Dr. Bronner funds psilocybin legalization efforts in Connecticut

Dr. Bronner’s is pushing for psilocybin reform again. According to state records, Washington, DC-based lobbying group New Approach PAC funded $ 14,000 to local firm Grossman Solutions between August and September to help drive drug policy reform in Connecticut. Dr. Bronner’s is one of the largest donors of New Approach.

CT Insider reports that a Connecticut task force is investigating the effectiveness of psilocybin mushrooms for use in therapeutic settings. House Bill 6296, sponsored by Rep. Josh Elliot and four other MPs, created a task force responsible for studying the efficacy of psilocybin in a variety of conditions – an important step in legalizing psilocybin for therapeutic use. Grossman Solutions will assist New Approach in working with Connecticut’s Psilocybin Task Force.

“New Approach’s mission is to end the senseless and destructive politics of the war on drugs and replace them with policies that prioritize public health, science, healing and community rather than criminalization,” said Ben Unger, director of psychedelics New Approach policy towards CT Insider. “We approach this work knowing that the fight to end the drug war is a political fight and that we must conduct professional and strategic political campaigns to move forward.”

The task force examining psilocybin includes several current state lawmakers, academic researchers, clinicians from Yale, the University of Connecticut and the Midstate Medical Center, and representatives from several state agencies. This also includes the former state representative Jesse MacLachlan.

CEO David Bronner is the grandson of the company’s founder Emil Bronner. He said his goal was to release psychedelics, specifically legalizing psilocybin for therapeutic use, adding that this was exactly what his grandfather would have done. “My grandfather’s passion was uniting Spaceship Earth,” said Bronner. “We honor this legacy in a number of ways,” including “Integrating Psychedelic Healing into Medicine and Therapy”. Bronner also said that he believes that “psychedelic medicine can really help people heal and wake up and deal with urgent problems”.

With a bit of luck, the funding came. Bronner admitted that his company made “windfall profits from running a soap business in a time of COVID” and allocated $ 15 million to advocacy – half of which went directly to drug policy reform.

Dr. Bronner’s and Psilocybin Efforts

Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps are known for organic materials and sustainable practices. The company was founded in 1948 by Emmanuel “Emil” Bronner and sold Castile soap after he fled the Nazis in Germany before the rise of fascism. The family’s roots go back further, with decades of experience in soap making.

More recently, the company has shifted its focus to organic and sustainable practices. Many of the company’s products already contain hemp extracts and / or CBD, among other useful ingredients. The organic materials brand was launched on the grocery market earlier this year. The company added Dr. Bronner added chocolate after learning that many of the farmers in Ghana who supply its Regenerative Organic Certified Serendipalm (used in Dr. Bronner’s soaps) also grow cocoa.

In 2019, Dr. Bronner’s support for the psilocybin effort in Oregon, including public endorsement of the Statewide Psilocybin Therapy Service Initiative of 2020 (PSI 2020), the Oregon Nationwide Drug Addiction Treatment & Recovery Act of 2020 (DATRA), and the decriminalization of Nature’s Efforts, decriminalize natural psychedelic herbal medicines in cities across the country including Oregon.

Oregon Measure 109, the psilocybin program initiative, was an enacted state law in Oregon and was approved on November 3, 2020. “We were the largest funder of Oregon’s 109 move,” said Bronner.

In November 2020, Dr. Bronner’s a cannabis-scented bar of soap that will benefit a new consumer education and crowdfunding campaign promoting the Sun + Earth Certified organic regenerative cannabis standard. The fragrant bars of soap contain special terpenes found in cannabis for a unique smell.