In this episode, Joe and Kyle interview Rachel Anderson and James Franzo, founders of the EDELIC Center for Ethnobotanicals. In the show, they talk about the benefits of creating a healing practice using botanicals such as Kratom and the need to decriminalize all plants. 3 Key Points: EDELIC is a non-profit in Eugene, Oregon that began as a public lending library that has grown to a community of information, events, and conservatory of psychoactive botanicals. Kratom can sometimes get a bad rep, commonly thought of as an opioid. But Kratom is not an opioid, it just affects the opioid receptors in the brain, respiration never changes, and it's actually in the same category as the coffee family, so it gives a boost of energy. There is not an economic incentive that puts the botanical research on the same level as synthetic research.  At EDELIC, the goal is to create scientific evidence that validates citizen-led research, authentic scientific information, and create a scientifically valid, open science and praxis oriented, non-commodified access pathway, to and from the direct human & botanicals/fungi relationship while protecting the bounty emerging from therein. 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 EDELIC EDELIC is a non-profit in Eugene Oregon that has been operating for 4 years They started as a public lending library They put on a weekly discussion group and host events What started as a library, grew to a conservatory to protect plants, and now includes research Conservatory They have 15-16 psychoactive species, such as Salvia, Kratom, San-Pedro, etc. Volunteers are able to help out in the garden They are interested in growing the conservatory to have different climates that cater to each individual plant Events They have done both a CBD event and Kratom event, and have brought the plants from the conservatory The events that they have been holding are based on community desire for more information on those plants Kratom Kratom has the potential to prevent deaths in the opioid crisis with less initial stigma than ibogaine, psilocybin, etc The symptoms of withdrawal from Kratom are similar to withdrawal from coffee Kratom is a plant and the benefits can be harnessed along with a practice when habits are formed, a person doesn't need to have a dependency on the Kratom Kyle mentions that creating a practice is a foreign concept to some people, they think their healing comes solely from the substance and not the practice The best way to take it is in tea form, and let all the intelligence centers of the body take the medicine in James says he hears news and TED Talks on Kratom tinctures and extracts, and he thinks that leans Kratom toward that abusive behavior again Using it continuously and re-upping on the go makes it less of a practice “In all cases, were encouraging folks to focus on the whole botanical, letting the intelligence of the body to form the relationship with the plant will keep you safer than going in the other direction” - James The goal is to use the Kratom to take away the pain to a point where the individual has more energy and to say, “what can I do to improve my health in this moment?” That may look less like taking 100% of the pain away and taking it away just enough to have the energy to create a practice of healing without the reliance on another substance Its generally safe, it has a predictable response in individuals, and it is legal Kratom is not an opioid, it just effects the opioid receptors in the brain, respiration never changes, and its in the same category as the coffee family, so it gives a boost of energy “Botanicals, integration practice, and realizing our internal intelligence centers can really influence and inform our decision making process” - James Kratom can