Dr Anna Waldstein - Sovereignty & Psychedelics

Health sovereignty rests on the ability of individuals to choose their own healing strategies, including the use of traditional medicinal plants. This self-determination faces substantial threats within the contemporary biomedical model, where corporate pharmaceutical interests increasingly dominate health policy and access. Such reliance on medical and corporate structures degrades autonomy by shifting power away from local communities towards large-scale health industries that may prioritize profit-driven outcomes over individual wellbeing. Psychedelic substances, while providing significant potential for healing and social cohesion, are susceptible to being co-opted. Moving these tools forward in a way that preserves their therapeutic benefits depends on maintaining the human right to self-direct health while navigating the risks of pharmaceutical enclosure and systemic bio-political control.