ZendoProject

Good question!

We only volunteer at events where we can be in close communication and connection with medical staff. If there's any sign of a person being physically injured, we redirect the guest to medical support for assistance.

The Zendo is a space for psychological support during difficult psychedelic experiences and beyond, so we work with people who are in need of basic human support. This can range in anything from someone taking more of a substance than they intended, to someone needing a space to process relationship issues, to even someone just feeling completely exhausted and needing a space to crash.

Our volunteers get involved for many reasons. In fact, many are mental health professionals in some capacity, although we don't do therapy on-site. And yes, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that some of them have experienced difficult times themselves and want to give back.

-Irina Alexander, Zendo Project Volunteer

Thank you, this is an hugely important question! We're huge fans of your work as well. The Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act, or RAVE Act, renamed the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act, but more common known as The Rave Act, is a law that was passed in 2003. In summary, this law makes venue owners and event producers liable for the acts of their customers, including the use of illicit substances. Due to this law, providing a safe space and public health measures can be interpreted by law enforcement as promoting the use of illicit substances by acknowledging that drugs are used at the event. Therefore, event producers sometimes fear that by hosting harm reduction services such as the Zendo Project, or by enacting safety precautions that protect their patrons from the potentials dangers of drug use (including simply providing free drinking water) venue owners and event producers may be seen as breaking the law.

There is currently a petition in place, called Amend the RAVE Act. Amend the RAVE Act hopes to ensure that education, harm reduction, and proper health services can be provided for people attending large events where drugs may be used, to prevent injury and death that can result from improper health measures and resources, and we encourage everyone reading this to sign the petition. Ideally, harm reduction will become an integral service that events can feel safe and lawful in providing for their patrons.

-Chelsea Rose, Zendo Project Coordinator

We integrate with medical and security staff at all festivals that we attend, working together as a collaborative team. We provide a medical screening for our guests when they arrive to rule out any possible medical complications and triage with medical emergencies arise. We work alongside security to help de-escalate situations with altered attendees.

By collaborating with medical and security, we have helped to lower the number of hospitalizations and arrests at the events we attend. We have received very positive feedback from festival safety departments, who express relief that our presence helps to takes pressure off of their already busy teams.

-Sara Gael, Zendo Project Coordinator

An especially rewarding experience for me and for MAPS comes from pre-Zendo days at Burning Man when MAPS volunteers were working directly with the Rangers in their Sanctuary space behind Ranger headquarters in center camp. One night when I was on duty, a group of about 8 people came in all on mushrooms. Only one of them was having a difficult experience but the entire group came to seek help for that person, wanting to stay together since they were all friends. We went to a separate tent and all squeezed into a relatively small space. In less than an hour, the person who was having a difficult experience was feeling much more relaxed and was even laughing now and then. It was wonderful to see the positive influence of group support and to be able to work with one person while her friends where there also helping her feel safe and appreciated. By helping one person, the entire group ended up having a deeper and more delightful experience which could just as easily have turned into a dark time for the entire group. I've had my own share of difficult psychedelic experiences so it's especially satisfying to help others work through these moments.

What made this experience especially rewarding both for me and for MAPS is that one of the friends was David Bronner. This was the first time that he and I had met in person, though we'd both been aware of and appreciated each other's work. David and I had each been involved in suing the DEA, David trying to pressure DEA into licensing the production of hemp and me trying to pressure DEA into licensing the production of medical marijuana for federally-regulated research. We initially bonded during the moments I was helping a friend of his work through her difficult psychedelic experience and we began building a personal and professional relationship. After a few years, David joined the MAPS Board of Directors and is now playing an essential role in developing MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD into an FDA-approved prescription treatment. MAPS' work on psychedelic harm reduction has fundamentally contributed to our work on psychedelic benefit maximization!

-Rick Doblin, Ph.D., MAPS Executive Director, Zendo Project Volunteer

There are many risks that can be mitigated by having support during a difficult experience. This can range from physical safety to psychological well-being. A personal who is in an altered state may be unable to take care of their body, in which case we offer things like a place to rest, blankets, extra clothes, tea, snacks or other supplies to help them to be comfortable and safe physically. Additionally, difficult experiences can be psychologically traumatic when no support is provided, and we offer our care to prevent people from going through such challenges without having compassionate loving care to help navigate the difficulty.

-Chelsea Rose, Zendo Project Coordinator