{"id":56706,"date":"2022-08-19T10:46:44","date_gmt":"2022-08-19T18:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/08\/19\/mormon-bishop-and-former-gop-utah-rep-champions-ayahuasca-after-faith-affirming-psychedelic-experience\/"},"modified":"2022-08-19T20:45:23","modified_gmt":"2022-08-20T04:45:23","slug":"mormon-bishop-and-former-gop-utah-rep-champions-ayahuasca-after-faith-affirming-psychedelic-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/08\/19\/mormon-bishop-and-former-gop-utah-rep-champions-ayahuasca-after-faith-affirming-psychedelic-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Mormon Bishop And Former GOP Utah Rep. Champions Ayahuasca After Faith-Affirming Psychedelic Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Although psychedelics policy reform has already found support across the ideological spectrum, a new ringing endorsement from an active Mormon bishop\u2014who is also a former Republican Utah state representative\u2014indicates an ever-growing acceptance for entheogens in American society.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Earlier this month, Brad Daw appeared on the <i>Jimmy Rex Show <\/i>podcast to recount his own experience at an ayahuasca ceremony in Costa Rica, and how it served to strengthen his faith. In the interview, Daw also highlighted his journey from skeptic to proponent\u2014albeit a nuanced one\u2014of medical marijuana reform in Utah. In Daw\u2019s telling, the two experiences collectively suggest a more progressive approach towards the taboos of illegal substances among the Mormon Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS).<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The interview comes just a few months after Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\/utah-governor-signs-bill-to-study-use-of-psychedelics-for-mental-health-therapy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s1\">signed a bill to create a task force<\/span><\/a> to study and make recommendations on the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs and possible regulations for their lawful use.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cWhy would [psychedelics] not have a place in the church if we believe in using the best medicine that science has available?\u201d Daw said on the podcast.<\/p>\n<p \/>\n<p class=\"p1\">As for his own experience with ayahuasca, the GOP former lawmaker explained that he was turned on to the naturally-occurring psychedelic when another member of the church revealed her own positive experiences with it to him; a church lobbyist subsequently condoned her actions. \u201cThat put a lot of comfort with her. And it also gave me a lot of comfort,\u201d Daw said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Daw\u2019s interest was subsequently bolstered by an episode of Jordan Petersen\u2019s podcast, in which he <span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NGIP-3Q-p_s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">interviewed<\/a> the renowned Johns Hopkins neuroscientist Dr. Roland Griffiths<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Daw ended up attending a five-day ayahuasca ceremony in Costa Rica. There, he observed that much of the experience proved to be profound and that he \u201cfelt the presence of God.\u201d (Known for inducing vomiting and diarrhea, Daw bizarrely employed a series of childish euphemisms\u2014\u201dboys\u2019 room,\u201d \u201cdoo-doo,\u201d \u201cpotty\u201d\u2014to describe his own physical reaction to the ayahuasca.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">While the Mormon bishop has become a proponent of psychedelic use, his relationship to marijuana is a bit more nuanced. While he told Jimmy Rex that learning about CBD-focused strain Charlotte\u2019s Web led him to appreciate the medical benefits of marijuana, he remains \u201cagainst\u201d recreational cannabis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Back in 2016, Daw teamed up with fellow Utah State Representative Evan Vickers (R), Daw<span class=\"s1\">\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/kutv.com\/news\/local\/utah-legislature-kills-medical-marijuana-bill\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sponsored<\/a> a restrictive and ill-fated medical marijuana legalization bill<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Daw was also a player in the drama that unfolded in Utah two years later, when the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\/win-or-lose-at-the-polls-medical-marijuana-is-coming-to-utah-under-new-deal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LDS church exerted its political influence to <span class=\"s1\">combat Proposition 2<\/span><\/a>, the state\u2019s 2018 medical marijuana ballot initiative.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Although the measure went on to pass at the polls, Daw, the LDS church and other organizations advocated behind the scenes for amended, more constrictive legislation, which cannabis advocates backed as part of a compromise deal that then-Governor Gary Herbert (R) signed into law in December 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Daw <span class=\"s1\">wrote an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\/utah-medical-marijuana-campaign-exposes-opponents-misleading-push-poll\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">official ballot argument against the medical cannabis ballot initiative<\/a><\/span>\u00a0at the time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cInstead of pharmacies, it provides for dispensaries (the initiative\u2019s term for pot shops) to sell a variety of products such as gummies and brownies,\u201d he wrote. \u201cInstead of prescribed dosages managed by licensed pharmacists, the initiative allows any person to receive the equivalent of 100 joints every two weeks. This is recreational marijuana, not medical marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"DZHFxkmcgs\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\/d-c-medical-marijuana-registrations-surged-in-july-after-self-certification-law-took-effect-data-shows\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">D.C. Medical Marijuana Registrations Surged In July After \u2018Self-Certification\u2019 Law Took Effect, Data Shows<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p \/>\n<p><em>Image courtesy of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=P_RbasQMV44\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jimmy Rex Show<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\/mormon-bishop-and-former-gop-utah-rep-champions-ayahuasca-after-faith-affirming-psychedelic-experience\/\" target=\"_blank\">Mormon Bishop And Former GOP Utah Rep. Champions Ayahuasca After Faith-Affirming Psychedelic Experience<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\" target=\"_blank\">Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#013;<br \/>\n&#013;<br \/>\nRead More: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\/mormon-bishop-and-former-gop-utah-rep-champions-ayahuasca-after-faith-affirming-psychedelic-experience\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Mormon Bishop And Former GOP Utah Rep. Champions Ayahuasca After Faith-Affirming Psychedelic Experience<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although psychedelics policy reform has already found support across the ideological spectrum, a new ringing endorsement from an active Mormon bishop\u2014who is also a former Republican Utah state representative\u2014indicates an ever-growing acceptance for entheogens in American society. Earlier this month, Brad Daw appeared on the Jimmy Rex Show podcast to<span class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/08\/19\/mormon-bishop-and-former-gop-utah-rep-champions-ayahuasca-after-faith-affirming-psychedelic-experience\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[99,18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56706"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56706"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56707,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56706\/revisions\/56707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}