Download Today in the show, Joe talks to Maria Carvalho and Helena Valente, founding members of Kosmicare, a drug testing, and harm reduction service at the Portugal Festival, Boom. Joe talks to Maria and Helena on their personal backgrounds, how they got into Boom, research on recreational use, what harm reduction looks like, and what populations are underserved. Drug use is decriminalized in Portugal, and the focus of risk minimization has been useful in getting the population served versus putting people in prison. 3 Key Points: Kosmicare is a harm reduction and psychedelic emergency service starting at Boom music festival in Portugal. Working to support other events in Europe. Boom is in Portugal, where drugs are decriminalized and drug testing is legal. Drug policy has directly affected the number of emergencies that Boom has had. The Portuguese drug policy has resulted in fewer overdoses, drug-related deaths, and HIV infection. Other countries like the US should consider a drug reform with the current opioid crisis. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Kosmicare Kosmicare is a non-profit organization that looks to transform nightlife culture through humanistic, comprehensive and evidence-based policies and interventions They work toward a world where drugs can be used with liberty and wisdom Making festivals safe in Europe About Maria Psychologist, graduated in 1999 at University of Porto She started working in the field of problematic drug use Growing up in a difficult neighborhood was her purpose for getting into studying psychology and drug use She began focusing on recreational use Her younger brother was into the Electronic Dance scene and positioning himself with using substances She was interested in studying other motivations to use drugs than just using drugs to feed a problem She heard an announcement by MAPS in 2008 recruiting volunteers to do work in psychedelic emergency at Boom It was the perfect match considering her interest in psychology and drug use in recreational environments About Helena Helena is a Psychologist who was interested in drug use She wanted to have field experience, and she volunteered in a needle exchange program She began working for a harm reduction project to work in recreational settings that needed volunteers She became interested in the potential that drug checking has in the harm reduction strategy They are working toward a ‘drop-in’ where people can show up to a permanent space for drug checking and harm reduction The Numbers Over 20,000 people showed up to Kosmicare’s information session This year for the first time, Kosmicare had an HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) to identify LSD and pills They tested over 700 drug samples in 6 days Maria says half of the Boom population gets in contact with Kosmicare They serve 1% of the Boom population for psychedelic emergency (about 350 cases out of 35,000 attendees) The episodes usually have to do with psycho-spiritual situations versus just an emergency about the drug taken Psychedelic Emergencies Boom is a transformational festival that hosts attendees from over 50 countries Boom is different from Burning Man in that Boom is in Portugal which has a much more legal framework which helps with the services that can be offered Drug policy has directly affected the number of emergencies that Boom has Joe states that there are numbers of regulatory police at Burning Man Kosmicare is included in the entire setup of Boom, which helps reduce the number of scenarios that would cause an emergency at the festival, such as providing shaded areas all over It gets up to 43 degrees Celcius (108 Fahrenheit) But there is a water element so people can refresh themselves In the largest dance areas at the festi