Medicinal Mindfulness Community
Code of Ethics

Medicinal Mindfulness Community Code of Ethics

(Formerly called the Psychedelic Consent Agreement)

Center for Medicinal Mindfulness v5 ©2016-2023

As representatives of the psychedelic community, we choose to exemplify safe psychedelic experiences. Safety allows for depth, healing, and awakening, and is a universal right for all people in these spaces. The purpose of this agreement is to clarify expectations of consensual behavior before we have a psychedelic experience together, and to help elicit the safest spaces we can create for transformational psychedelic journeys.

We strongly encourage friends and allies to discuss these guidelines before personal medicine experiences as a practice in safety and consent. The number one way to reduce harm is through prevention and education. Please be an advocate for safety and intentional use in your psychedelic medicine community.

The Center for Medicinal Mindfulness Psychedelic Therapy Center, the Psychedelic Sitters School training program, as well as our facilitators, educators, staff members, students, and community members all agree to comply with this simple safety agreement, and to promote these guidelines in both private and professional settings as minimum standards. Professional members of our program also comply with additional code of conduct guidelines as outlined in the Medicinal Mindfulness Safe Community Policy. 

This is an evolving Psychedelic Harm Reduction document and designed to support an important conversation. It is offered to the psychedelic community, created by psychedelic medicine people for psychedelic medicine people, as a means to reduce the potential for harm, not necessarily as a guarantee for safety. As minimum standards, just because something isn’t discussed here doesn’t mean it is automatically acceptable. When in any doubt, talk it out. To receive additional information, to provide feedback, to ask questions about the purpose or reason for a guideline, or request a copy of the Medicinal Mindfulness Safe Community Policy, please email us at safecommunity@medicinalmindfulness.org. 

First and Foremost

1. We affirm that any consent agreement can only be made in a sober state, and we agree that once any medicine is taken, even if the medicine hasn’t activated yet, we will not change the agreement until we are sober again, even if we all agree we want to. Consent about something significant that is not discussed cannot be given after a medicine is taken… we’ll make a note and discuss it prior to the next journey. We agree to not break or change this agreement even if God/the Divine/the Universe/Truth tells us directly and without a doubt to change it or break it. The one exception to this rule is the right to decline something one previously consented to do if it relates to personal boundaries, and the change does not violate any safety agreements or the boundaries of another. 

Preparation and Support Before and After the Experience

2. Before we begin, we agree to complete a simple safety questionnaire, and to be truthful about and discuss our current psychological state and life circumstances. We affirm that we are ready for the experience we’re choosing to have and are safely able to participate.
3. We agree to speak at least once before the psychedelic experience for intention setting, safety, and preparation support and at least once after the experience for a safety check-in and integration support. If this is part of a professional service, the full cost of the entire protocol is disclosed before we begin.
4. We agree to have back-up support available in the form of a trusted ally and to share their contact information with the facilitator or group. We agree to seek immediate professional support for any significant medical or mental health emergency, even if during the experience.
5. We agree to seek immediate support if we are concerned for our own physical safety before or after a psychedelic experience. We agree we will not engage in any unsafe or destructive behavior towards ourselves or another, and will reach out to a mental health professional AND an ally if we contemplate self-harm, engage in any suicidal ideation or behavior, or exhibit any mental health symptoms that are unusual or disconcerting.
6. We agree to keep confidentiality and not share details of our experience with others except in situations that require significant intervention to prevent harm or where reporting is legally mandated, such as child or elder abuse, suicidality, or self-harm. Due to the significant harm it could cause, it is never appropriate to “out” someone, intentionally or accidentally, for their psychedelic medicine use without their explicit consent. It is also never appropriate to hide or cover up inappropriate, unethical, unsafe, or coercive behavior by a community member, even if the disclosure could “harm the movement.” 

