Media contact:
· Launching on April 14, the Psychedelic Peer Support Line will provide free, confidential help by phone, text, and live chat for psychedelic “trips”
· Psychedelic Speed Dial encourages people to add 6-2FIRESIDE to their contacts so they can call when they need it most
· Participants can win Gratitude Giveaways by sharing photos or videos on social media of creative depictions of 6-2FIRESIDE and tagging #62FIRESIDE, or by sending screenshots of the number in their contacts to 62fireside@firesideproject.org
· Psychedelic Speed Dial encourages people to add 6-2FIRESIDE to their contacts so they can call when they need it most
· Participants can win Gratitude Giveaways by sharing photos or videos on social media of creative depictions of 6-2FIRESIDE and tagging #62FIRESIDE, or by sending screenshots of the number in their contacts to 62fireside@firesideproject.org
This month, the non-profit Fireside Project is encouraging people to add 6-2FIRESIDE to their contacts, so that they can reach the Psychedelic Peer Support Line when they are having a psychedelic experience, or when they want help making sense of a past psychedelic experience.
When the line goes live on April 14, Fireside Project’s dedicated team of trained volunteers will offer free, confidential peer support for anyone in the midst of, or processing, a psychedelic experience. Each volunteer will have completed a rigorous interview process and intensive 36-hour training from risk reduction and support-line experts. Each person to contact the line will also be offered weekly follow-up calls, as they continue to integrate their psychedelic experiences.
“Our hope is that people put our number—6-2FIRESIDE—into their phones now so that it’s there when they need it,” said Joshua White, Fireside Project’s Founder and Executive Director. “Psychedelic Speed Dial is a chance for people to share their support for Fireside Project and make sure their friends have access to it, too.”
People can participate in Psychedelic Speed Dial in one of two ways: either (1) by sharing a photo or video on social media of their own creative rendering of the phone number along with the hashtag #62FIRESIDE, or (2) by emailing 62fireside@firesideproject.org with a screenshot of 6-2FIRESIDE in their phone contacts.
“We want people to use all of their creativity and imagination in sharing our phone number with the world,” says Fireside Project’s Cultivator of Beloved Community, Hanifa Nayo Washington. “We’d love to see 6-2FIRESIDE written in the sky, drawn in the sand, or spelled out in icing on cakes. We can’t wait to see what people create.”
Each person who submits an entry to Psychedelic Speed Dial will be eligible for a Gratitude Giveaway, in which they could win stunning visionary art donated by Android Jones, Paul Lewin, Simon Haiduk, Mugwort, and others; Dr. Bronner’s Fair Trade gift baskets; special recordings from Desert Dwellers; live private DJ parties by Manic Focus and DivaDanielle, psychedelic books from Synergetic Press, and more.
“Our goal is 10,000 entries,” Hanifa Nayo says, “We know that’s ambitious, but we really want people to learn that the Psychedelic Peer Support Line exists, so that we’re in their minds—and in their phones—before the need arises.”
Fireside Project’s mission is to help minimize the risks and maximize the benefits of psychedelic experiences. “None of that can happen unless people know we exist and know how to get a hold of us,” explains White, “That’s the purpose of Psychedelic Speed Dial.”
Fireside Project launched on October 28, 2020, less than a week before the November 3 elections, when Oregon decriminalized small amounts of all drugs, and required the state to develop a regulatory infrastructure for psilocybin-assisted group therapy. On the same day, Washington, D.C., decriminalized all plant-based psychedelics. The following week, California State Senator Scott Wiener announced that he would be introducing a bill to decriminalize psychedelics in California, SB519.
Senator Wiener has been unequivocal that he views Fireside Project as a foundational part of a safe, thriving psychedelic movement: “As access to psychedelic drugs expands, it is critical that there be a free, confidential support line for people to call during and after their psychedelic experiences,” said Sen. Wiener.
On February 5, Fireside Project and the non-profit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) announced a landmark agreement to expand access to psychedelic risk reduction services.
“The need for psychedelic peer support has never been greater,” says MAPS Founder and Executive Director Rick Doblin. “Others have dreamed this dream, but Fireside Project is finally making it a reality.”
About Fireside Project
Founded in 2020, Fireside Project is a fiscally sponsored non-profit organization whose mission is to help people minimize the risks and fulfill the potential of their psychedelic experiences in ways such as providing compassionate, accessible, and culturally responsive peer support, educating the public, and furthering psychedelic research, while embracing practices that increase equity, power sharing, and belonging within the psychedelic movement.
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