Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray i'ebs Costin's new radio.
Speaker 2: Before we get to our guest this hour, just gonna
Speaker 2: take one moment to give you an opportunity to win
Speaker 2: a couple of tickets to see Celtic Thunder. If you
Speaker 2: a caller ten, I'm gonna give you the number. Dial
Speaker 2: away six one, seven nine three, one ten thirty. Now,
Speaker 2: please do not take these tickets unless you're gonna use them,
Speaker 2: because they have great tickets. Call on number ten right
Speaker 2: now at six one, seven, nine three, one ten thirty.
Speaker 2: We'll win two tickets to Celtic Thunder at the Premier
Speaker 2: Theater at Foxwoods on November seventh. You set off on
Speaker 2: a musical journey with the Irish music sensations Celtic Thunder Live.
Speaker 2: Complete show information and tickets are available at Foxwoods dot com.
Speaker 2: So the number to call is six one seven nineth three,
Speaker 2: one ten thirty. Dan is simply gonna tell you a
Speaker 2: call the number one and he'll hang up.
Speaker 3: He will.
Speaker 2: He will tell calling number ten. Yeah, you call it
Speaker 2: number ten and you won. So he's gonna go right
Speaker 2: to one, two, three, four, five, sixty seven eight nine.
Speaker 2: And by the way, if you're calling number four, or
Speaker 2: you calling number two? Are you calling number whatever? You
Speaker 2: can call back and you can just if you're lucky ten.
Speaker 2: It's almost like musical chairs. Six one seven, nine three,
Speaker 2: one ten thirty. The lines are now open and Dan's
Speaker 2: going to clear them as quickly as he can. Just
Speaker 2: keep calling, and as soon as we get a winner,
Speaker 2: he will let me know again. Two tickets to see
Speaker 2: Celtic Thunder at the Premier Theater in Foxwoods Great great
Speaker 2: great location, great great performance, November seventh. That's a week
Speaker 2: from Thursday, and you have to call the contest line,
Speaker 2: which is at this hour six.
Speaker 3: One seven, nine, three, one ten thirty. You'll win two.
Speaker 2: Tickets to see Celtic Thunder at the Premier Theater at
Speaker 2: Foxwood's on November seven, set off on a musical journey
Speaker 2: with the Irish Music Sensations. I'm told it is a
Speaker 2: great show. Celtic Thunder Live, Complete show information tickets available
Speaker 2: at Foxwoods dot com. And as soon as we get
Speaker 2: a winner at that number six one, seven, nine thirty.
Speaker 3: We will let you know.
Speaker 2: In the meantime, I'm going to introduce my guest this
Speaker 2: hour and I am delighted to be joined tonight by
Speaker 2: with a young man who I spent some time talking
Speaker 2: with today, CJ.
Speaker 3: Leconte.
Speaker 2: He's from the group called Massachusetts for Mental Health Options.
Speaker 2: They are supporting a yes vote on ballot question number four.
Speaker 2: And by the way, I'm told we have a winner,
Speaker 2: so you can stop dialing. We'll give away tickets tomorrow night,
Speaker 2: Thursday night, and Friday night, also right after the nine
Speaker 2: o'clock news. So if you didn't make it tonight, you've
Speaker 2: still got three more shots tomorrow night, Thursday and Friday night.
Speaker 2: So CJ. Laconte, CJ. First of all, welcome to Night's
Speaker 2: at How are you tonight?
Speaker 4: I'll doing great, Dan, thank you for having me. Congrats
Speaker 4: to the winner of the Telvision.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, those are good tickets.
Speaker 2: So Jay, you are probably going to shadow the stereotype
Speaker 2: that some people might have of somebody who is a
Speaker 2: one of the spokespeople from Massachusetts for Mental Health Options
Speaker 2: voting yes on question four. Question four is described as
Speaker 2: a law proposed by initiative petition limited legalization and regulation
Speaker 2: of certain natural psychedelic substances. First of all, tell us
Speaker 2: what is meant by natural psychedelic substances. We have had
Speaker 2: a conversation of about ten days ago, twelve days ago
Speaker 2: now with a doctor from Toft's University of Tufts Medical School,
Speaker 2: doctor Messir Gami, and he is opposed to question four.
Speaker 3: But tell us what we're talking about.
Speaker 2: And then I'm want to know what your experience is
Speaker 2: and what brought you to this point in your life
Speaker 2: where you were advocating for the legalization and regulation of
Speaker 2: certain natural psychedelic substances.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Absolutely, having to dive into that. So the natural substances,
Speaker 4: I mean, it's not a synthetically derived substance if it's
Speaker 4: from a plant or a fung gui based and you
Speaker 4: know what we're seeing. I mean, we can get it.
Speaker 4: We'll get into this later. But what we're kind of seeing,
Speaker 4: because it is a very nascent space, a very tricky
Speaker 4: space to kind of get into. What we're seeing from
Speaker 4: the FDA clinical trials going there is that there's synthetically
Speaker 4: derived versions of these substances, of these psychedelic substances going
Speaker 4: through clinical trials. Now, what we're talking about is the
Speaker 4: natural natural fungi based plant medicines that have long histories
Speaker 4: of traditional, traditional and indigenous use that date back millennium.
Speaker 4: They have extremely low addiction potential almost none, and there's
Speaker 4: no known lethal dose for these natural substances.
