In the gray area of legality, such as for trip sitters or religious entheogenic ceremony, it remains unclear whether a contract that provides informed consent and waiver of claims would be enforceable—and if the risk of having a contract outweighs the rewards. For the practitioner, disclosing certain information appropriate for the psychedelic space and risks may make clear what the services do and do not include, which allows a participant to make an informed choice about engaging in services that can vary widely in terms of context and container and about alignment with a provider. Transparency and communication through a contract can increase safety, establish standards of care, and improve outcomes for the participant.
Facilitator, trip sitter, therapist or anyone that is holding or facilitating a psychedelic space for another, can benefit from knowing the legal landscape and from having form, contract to show their clients. This exchange is for the safety of both parties, creating a sense of safety, integrity and starting the relational process prior to the psychedelic experience. This is one meaningful action we can do to strengthen and deepen the ethics of the psychedelic space.
This workshop covers:
Strategies for clear informed consent.
Risks of the use of a contract.
Address ethical issues and mitigate legal risks where services involve activities with controlled substances.
About the Instructor:
Allison Hoots, ESQ, works as an attorney advising on contractual, transactional, employment, corporate/business formation, healthcare, constitutional, and intellectual property law at Hoots Law Practice PLLC. She has unique experience advising in all areas of the psychedelics space, including practitioners as psychedelic assisted therapy providers, risk reduction support service providers, ketamine practitioners, and therapists, as well as other harm reduction and psychedelic endeavors. She advises churches on liability issues and defensibility of the ceremonial use of psychedelic sacraments, pursuant to the right to religious exercise and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Outside of her legal practice, Allison is Executive Director & Board Member of Sacred Plant Alliance, a self-regulating organization of religious practitioners dedicated to the legal, safe, ethical, and sincere ceremonial use of entheogenic sacraments. Allison is also Law and Drug Policy Reform Advisor for the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines' Council for the Protection of Sacred Plants. She was the primary author of Chacruna’s Guide to RFRA & Best Practices for Psychedelic Plant Medicine Churches.
Additionally, Allison acts as Head Policy Counsel for New Yorkers for Mental Health Alternatives to develop policy creating legal access to psilocybin and for drug policy reform in New York State. She is the primary author of the New York bill currently introduced as NY A2124 and NY S5303, a psilocybin permit model based in a public health framework.
