As Colorado’s Natural Medicine Health Act goes to voters, it's the perfect time to consider how powerful psychedelic molecules should enter mainstream consciousness. Today on Life is a Festival Ismail Lourido Ali, Director of Policy and Advocacy for the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) explains the various pathways to legalization including the Decriminalization movement, medicalization, religious exception, and legal adult use.

The first half of our conversation is dedicated to Ismail himself, whose life journey gives him a unique philosophy on ending prohibition and a toolkit for helping us get there. We open with Ismail’s cultural identity and his spiritual journey from Islam to the rave scene. We discuss Izzy’s exploration of queerness and gender identity and his work from Drug Policy Reform to becoming a lawyer for MAPS. Izzy clearly articulates the key paths to legalization and his philosophy around each. We discuss key pieces of legislation including California’s SB 519, Colorado’s Natural Medicine Health Act which goes to voters in this month, and Oregon’s Bill 109 which will legalize and regulate adult use of psilocybin in that state. We conclude our conversation with an invitation to psychedelic entrepreneurs and Izzy’s personal perspective on why Life is a Festival. 

As MAPS’ Director of Policy and Advocacy, Ismail advocates to eliminate barriers to psychedelic therapy and research, develops and implements legal and policy strategy, and supports MAPS’ governance, non-profit, and ethics work. Ismail earned his J.D. at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 2016, after receiving his bachelor’s in philosophy from California State University, Fresno. Ismail has previously worked for the ACLU of Northern California’s Criminal Justice & Drug Policy Project, and Berkeley Law’s International Human Rights Law Clinic.

Ismail is licensed to practice law in the state of California, and is a founding board member of the Psychedelic Bar Association. He also currently serves on the board of the Sage Institute, contributes to Chacruna Institute’s Council for the Protection of Sacred Plants, and participates on the advisory council for the Ayahuasca Defense Fund.  Ismail is passionate about setting sustainable groundwork for a just, equitable, and generative post-prohibition world.

Links: 
Izzy’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sage_izzy/
Izzy Twitter: https://twitter.com/sage_izzy
MAPS: https://maps.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MAPS
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mapsnews/
Psychedelic Science 2023: https://psychedelicscience.org/
Psychedelic Bar Association: https://thepsychedelicbar.org/
Chacruna Institute: https://chacruna.net/
Sage Institute: https://sageinst.org/

MAPS analysis regarding Oregon’s Measures 109 and 110 passed in Nov 2020.
MAPS analysis regarding Colorado Proposition 122
MAPS analysis regarding our work on SB519 in CA to decriminalize the personal use of all psychedelics. 


Timestamps
:09 - Blending cultural identities from religion to the rave scene 
:15 - Ismail’s updated view on Islam, the way of peace
:22 - Queerness and Izzy’s personal gender conversation
:33 - From drug policy reform advocate to lawyer for MAPS
:40 - Experimenting with psychedelic legalization in different US States
:52 - Paths to above ground use of psychedelics: Decriminalization
:56 - Paths to above ground use of psychedelics: Medicalization 
:59 - Paths to above ground use of psychedelics: Religious Exemption
1:02 - Paths to above ground use of psychedelics: Adult Use
1:06 - California SB 519, Colorado’s Natural Medicine Health Act, and Oregon Bill 109,
1:14 - Izzy’s challenge to entrepreneurs who use psychedelics
1:20 - Life is a Festival

#137 - The Queer Muslim Hero of Psychedelic Legalization | Ismail Lourido Ali (MAPS)

To celebrate four years of Life is a Festival, today I’m sharing a conversation I had with my friend Ian MacKenzie about how to conduct a good interview. Whether you want to start a podcast or are simply interested in being a better conversationalist, I think you’ll find this helpful. 

On the show we go over how to research your guest so you can bring more to the party, how to create a roadmap for an engaging, spontaneous conversation, and how to make your guest feel safe to offer their most vulnerable storytelling. Ian and I share some of our favorite pre-recording rituals. We discuss how to offer precise, lean questions and find out what is most important to you. We end with a discussion of the creative spirit and how to cultivate your relationship with the Holy Ghost.

Ian is a documentary filmmaker and host of the Mythic Masculine podcast. This conversation came from his Podcast Accelerator which is launching a new cohort in January. You can get sneak peak of Ian’s newest documentary Tamera, The Village of Lovers during their preview weekend: Reimagining Village, Dec 3 & 4, 2022.

Links
Ian MacKenzie: https://www.ianmack.com/
Ian’s Podcast Accelerator: https://www.ianmack.com/accelerator2022
Mythic Masculine Podcast: https://www.ianmack.com/mythicmasculine
Tamera, The Village of Lovers: https://thevillageoflovers.com/
Reimagining Village, Dec 3 & 4: https://thevillageoflovers.com/reimagining-village
Neil Pots interview: https://rolfpotts.com/podcast/tim-ferriss/

Tiimestamps
:07 - Do good research so you have a lot to bring to the party
:14 - Create a roadmap - not a list of questions
:18 - Make your guest feel safe to create on their own terms
:25 - Use pre-recording rituals
:30 - Ask precise, lean questions that are important to you
:38 - Practice your technique so you can let the Spirit move you

#138 - The Art of Interviewing | Eamon Armstrong & Ian MacKenzie

Through intimate, long-form interviews, Life is a Festival unlocks the wisdom of cultural pioneers to help listeners integrate transformational experiences and create more joy and adventure in their daily lives.

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