Neurons to Nirvana Melbourne Roundup

The Melbourne premiere of Neurons to Nirvana has finished and what a successful two nights it was!
Both nights were sell out events and made all the better by the amazing amount of support from the community who came together to volunteer their support.
I’d like to thank the following groups:

Psychedelic Research in Science and Medicine – PRISM
PRISM on Facebook
PRISM on Twitter

PRISM’s Stephen Bright and Martin Williams joined the panel to discuss the Australian perspective on the progress of psychedelic research.  The movie event also acted as a fundraiser for PRISM.  As Martin mentioned on Wednesday night, PRISM are still seeking a postdoctoral researcher to act as Chief Investigating Officer for their MDMA-PTSD study.  If you know of anyone interested, please click the PRISM logo above and get in contact with them.

Entheogenesis Australis – EGA
EGA on Facebook
EGA on Twitter

Many of the volunteers helping with the behind the scenes and administrative work for the event came from the EGA flock and it was with their resources and hard working members that the event was possible.  EGA have been doing amazing work for 10 years now and will be celebrating their anniversary in December this year with an indoor event to be announced.  Enpsychedelia will be endeavouring to get some new podcasts out this year with bits and pieces from the EGA conferences in there.
I highly recommend subscribing to their YouTube channel and checking out some of the talks from conferences over the years. DanceWize
DanceWize on Facebook

Thanks to one of Dancewize’s co-ordinators Steph for joining the panel and providing a Victorian harm reduction perspective and their other co-ordinator Dan for coming along and supporting the event.  Thanks also to all the Dancewize volunteers who came along and set up their resources for everyone to check out.  If you are interested in harm reduction and helping people out at parties, get in contact with Dancewize by clicking their logo above!

The Australian Sex Party
ASXP on Facebook
ASXP on Twitter

Thanks to the Australian Sex Party’s president, Fiona Patten for joining the panel and the volunteers from the political party for joining the event and bringing along some of their information.  I have it on good authority that the Australian Sex Party are working with leaders in the field of drug law reform to put together their updated drugs policy, to be released before Victoria’s election in November.  If you’re interested in getting involved and shaping a relatively new political party in Australia, click the link above and get in contact with them.

Polyester Books
Polyester Books on Facebook
330 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

Thanks to Jo and Adam and the Polyester Books crew for setting up shop and bringing some of their excellent drug literature to sell at the event.  Next time you’re in Fitzroy, go say hello and check out some of the other books, zines and DVDs they have.  Seriously weird stuff.

Brudaja
Brudaja on Facebook

And an extra special thanks to sonic maestro, Brudaja for providing two exclusive sets for Neurons to Nirvana.  His music was what you heard before and after the screening.  Click the link above to check out more of his music on Soundcloud.  Brudaja has contributed to Enpsychedelia podcasts in the past – head to the podcasts page and have a listen through our archive!

Also a special thanks to the State Library of Victoria for hosting us for the evenings and to Ethan Nadelmann at the Drug Policy Alliance for providing us with a local hello.

And of course… none of this would’ve been possible without the great team at Mangu.tv and the creative masterminds behind Neurons to Nirvana, Oliver Huckenhull and Mikki Willis.

On a final note… Remember that there are people out there who automatically assume that mind-altering is equal to moral evil.  These folk don’t believe you have the right to alter your own mind.  They don’t believe that you are capable of making reasonable or rational decisions.  Keep these people in mind next time you choose to ingest a psychoactive substance… prove them wrong.  Show them that you are responsible and that you are a willing and active member of society.
Show these people that we’re here and we will not have our cognitive autonomy belittled by their poor arguments from meek authoritative positions.