Doug H, 47,  Musician and Entrepreneur, Suffolk County

I am a Yale graduate and have an MBA from Baruch college,  I run a Music Performing Arts nonprofit and I am a cannabis entrepreneur and drug policy activist. The first few times I tried Psilocybe mushrooms,  in my early 20's,   I didn't have much of a trip at all.  It wasn't until I took a very potent dose along with THC that the magic of Psilocybin mushrooms revealed itself to me.  I had my first truly fantastic trip.  And I laughed so hard it might have been the most funny trip ever.   But for many years I abstained from drugs as I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder (one doctor even thought I had schizoaffective disorder) and was raising a young family and wanted to be responsible and set a good example.   The side effects of my many meds led me to get metabolic syndrome,  diabetes, sleep apnea, hypertension, etc.  and two back surgeries, knee replacement, and hip and joint and back pain constantly.   I started taking CBD and popped for THC on my pain management urine screening test.   They told me to get a medical marijuana card,  so I did,  and I figured I'd use it so I started cannabis again.  I was researching cannabis and found there was legislation in the works to legalize psychedelics in NY.   I am not well connected to dealers,  so I decided to grow (a small amount of) my own psilocybe mushrooms in my home office using online ordering for materials.   I learned the process, cultivated and consumed them and they were fantastic,  I was so proud to have learned to be self-sufficient,  and practice harm reduction by knowing more precisely what I am ingesting and in what amount and potency.    Psilocybin is not a panacea but I will say,  is that it has an amazing ability to numb pain in my back and joints while increasing the sensation in my feet and legs (from sciatica, back surgery, and diabetes). The only drawback is a bit of weakness and dizziness -- take care on stairs!  I still prefer the combination of Psilocybin and THC/CBD etc. as opposed to Psilocybin alone.  The strongest is edible cannabis and mushrooms,  also the Amanita Muscaria  is an interesting mushroom.   But Psilocybin -- even with a bad trip -- gives great afterglow the next day after the trip,  with all relaxed and  beautiful.  You see problems in a new and more optimistic light.  I think Psilocybin is great for my mood,  taken once or twice a month in moderate to heroic doses.  It makes my regimen of psych meds,  cardiac meds, and pain meds more bearable.  I am also in favor of legalization of LSD-25,   I feel the public has the right to access pharmaceutical grade pure products,  as opposed to the anything goes situation now under prohibition. 

Avery S, 44, Mushroom Farmer , Rensselaer County 

I first tried Psilocybe mushrooms in my late teens.  It was a recreational exploration of the mind and music.  I had been smoking Marijuana and had already tried LSD. I excelled at School. I worked a regular job at my family’s sawmill.  I was in 4-H, the National Honor Society, and had been in multiple bands.  I had a loving involved family and solid dependable friendships.  Psilocybin proved to be an incredible teacher.  Not as long lasting as LSD, a little more cerebral, and introspective focused.  I graduated Summa Cum Laude.  I went to Siena College for accounting.  Continued to experiment with my new circle of close friends with various mind medicines.  Switched my major to Philosophy.  Wrote copious amounts of poetry, created art, acted in plays, started an extra curricular meditation club, learned Tai Chi, tutored other students, and graduated with a 3.96 GPA.  I became a father of two beautiful children, an elementary school teacher, a pre-school board member, a Boy Scout leader, and a performing arts manager.  I co-created a meditative performance group including poetry, music, yoga, and meditation. I continued to play music in bands. I painted and wrote even more poetry, all the while engaging with various psychedelics.  Psilocybin in particular has been a tool that I’ve leaned on to help lift me through bouts of depression, ease my anxieties, and foster creativity.  Psilocybin (and Cannabis, MDMA, Ecstasy, and LSD) has inspired me to be the person that I am: creative, flexible, open, accepting.  I foster community, encourage others, create sustainable projects, and engage with the world.  Psychedelics are mind openers.  Compassion curators. Empathy expanders.  I am a healthy, whole human.  Would I be the person I am without the experiences I have had?  There is truly no way to tell. While engaging with these medicines I have learned many lessons: patience, understanding, creativity, interconnectivity.  And I am a criminal for doing so.  Psilocybin being a schedule 1 drug according to the law with no medicinal merit is an absolute fallacy.  I have directly benefited from its consumption, and as I have thrived, so too have those in my various circles as we work together to build community and create lasting positive impacts on our environments. 

Denis K, LMHC.  Erie County

In 2014 I decided to transition from a 20 year career in software development to psychotherapy. Several months into my masters training, I discovered many research studies uncovering the efficacy of psilocybin and I listened to many riveting testimonials from people I greatly admire such as Sam Harris, Joe Rogan, and Tim Ferris. I eventually discovered the books of Bill Richards (Sacred Knowledge), Michael Pollan (How to Change Your Mind), and Brian Muraresku (The Immortality Key) and met with each one of these authors to personally thank them for their work and in some cases speak at length about how best to bring this mystical experience to our broader culture and community. After a few mystical experiences of my own, I became convinced of the reliable and durable effects of psilocybin in my own struggles with faith, depression, and compassion for myself and others. After attending The Horizons Conference in New York City in 2018, I decided to start a church that combines the practices of meditation with psychotherapeutic wisdom, and provides mystical experience using psilocybin as a sacrament in the context of a sacred music ceremony. The work of this church (The Laity of the Entheogenic Sanctuary; The LEnS) continues to this day as we meet weekly for integration. We just completed our 7th ceremonial retreat which now incorporates the live performance of sacred music and trains attendees in the use of Vipassana and Zen meditation as well as yoga and breathwork. It is my earnest hope that New York State will decriminalize the work we are doing so that we may continue to provide a ceremony of great integrity that attracts the services of people of great integrity. All of us hope to one day contribute our healing talents without fear of legal and professional persecution.

