Woven Science’s El Puente foundation is pleased to release for public comment its policy paper and corporate social responsibility initiative for psychedelic pharmaceutical companies to engage with indigenous peoples using psychedelic botanicals in traditional practice. This paper explores how public policymakers in collaboration with companies can offer indigenous communities influence over product development, consumer preferences, profit sharing, and public perception.

NEW YORK, Oct. 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Woven Science’s El Puente foundation is pleased to release for public comment its policy paper and corporate social responsibility initiative for psychedelic pharmaceutical companies to engage with indigenous peoples using psychedelic botanicals in traditional practice. This paper explores how public policymakers in collaboration with companies can offer indigenous communities influence over product development, consumer preferences, profit sharing, and public perception.

The public comment period will last the next 45 days. You can comment on the paper by filling in the intake form linked here or by emailing us directly at elpuente@woven.science. We will respond to your comments and integrate them into the final paper.

After interviewing leaders throughout both the psychedelics and pharmaceutical industries, we’ve identified four public policy solutions to explore:

• Bio-cultural conservation: legal action to protect against unsustainable harvesting of botanical psychedelic plants and preservation of indigenous cultural practices
• Appellations of Origin: indigenous intellectual property protection over the names and brands of psychedelics and their associated rituals
• Regulatory Sandboxes for entrepreneurship: giving special taxation and regulation exemptions for indigenous communities to develop products and provide services on the open market
• Financial sharing: mandates for how companies should share a portion of revenue with designated indigenous groups

Working with select partners for each, El Puente seeks to shape a more equitable, impactful, and responsible psychedelics sector. We invite you to join our series of community calls on these topics and join a working group to focus on the one that moves you most.

Stronger, together: thank you

Thank you to our many partners, peers, friends, and family for their input and feedback, with special thanks to Fundación Kene Rao for the quoted text, Frederick Research for the first draft of the paper, and Dr. Bronner’s, Riverstyx Foundation, ICEERS, Amazon Investor Coalition, McKenna Academy, and The Fountain for taking the time to speak with El Puente on ways to further these policy initiatives.

How can you support?

If you’re working in the nonprofit or for-profit sectors within the psychedelics, pharmaceutical, and/or biocultural conservation with indigenous peoples and you align with or wish to pursue any of these four initiatives, please visit our website for more information about how to partner with us and get involved.

About El Puente:  El Puente promotes access and benefit-sharing (ABS) with indigenous peoples and holds 10% of Woven’s equity. El Puente makes grants and investments in projects owned and operated by indigenous people and has a council of indigenous leaders serving as special advisors to the El Puente board with veto powers in project financing decisions, giving indigenous peoples seats at the table in the growing psychedelics sector.

About Woven Science: Woven Science builds, backs, and incubates best-in-class companies poised to drive profitable and scalable mental health outcomes across the entire psychedelic treatment arc from diagnosis to community and mental health sustainability. The Woven Science team and its advisors are seasoned professionals from the wellness, finance, biotech, neuroscience, and psychedelic arenas bringing extensive operational and strategic expertise to tackling the mental illness epidemic and recognizing that the path to sustained mental health requires multi-disciplinary and integrative models of care.

For media enquiries contact: hello@woven.science

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