Consent & Physical Safety 

7. We agree to respect each other’s boundaries, treat each other with respect, and to keep each other safe. We agree to fully comply with all of the safety requirements of the host, the sober sitter, and the space. We understand that being intoxicated is not an excuse for violating a consent agreement. A sober sitter is strongly encouraged, but if we do not have a sober sitter, we all commit to enforcing these guidelines as if we were the sober sitter. 
8. We agree to designate a specific location that represents the boundaries of the experience and to not leave the confines of this safe space until the completion of the experience. We agree to not bring something dangerous or harmful into, or do anything dangerous or harmful in the psychedelic journey space. We agree to immediately return from using the bathroom to the designated location.
9. We agree to have a conversation around consensual touch and energy work before the medicine is taken. Touch and energy work is always consensual. Permission is always requested and affirmed before touching or providing energy work, unless touch or holding is required in a safety situation, is minimally intrusive, described verbally in the moment, and is required to keep someone physically safe (stopping someone from falling, for example, while saying “I’m catching you now”). 
10. We agree that touch is never sexual, or on or near a private area of the body, sexually intimate, sexually coercive, or related to any sexual “technique” in any professional psychedelic therapy, psychotherapy, or related service session. Once such a professional relationship is established, any sexual relationship or contact by a facilitator is never appropriate with a current or former client or student. 
11. An intention of sexual intimacy in a private medicine experience between consenting adults with no significant power differential  between them (such as a significant age difference or status), and who are not in a dual relationship such as a professional therapeutic relationship, student/teacher relationship, or any other similar relationship, is always discussed and consented to prior to a medicine being taken. Consent to sexual intimacy after it is given can always be rescinded without explanation and at any time.  

Psychedelic Medicine Safety

12. We agree to only use clean medicine that is tested, accurately measured, and responsibly sourced. We agree to educate ourselves about the neurological and physical effects of the medicines we use, any addictive qualities, and their legality. We agree to only use the medicines all participants consent to use, and to not bring any other medicines into an experience without prior permission. 
13. We agree to only use medicines that we know are personally safe for us to use; physically, mentally, psychologically, and spiritually. We agree to only use as frequently as it is safe to do so, to be educated about safe frequency of use practices, and to be open to non-judgmental feedback regarding the observed personal effects of our use by our trusted allies and community. 
14. We agree that anyone imbibing a medicine will not drive, or engage in any behavior that requires sobriety to ensure safety, until the following day, or only until it is safe to do so. 

Conflict Prevention & Resolution

15. We agree to be mindful of externalizing our inner experiences and to be aware of our projections and transference (both positive and negative) that we may place on each other, the experience, the facilitator, or the medicine. We agree to discuss our perceptions and to always factually assess them, and to check in around feelings of safety or lack of safety if we become anxious or paranoid.
16. If a conflict or significant disagreement occurs, we agree to engage it compassionately, skillfully, and maturely, and to comply with any community consent agreements related to conflict resolution practices. We understand that overly frequent, or recent medicine use may negatively affect our ability to engage in community conversations skillfully and compassionately. Examples of community consent agreements are outlined in the Safe Community Policy for the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness and Psychedelic Sitters School.

Professional Facilitator Standards 

17. The sitter/guide/psychedelic therapist/shaman (facilitator) of any experience agrees to accurately share their training and expertise through a verbal or written disclosure statement, and they affirm to have adequate supervision, training, oversight, and experience necessary to facilitate the psychedelic journey skillfully and safely. The facilitator has legitimate credentials and experience in any associated skills such as massage, energy work, traditional ceremony, psychotherapy, or other professional skill used in the experience. Fees are clearly outlined, will not suddenly change after an agreement is made, are congruent with the skill, training, and experience of the facilitator, and are also similar to related services within the facilitator’s locale.  Facilitators strive to make their services as accessible as possible. 
18. Facilitators agree to only work within their scope of training and expertise, such as only providing bodywork if they are trained to do so, or only working with specific clinical concerns (e.g., trauma, PTSD, and other significant mental health issues) if they are trained to do so, and to only use psychedelic medicines in conjunction with these therapies if they are also trained to do so. 
19. Facilitators agree to comply with an appropriate code of ethics and code of conduct, and to share this code with clients who request it. Facilitators and trainers of the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness and Psychedelic Sitters School agree to the professional code outlined in the Safe Community Policy and agree to receive objective community oversight by professional allied organizations when these services become available. 
20. Facilitators agree to be accountable to their community for their conduct, and agree to seek ongoing support and guidance from skilled and ethical mentors and peers, especially in complex situations.

Thank you and Safe Travels!

Many blessings to you on this sacred journey of healing and discovery.