Megan W, age 38, Albany County

When discussing the many applicable uses of psilocybin as medicine, most people focus on the growing list of mental health related benefits it can provide. We know how it can ease symptoms of depression, anxiety, addiction, compulsion, and so much more, sometimes with even greater efficacy than pharmaceutical medications. What many people aren't aware of, is that there are just as many physical applications for this wonderful medicine, which can repair damaged neurotransmitters in the brain. Not only that, studies have shown it can also create new connections between neural pathways that were previously not active. [study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6082376/]

When I was 22 years old, I was violently assaulted by a man, which left me with a severe spinal cord injury. I required major surgery to fuse my L3-S1 vertebrae together, and while the surgery was quite routine, the outcome was not. As soon as I woke up from the 11-hour procedure I immediately knew something was very wrong. I was in the ICU for 31 days before finally being sent home with a list of medications as long as my arm. This began my nightmare of becoming involuntarily and physically dependent upon opioids, including fentanyl.

Nothing the doctors would prescribe actually helped, and many of the medications’ side-effects left me worse off than before. I had so many follow-up surgeries and procedures requiring general anesthesia that it caused permanent brain damage. Nobody could figure out the underlying reason for the pain, and it was often dismissed as being "all in my head".

In 2010, I was finally diagnosed with a very rare neurological disorder called CRPS, which was caused by my spinal surgery. I was partially paralyzed and had little to no use of my left leg, relying on a wheelchair or forearm crutches to ambulate. I was receiving weekly epidurals and was in and out of the hospital at least monthly. I was declining so rapidly and in so much pain, I was offered a total above-the-knee amputation as an option when I was only 27 years old.

Having reached my limit with being medically abused, I decided to stop using all opioid medication, and instead started my journey with plant medicine. I started with Rick Simpson Oil, a strong medical cannabis oil, and kratom, a tea plant from Indonesia. It wasn't until about a year later that I started to dabble with psilocybin, not sure what to expect. After hearing others’ stories and testimonies, I decided to do what is referred to as a "heroic dose", and in doing so, I experienced profound and unexpected physical improvement. By this point, though I could walk without help, I still couldn't use my left foot normally, and was diagnosed with a permanent "dropped foot". but the day after my heroic dose, my left foot was almost completely functional, and dorsi/plantar flexion was once again possible for the first time in over ten years.

Mike, age 50, Albany County

As a child with ADHD, I was often sent to the principal’s office and told I had a behavioral problem. Despite being in the top class and one of the smartest students, my behavior was always an issue. My ability to hyperfocus and get things done stayed with me throughout my life, but so did my struggle to sit still and focus for extended periods. Even in college, I found myself sitting for hours, getting absolutely nothing done when I should have been working on a paper. It wasn’t until I married a psychologist that I learned I had ADHD. Once the symptoms were explained to me, everything became clearer. One thing that helped was fasting. Another tool came from a friend who introduced me to microdosing for symptom management. After researching, I discovered psilocybin—and wow, I’ve never been this productive in my life. My attention and focus have improved a hundredfold. I can’t help but wonder why no one thought of this sooner. I shouldn’t have had to wait half my life to gain control of my mind and time.

Pammy J, age 40, Artist & Fashion Designer, Kings County

My very first experiences with psilocybin mushrooms happened later in life than most. It was in the Spring of 2021, and I desperately needed a mental release. Since the lockdown in early 2020, my mental health had significantly deteriorated, and I was silently anguished with depression and anxiety. Talk therapy wasn't helping, meditation wasn't helping (because of the constant overthinking), and it would have been a miracle if I could sleep for more than 2 hours at a time. I was jobless, dealing with food insecurity, and anxious about leaving the house. The constant reminder that death could be around every corner sent me on a series of daily panic attacks. And towards the end of 2020, my grandmother was dying, and I couldn't even see her. All of this was building up to immense pressure on my psyche, and I needed to reset somehow. In the past, a reset for me meant relying on another psychedelic, Ayahuasca. Once a year before my birthday, I would participate in a ceremony to help set the tone for my new year. During this journey, I would review past aspects of my life, even moments and interactions with people from the past year, and receive profound epiphanies on how to move forward. But seeing as travel outside of the states wasn't possible, and money was tight, I, unfortunately, chose to self-soothe with alcohol and other destructive habits. They were the only methods, albeit harmful, that could help me momentarily quiet the intensity by masking them.

Then in early 2021, a friend of mine reached out and mentioned there was a safe space in New York City to ingest, journey, and integrate psilocybin mushrooms. Since I hadn't experienced them before, I was going into it pretty blind, but I was familiar with their healing capabilities. And at this point, I would do anything to release the pressure in my mind. By this time, my grandmother had passed, and I was having trouble getting out of bed. So why not?! It was definitely better than crying myself to sleep. And so I did. And, oh, what a profound journey it was! During my trip, I reconnected with my grandmother and released the guilt I had been harboring for missing her before her passing. And it helped me work through the intensity of the past couple of years instead of bypassing it, which enabled me to pivot onto a more straightforward life path of purpose. I don't know if there are many experiences like mine, but psilocybin mushrooms have helped me put my life back on track. And if that makes me a criminal for using it, then so be it.