Investigating Safety Concerns and Harm Reduction in Entheogenic Churches: The Case for Community-Based Participatory Research.

Communities that use psychedelics as religious sacraments have developed their own frameworks for safety and hold distinct views on risk and harm. To better understand their lived realities, researchers can collaborate closely with these communities using community-based participatory research (CBPR) practices, which center communities in co-creating research, improve engagement, build trust, and highlight local priorities. This paper presents preliminary findings from a CBPR study with entheogenic communities, sharing lessons learned from forming a community advisory board and initial pilot data gathering. Lessons include consulting community engagement experts, considerations for compensation and confidentiality, using multimodal recruitment strategies, and recognizing the unique historical context of these communities. These lessons aim to develop best practices for psychedelic research, policy, and public education.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Alongside the important contributions of the harm reduction movement to improving public health in secular settings, communities that use psychedelics as religious sacraments (i.e., entheogens) have developed their own frameworks for supporting safety within their spiritual practices and hold their own conceptualizations of risk and harm. In order to understand better the lived realities of substance use, safety practices, and potential harms among entheogenic communities, researchers can collaborate closely with these communities in the formulation and conduct of their studies in this shared pursuit. The integration of community-based participatory research (CBPR) practices can not only help center these communities in the co-creation of research but also improve engagement, generate trust, and illuminate local priorities for knowledge production. The current work presents preliminary findings from a CBPR study with entheogenic communities. We share "lessons learned" from forming the study's community advisory board (CAB) and initial pilot data gathering in order to encourage biomedical investigators to consider CBPR approaches for their own research with psychedelic communities. Lessons include consultation with community engagement experts; considerations for compensation and confidentiality; utilizing multimodal strategies for recruiting study participants and CAB members; and the importance of considering the unique historical context of these communities. These lessons support the development of best practices for current and future psychedelic research as well as subsequent policies and public education efforts focused on psychedelic harm reduction and the community-based uses of psychedelics more broadly.