#137 - The Queer Muslim Hero of Psychedelic Legalization | Ismail Lourido Ali (MAPS)

As Colorado’s Natural Medicine Health Act goes to voters, it's the perfect time to consider how powerful psychedelic molecules should enter mainstream consciousness. Today on Life is a Festival Ismail Lourido Ali, Director of Policy and Advocacy for the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) explains the various pathways to legalization including the Decriminalization movement, medicalization, religious exception, and legal adult use. The first half of our conversation is dedicated to Ismail himself, whose life journey gives him a unique philosophy on ending prohibition and a toolkit for helping us get there. We open with Ismail’s cultural identity and his spiritual journey from Islam to the rave scene. We discuss Izzy’s exploration of queerness and gender identity and his work from Drug Policy Reform to becoming a lawyer for MAPS. Izzy clearly articulates the key paths to legalization and his philosophy around each. We discuss key pieces of legislation including California’s SB 519, Colorado’s Natural Medicine Health Act which goes to voters in this month, and Oregon’s Bill 109 which will legalize and regulate adult use of psilocybin in that state. We conclude our conversation with an invitation to psychedelic entrepreneurs and Izzy’s personal perspective on why Life is a Festival. As MAPS’ Director of Policy and Advocacy, Ismail advocates to eliminate barriers to psychedelic therapy and research, develops and implements legal and policy strategy, and supports MAPS’ governance, non-profit, and ethics work. Ismail earned his J.D. at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 2016, after receiving his bachelor’s in philosophy from California State University, Fresno. Ismail has previously worked for the ACLU of Northern California’s Criminal Justice & Drug Policy Project, and Berkeley Law’s International Human Rights Law Clinic. Ismail is licensed to practice law in the state of California, and is a founding board member of the Psychedelic Bar Association. He also currently serves on the board of the Sage Institute, contributes to Chacruna Institute’s Council for the Protection of Sacred Plants, and participates on the advisory council for the Ayahuasca Defense Fund. Ismail is passionate about setting sustainable groundwork for a just, equitable, and generative post-prohibition world. Links: Izzy’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sage_izzy/ Izzy Twitter: https://twitter.com/sage_izzy MAPS: https://maps.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MAPS Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mapsnews/ Psychedelic Science 2023: https://psychedelicscience.org/ Psychedelic Bar Association: https://thepsychedelicbar.org/ Chacruna Institute: https://chacruna.net/ Sage Institute: https://sageinst.org/ MAPS analysis regarding Oregon’s Measures 109 and 110 passed in Nov 2020. MAPS analysis regarding Colorado Proposition 122 MAPS analysis regarding our work on SB519 in CA to decriminalize the personal use of all psychedelics. Timestamps :09 - Blending cultural identities from religion to the rave scene :15 - Ismail’s updated view on Islam, the way of peace :22 - Queerness and Izzy’s personal gender conversation :33 - From drug policy reform advocate to lawyer for MAPS :40 - Experimenting with psychedelic legalization in different US States :52 - Paths to above ground use of psychedelics: Decriminalization :56 - Paths to above ground use of psychedelics: Medicalization :59 - Paths to above ground use of psychedelics: Religious Exemption 1:02 - Paths to above ground use of psychedelics: Adult Use 1:06 - California SB 519, Colorado’s Natural Medicine Health Act, and Oregon Bill 109, 1:14 - Izzy’s challenge to entrepreneurs who use psychedelics 1:20 - Life is a Festival