Activists Arrested At DEA Headquarters Amid Protest Over Psychedelics
Activists staged a demonstration outside of the Drug Enforcement Administration headquarters in Virginia, demanding that the agency allow terminally ill patients to access psilocybin therapy. The Protest was meant to call attention to DEA’s obstruction of Right to Try statutes at the federal and state level that patients and advocates say should facilitate legal use of psychedelics.
Patients, veterans and key advocates participated in the demonstration. One terminally ill patient, Erinn Baldeschwiler, is involved in ongoing litigation against DEA over its refusal to give her and others access to psilocybin.
Activists held a protest, including a die-in outside of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) headquarters in Virginia. They were protesting against the DEA's “obstruction of Right to Try statutes at the federal and state level that patients and advocates say should facilitate the legal use of psychedelics,” reported Marijuana Moment.
After a couple hours, federal police showed up at the protest but did not immediately make any arrests. Rather, an officer spoke with activists and went inside the building to see if a DEA representative might be willing to discuss the issue with the participants.
Although the police attempted to mediate, some protesters were arrested including Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps CEO David Bronner and Erinn Baldeschwiler, a terminally ill patient who sued the DEA over its refusal to give her and others access to psilocybin. While it seemed that officers had potentially reached a deal to allow Baldeschwiler to speak with DEA officials about the issue, she and 16 others were ultimately handcuffed and arrested
“We’re here today to demand that the DEA open a pathway to access,” said Kathryn Tucker, who represents Baldeschwiler. “Not one more dying patient [should have to] endure debilitating anxiety and depression when relief could be had.”
“We’re not asking DEA to be compassionate,” Bronner said. “We’re asking them to follow established law.”
The protest convened Melissa Lavasani from the Psychedelic Medicine Coalition, a women-led, non-profit advocacy organization working to promote safe and equitable access to plant medicines, and Adam Eidinger, co-founder of Decriminalize Nature DC, a political campaign to lower the law enforcement priorities for entheogenic plant and fungi medicines.
