the term is new to our psyche, the actual plants and fungi that psychedelics are derived from have been in use for thousands of years by indigenous healers for both spiritual and medicinal purposes.

For the Mazatec, an indigenous community in the Oaxaca, Puebla and Veracruz regions of Mexico, psilocybin-containing mushrooms have been used for generations in traditional rituals (Gregoire, 2021).

The introduction of psilocybin to the western world was through the excavation of the Mazatec’s own culture. María Sabina was a curandera from the Mazatec tribe of the Sierra foothills of Oaxaca and led healing ceremonies and rituals using psilocybin mushrooms.

In 1995, an American ethnomycologist went in search of Sabina and was given permission to enter her village with a photographer to participate in a healing ceremony. Wasson’s journey became the cover story for Life Magazine and subsequently introduced the West to the magic of mushrooms.

Many people were intrigued by this story and Sabina’s village thus became inundated with tourists hoping to participate in the ceremonies they had read about. This led to deep contempt within her community as her village accused her of selling their traditions for her own personal gain (Gregoire, 2021).

As the West continue to enjoy the legacy of María Sabina, it is important to acknowledge the continuation of processes of colonisation whereby settler governments continue to travel to international countries and excavate indigenous traditions for capitalistic profit.

The criminalisation of psychedelics also saw people of colour suffer most greatly. The war on drugs has seen nearly 80 per cent of all people incarcerated in federal prison for drug offences be black or Latino despite similar usage rates amongst white populations (Stanley, 2022).

Now, as drug laws are loosening, we are seeing retreats and therapy becoming available yet not accessible for those that have been most affected by these draconian drug laws.

For example, Ember Health in New York offers ketamine-assisted therapy for depression treatment. They charge US$550 per single ketamine infusion visit.

The Buena Vida Psilocybin Retreats, started by Amanda Schendel, take place in Mexican luxury hotels. The cost for her holistic, all-inclusive retreats ranges from $3,500 to $7,000. Synthesis Retreat located in Amsterdam also offers psilocybin therapy through a five-day residential retreat. The fees for the retreat start at US$6,497.

According to a report by Data Bridge Market Research, the global psychedelic market is projected to go from a US$2.8 million industry in 2020 to $7.5 million by 2028.

With the rising profit margins of the psychedelic market, the red flag is glaringly obvious regarding who actually benefits from the legalisation of psychedelic drugs.

Vanessa Panzella-Velez, who was interviewed by Bazaar, noted that, “These things that are now trendy have been a way of life for indigenous communities.”

“Plant medicine was brushed away by colonisation, which deemed psychedelics to be savagery… I’m glad that this medicine is getting out there, but we do need to make sure that access is not just for white, privileged people.”

There are parallels that we can draw here in Aotearoa, as we still see the effects of colonisation occurring. The question of sovereignty and ownership over one’s traditions is something of ever importance and should not be dismissed.

While moving in a progressive direction for drug reform is immensely important, it is similarly important that indigenous groups are included within the process of legalisation. They should be enabled to hold sovereignty over the ownership, distribution and profits of the psychedelic healing that has existed within their cultures for thousands of years.

What we are seeing now is a capitalist commodification of indigenous healing methods that benefits the middle and upper class while remaining out of reach for the rest of the population.

Some reflections, for all of us in Aotearoa, on the necessity to think outside of the capitalist mindset that dominates our society.

A reminder of the need to put the sovereignty of indigenous communities at the forefront of national priorities always.