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From Addiction to Advocacy

The Power of Psychedelic Medicines and Decriminalization (Randy Hencken)

Dear friends and neighbors,

In this week’s episode, Randy Hencken, shares his story and insights into the future of psychedelics and decriminalization. Randy is a business strategist for Prisms AI and recent political consultant for Decriminalize Sex Work. He joined the interview from his home, almost on the slopes, in Snowmass Colorado, where he will soon be hosting a series of outdoor adventures in conjunction with MAPS's Psychedelic Science conference. Quite a change from when he was involved with Seasteading, a concept that envisions people living in cities on the ocean.

Randy is a political activist fighting for our rights to ingest what we chose in the privacy of our home and for the right of people to do sex work without fear of being arrested. His experience with various organizations and advocacy work, such as his recent involvement with Decriminalize Sex Work, has given him unique insights into the intersection of psychedelics and social justice. I am grateful that he was willing to share his story and insights into how psychedelic medicines and political advocacy can drive social change.

You can listen to the audio here, or subscribe to read the transcript below.

Mind Body Health & Politics
From Overcoming Heroin Addiction to Decriminalizing Sex Work – Randy Hencken
Listen now (56 min) | Addiction, psychedelic medicine, legalization and the decriminalization of sex work… Our guest, Randy Hencken, is no stranger to big ideas and challenging the status quo. As we discuss the topic of psychedelic medicines, our conversation naturally transitions to the decriminalization of sex work. Randy's experience with advocacy and political strategy i…
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NOTE: I am currently embarking on a new series featuring healing stories from those who have benefitted from psychedelics at the end of life, or in the face of a terminal diagnosis. I hope to interview those with direct personal experience, as well as relatives, friends, and clinicians with stories to share. Please email my producer if you would like to be interviewed on my program, and featured in a future book on this topic.

Wishing you Golden Light,

Dr. Richard Louis Miller


This podcast will always remain available at no cost. However, I’d like to offer my most loyal listeners additional options for enjoying my interviews – both as videos and transcripts.

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Transcript

*Lightly edited for clarity and length

Dr. Richard Louis Miller (00:00:51): Welcome to Mind Body, Health and Politics. I'm your host, Dr. Richard Louis Miller. The mission of Mind Body, Health and Politics is to enhance your well-being and encourage community. I say encourage community because humans are social animals. We enjoy spending time together, from coffee dates to sewing circles to watching football to playing baseball to eating. We love eating together. We love doing all kinds of things together, and we usually do them cooperatively. However, it's important to recognize that a small but powerful percentage of us are very different. They are not necessarily friendly, cooperative, democratic, or interested in republican ideals. They are more interested in power over us.

We know the kind of people who prefer dictatorship over democracy. Though our republic once seemed certain, we must now fight to preserve it. Democracy is not guaranteed. We nearly lost it on January 6. This is a call to stay politically aware, even with worries like rent and food. We must maintain vigilance to preserve our democracy and republic. As Thomas Jefferson said, "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." Today, on Mind Body, Health and Politics, let's renew our vigilance. Our liberty depends on it.

Introducing Randy Hencken

I'm pleased to welcome Randy Hencken, a business strategist for Prism AI, an artificial intelligence company. Recently, he worked as a political consultant for Decriminalize Sex Work, an organization we featured discussing decriminalizing sex work; you can find that program in our archives. Hopefully we'll hear more about that today.

Randy co-founded Blue Frontiers, aiming to build a floating city in French Polynesia. He led the Seasteading Institute, promoting seaborne communities. We may discuss that further; our producer Charlie Deist has also worked on seasteading.

Randy chaired Students for Sensible Drug Policy and was communications director for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), known to most. He organized MAPS's first psychedelic science conference in 2011. I attended to report on it for our show. He also led the Ibogaine Association, based in Mexico.

Clearly a man of diverse talents and interests, I'm delighted you're here. Welcome to Mind Body Health and Politics.

Randy Hencken (00:04:45): Thanks, Richard. I guess that's my middle age showing in that I have such a long resume and so many things to talk about now.

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Mind Body Health & Politics
Psychedelic Wisdom
Psychology, Medicine, and Spirituality
Authors
Richard L. Miller