Merry Xmas 2015!

Enpsychedelia joined 3CR Community Radio on the 5th of July in 2015. Since then, we’ve interviewed dozens of people from Australia and around the world on a wide range of topics, from harm reduction to psychedelic science. We started meeting up after the show most weeks with listeners to discuss the issues and are on the way to forming Melbourne’s psychedelic society. Along with psychedelic activists in the US and around the world, Enpsychedelia helped to put on Melbourne’s 920 Mushroom Day event.

We’ve grown our team and have more growth on the horizon. Ash joins the show every week to help deliver the week’s drug news. Dean and Melissa have recently come on board to be our resident psychedelic scientists. And many drug policy reformers from Victoria and Australia join the show regularly to tell us about what’s been going on in their part of the world. Special thanks to Greg Denham (LEAP and Yarra Drug and Health Forum), Greg Chipp (Drug Policy Australia), Greg Kasarik, Will Tregoning (UnHarm), Steph Tzanetis (DanceWize), David Caldicott, the EGA and PRISM crews, Harm Reduction Victoria, Fiona Patten MLC and the Australian Sex Party, our overseas allies at Psymposia, the 920 Coalition, DanceSafe, MAPS and the Drug Policy Alliance and everyone we’ve had on the show in our first six months on air.

There’s a lot on the board for Enpsychedelia and drug policy reform more broadly in 2016. We’ve started uploading all of our shows so far as a podcast, which will also be available on iTunes soon. There’ll be more content packed into the show next year, digging deeper into the many issues surrounding policy reform, law reform, de-stigmatisation, education, harm reduction and the growing bodies of academia researching the many effects of drugs, especially the psychedelics.

And we’ll keep you up to date with all that is happening in the psychoactive realms across Australia and the world.

If you haven’t been able to tune in yet, then make sure to subscribe to our podcast so you can listen to Enpsychedelia any time you want.

Enpsychedelia will be helping to bring you more live events in 2016, including Melbourne psychedelic club events and events in collaboration with many of our allies.
If you’re attending Rainbow Serpent Festival in 2016, make sure to come along to the drug policy reform panel Nick from Enpsychedelia will be hosting at 1pm on the Saturday.

And perhaps our biggest thanks goes to all the wonderful staff and volunteers at 3CR! They have been incredibly welcoming and supportive of the show and we appreciate being a part of a radio station with such a rich history of activism.

Remember to party safe this holiday season. It’s easy to reduce your potential for harm by taking care of yourself and your mates.

• Stay hydrated, especially if you’re out in the Australian bush this summer.
• Check your drugs. If you’re going to take a psychoactive substance, make sure that you test it with a re-agent test or have a reliable mate test it first.
• Know your body, know your mind, know your substance!
• If you’re feeling down or low, taking drugs won’t necessarily help you. It may relieve the symptoms of that which ails you, but it’s important to seek professional advice. If you have a problem with substance use, call the free professional alcohol and other drug counselors at DirectLine. If you are feeling down, depressed or anxious, call one of the services listed at Mental Health Foundation of Australia.
• Look out for each other. You are a social being. We all sometimes slip up, but if we’re with mates who look out for each other, then you can work together to make sure you are all cared for.
• HAVE FUN! That’s why we do what we do! Fun is a multi-faceted thing – it is where our creativity is driven from, it is where we connect most meaningfully and where we learn the most about ourselves, the world around us and those in it. Have fun, because fun is the most important thing you can have!

And have yourself a very merry xmas! Now is a good time of year to reflect on the myths and parables that drive our culture and for you to reflect on your own personal relationship to those myths. Humanity’s story is a many inter-twined tale of weaving and often apparently contradicting narratives. What has lead us to this point now is the creation of millions of humans over many millenia, all sharing their experience of the grand story that we are all embedded within. Santa and his flying reindeer and many other icons of xmas do not solely originate from the religious stories. In fact, there may indeed by a psychedelic element to our end of year holiday.

Merry Xmas!