Projects Previously Sponsored by The Nowak Society (CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER)
Bus to Show
Fiscally Sponsored by the Nowak Society, September 2017 to April 2020
Bus to Show takes a harm reductionist approach to the problem of impaired driving by
understanding that alcohol and substance use are part of live music audience culture, and offers its service
to those in need without discrimination against audience members who intend to use substances as part of
their experience.
Bus to Show’s mission is in direct alignment with that of The Nowak Society in that it provides a
safe alternative to driving oneself while impaired, and it is a highly active community of event-goers, many
of whom will benefit from building more informed and safer relationships with themselves, others, and the
medicines, drugs, and substances with which they interact.
Psychedelic Research and Training Institute (PRATI)
Fiscally Sponsored by the Nowak Society, August 2019 to August 2022
The Psychedelic Research and Training Institute’s
mission is to advance the health and healing professions toward fulfilling the promise of
individual and collective well-being by conducting and disseminating psychedelic research,
training, and education.
The Psychedelic Research and Training Institute mission is in direct alignment with that
of The Nowak Society in that it conducts and disseminates psychedelic research, training, and
education to professionals and members of the public, many of whom will benefit from building
more informed and safer relationships with themselves, others, and the medicines, drugs, and
substances with which they interact.
Black Actors Guild Youth Advocacy and Harm Reduction Education project
Fiscally Sponsored by the Nowak Society, June 2020
The Black Actors Guild’s mission is to educate and inspire students, local artists, and original creators in the city of Denver Colorado. They believe that every individual holds a unique story, and that telling that story can make a tangible difference in the community. Whether it’s comedy, storytelling, improv or script-writing - they see it as our duty to use those mediums to create a better world.
The Black Actors Guild accomplishes this by teaching in Denver and Aurora public schools, as well as mounting original productions which tackle issues of the day. Those issues can include but are not limited to: Drug Abuse and Awareness, Social Justice, Equity, Identity, Homelessness, and Gentrification.
The Black Actors Guild is also a production company who can help to spread the word of harm reduction and being properly informed at live music events and arts gatherings of all kind. They can provide vendor space (tables) for physical information which might get to exactly the kind of folks who need and want it.
The Black Actors Guild’s mission is in direct alignment with that of The Nowak Society in that it educates the youth, and that it opens those educational platforms to original creation by the youth (without censorship), and that it produces work with a highly active community of event-goers, many of whom will benefit from building more informed and safer relationships with themselves, others, as well as the medicines, drugs, and substances with which they interact.
Right to Try Psilocybin Advocacy Fund
Fiscally Sponsored by the Nowak Society, October 2020 to December 2024
Psilocybin advocacy expands in effort to ensure that terminally ill and disabled are able to access psilocybin services under Oregon’s Psilocybin Services Act. The Nowak Society is managing the advocacy fund for Right To Try Psilocybin Advocacy Effort. This effort is to give terminally ill patients access to psilocybin for treatment of anxiety and depression.
About the Right to Try Psilocybin Advocacy Effort
Psilocybin is a drug that has shown promise in treating these conditions, but it is currently illegal because it is classified as a Schedule I drug. The Right To Try laws allow terminally ill patients access to drugs that are still in investigational stages. This fiscally sponsored project of the Nowak Society is working to compel the DEA to issue a waiver allowing access to psilocybin, or to reschedule psilocybin from Schedule I to Schedule II.
Psilocybin Advocacy work under this fund also involves submitting challenges in federal court in Oregon asserting that state and federal disability laws require reasonable accommodation of those whose illness and/or disability require psilocybin service where the individual resides.
On behalf of terminally ill patients suffering anxiety and depression, we are engaged in a multi-dimensional advocacy effort to open access to psilocybin for terminally ill patients Well known patient rights advocate Kathryn Tucker, now the Director of Advocacy for the National Psychedelics Association, represents a Seattle oncology clinic that provides cutting edge integrative medical care, research, and education in oncology, along with the clinic’s palliative care physician/director and a number of his patients with advanced cancer. The physician is seeking approval from DEA for access to psilocybin for therapeutic use with his cancer patients. DEA has denied access. The legal team leading the effort to forge a path to access pursuant to RTT laws will continue to press to compel the DEA to issue a waiver allowing access, and/or to reschedule psilocybin from Schedule I to Schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act. Other strategies to ensure access are also being pursued, including federal legislative action.
Psychedelic Interpersonal Harm Reduction (PIHR)
Fiscally Sponsored by the Nowak Society, February 2022 to February 2023
Psychedelic Interpersonal Harm Reduction (PIHR) is a community centered project. The mission of the PIHR is to resource psychedelic communities with interpersonal harm reduction and prevention strategies via collaborative and trauma-informed community dialogues, educational offerings, and salons.
Vision: People exploring and healing with psychedelics can learn and practice communication skills, authentic relating, conflict resolution, consent, interpersonal harm reduction and non-punitive approaches to harm within their communities, leading to more benefit from psychedelic work, more community cohesion and constructive conflict experiences, and mitigating harms that have become common in psychedelic communities.