Fireside Project Provides Free Support Line For Psychedelic Experiences

Fireside Project furthers the psychedelic movement, continuing the fight against the War on Drugs.

As the world continues to evolve, so do our suppositions about substances, their influence on culture, and their impact on both the individual and therein the world. Prior to Fireside Project, there were mental health hotlines and resources for those undergoing difficult experiences, but there wasn’t something specifically devoted to psychedelics. Other than the Zendo Project – a nonprofit that provides onsite support to Burners and festival goers experiencing difficult trips – there wasn’t something that catered to discussing the difficult, potentially life-changing realizations that may or may not accompany trips (at least from a virtual, nationwide scale).

This changed when the company’s founder, Joshua, thought of a telephone helpline for psychedelics. Inspired by the sense of community and the warmth of fireside chats, Joshua titled his budding idea “Fireside Project.” According to the company’s website, the telephone hotline was created with purpose, calculation, and care. “It could democratize access to psychedelic support, provide generations of practitioners with an unparalleled training opportunity, and become a robust research platform. By prioritizing recruiting volunteers from marginalized communities, then supporting those volunteers as they pursued careers in psychedelics, the support line could create a more equitable psychedelic field.”

“Our mission is to help people minimize the risks of their psychedelic experiences in ways such as providing compassionate, accessible, and culturally responsive peer support, educating the public, and furthering psychedelic research, while embracing practices that increase equity, power sharing, and belonging within the psychedelic movement.”

Mission Statement, Fireside Project

To give context to those who think a telephone hotline devoted to psychedelic experiences to be brash, out of touch, inappropriate, unnecessary, or culturally shocking – note that this project reflects the world’s changing stance on psychedelics. As the War on Drugs subsides, new movements and ideas rise.

According to the company’s website, “Fireside Project’s website launched on October 28, 2020, just five days before a watershed moment for the psychedelic movement.” The text continues: “In the November 3 election, the state of Oregon decriminalized small amounts of all drugs and required the state to develop a regulatory infrastructure for psilocybin-assisted facilitation. The following week, California State Senator Scott Wiener announced that he would be introducing a bill to decriminalize psychedelics in California. Demand for Fireside Project’s support services was growing by the day.”

The company’s website also shares the trajectory of Fireside Project, how the movement has grown as well as its future. “As of January 2023, they have grown to 13 employees, supported 9,000 people, averted innumerable emergency room visits, and trained 300 volunteers, including 100+ from marginalized communities. As of June 2022, every caller who identifies as BIPOC, transgender, and/or military veteran has the option to process past psychedelic experiences with a volunteer sharing their identity. By the end of the decade, their hope is to offer their services in dozens of languages to every person in the world, and to hit 1,000,000+ conversations per year.”

To learn more about this project click here.

To learn more about the psychedelic movement, venture below.