Anna Ross and Fiona Gilbertson on Psychedelics and Drug Policy in Scotland | Drugreporter UNCUT
Channel: Drugreporter
Date: 2023-08-03

The Scottish Psychedelic Research Group (SPRG) was set up in 2021 in collaboration with Dr. Jake Hawthorn,  Dr. Anna Ross of the University of Edinburgh, Fiona Gilbertson of Recovering Justice, and Dr  Christoph Zwolen, and was supported through the Open Society Foundations Global Drug Policy Programme. Dr. Anna Ross and Fiona Gilbertson have been collaborating for many years on challenging the narratives surrounding drug policy, by creating channels of engagement with under-represented voices. A particular focus has been the devastation created by state agencies enacting the existing drug laws.  The trauma created in the lives of people who use drugs , women and families is often borne in shame and silence . This led to passion  in psychedelic assisted medicine as a therapeutic tool, and the use of cannabis, both as a medicine and a social drug. 

An integral aim of SPRG  is to provide a link between the multiple communities currently engaged or interested in plant medicine in Scotland, with a specific focus on linking policy and practice to the wider indigenous use of plant medicine in Scotland, and to ensure that these voices are a core part of any policy being developed in Scotland.

Drugreporter produced a new documentary on the struggle to liberate psychedelic medicine in Scotland. In the film, people with lived experience provide testimony on the healing powers of psychedelic drugs. We decided to publish the uncut interviews as well, for a more in-depth analysis of the situation of psychedelics in Scotland.

To watch the film, Psychedelics in Scotland, click here: https://youtu.be/7JMpPTvTXo0