Speaker 5: So yeah, yeah, well we're not talking about what people
Speaker 5: would think of as LSD and doctor Timothy Leary type stuff.
Speaker 3: Correct.
Speaker 4: Correct, Yeah, LSD is not on the is not on
Speaker 4: yes on four, it's it's yeah. So it's a psilocybin silicen,
Speaker 4: which is the active metabolite of psilocybin, and I can
Speaker 4: get into that, but it's a psiloicibin pilicen mescaline d
Speaker 4: MT and I began.
Speaker 2: Okay, so you know a lot about this because you've
Speaker 2: experienced this, as I understand it.
Speaker 3: But your background is interesting.
Speaker 2: You're a local guy who went to West Point, graduated
Speaker 2: from West Point. Tell us about your time in the
Speaker 2: military and what you've done subsequent to your time in
Speaker 2: the military.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, so. I graduated from West Point in twenty seventeen
Speaker 4: as an infantry officer. My first duty assignment was out
Speaker 4: at four Cars in Colorado, where I had the opportunity
Speaker 4: to deploy as a rifle portune leader. You know, I
Speaker 4: think it was the greatest honor and privilege of a
Speaker 4: lifetime to leave thirty six soldiers in the deployed environment.
Speaker 4: It was also really the first time that I, you know,
Speaker 4: saw the devastating toll of mental health firsthand.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: While we were overseas, I had four soldiers attempts suicide
Speaker 4: in one of which I unfortunately witnessed when we were
Speaker 4: over there. You know, not even six months after getting back,
Speaker 4: we did tragically lose one two suicide. You know, I
Speaker 4: think as leaders, we reflect the praise and shoulder the blame.
Speaker 4: And that suicide really hit me hard. At my next assignment,
Speaker 4: you know, I began really having nightmares, started lashing out,
Speaker 4: my marriage started suffering, and I just spought to myself
Speaker 4: that this will get better when I get out, when
Speaker 4: the uniform comes off, it'll be all sunshine, rainbows, right,
Speaker 4: and be more wrong. I got out in about two
Speaker 4: year or a little over two years ago now, in
Speaker 4: March of twenty twenty two, and was going to business school.
Speaker 4: The world should have been, you know, all all great,
Speaker 4: but it wasn't.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: I was on nine different medications through the VA and
Speaker 4: was spiraling, you know, and just completely numb to the
Speaker 4: world and incapacitated with apathy, and you know, I think
Speaker 4: and the worst part about kind of My story is
Speaker 4: that I did what I was told to do right.
Speaker 4: Like I I followed the quote unquote orders right. I
Speaker 4: went to the VA. I sought out help and want
Speaker 4: to help you get you know, is a ten minute
Speaker 4: medication management appointment every quarter and nine different medications to
Speaker 4: keep track of. When that doesn't work, you start to
Speaker 4: think that you're the problem. You start to think what's
Speaker 4: the point of even trying? Right? And Yeah, went into
Speaker 4: my uh second semester at business school, I I started
Speaker 4: having some suicidal ideation. It was actually hospitalized at the
Speaker 4: Philadelphia v A with that suicidal ideation. And yeah, that
Speaker 4: was a low point. I've never been more kind of dehumanized, abandoned, alone,
Speaker 4: afraid ever in my life. And it's actually in that.
Speaker 3: Moment, we'd we'll be deployed overseas.
Speaker 4: Middle least Kuwait, Jordan, Okay.
Speaker 2: And that was still, uh it might not have been
Speaker 2: a hot zone, but it certainly was a zone where
Speaker 2: you had to be careful. And uh uh you were
Speaker 2: you you were not in the in the in the
Speaker 2: comforting arms of the the the U s A. You
Speaker 2: were you were in in the territory and a part
Speaker 2: of the world where bad things could happen.
Speaker 4: Correct, Yeah, correct, we uh, there were some tricky situations
Speaker 4: over there, yes.
Speaker 2: Okay, And because of what you witness is really impacted you.
Speaker 2: I want to take a break and I want to
Speaker 2: talk about how you came to find some help with
Speaker 2: these psychedelics, and also invite people to call and join
Speaker 2: the conversation. My understanding is that this, of all the
Speaker 2: ballot questions, the polling that has been done on this
Speaker 2: question is the one that is as close close to
Speaker 2: fifty to fifty as any. We will have a conversation
Speaker 2: on Friday night at nine o'clock. I spoke with you
Speaker 2: earlier about this, and talked with doctor Nasa Nasa Gami
Speaker 2: earlier this evening, and we'll spend about an hour on
Speaker 2: Friday night at nine o'clock with both of you in
Speaker 2: a conversation, not a debate, but a conversation.
Speaker 3: But I want to give you an.
Speaker 2: Opportunity tonight to take as many questions as possible and
Speaker 2: explain why you feel this is a frontier at which
Speaker 2: we as a society have arrived, and why it is
Speaker 2: something that will be beneficial to you and others, not
Speaker 2: something that everybody should be doing. This is this is
Speaker 2: not as a broad based and I want to make
Speaker 2: sure people understand that as well. Give you a chance
Speaker 2: to explain that tonight and also a couple of nights
Speaker 2: from now when we have both points of view, when
Speaker 2: we bring both points of view together, which I think
Speaker 2: is an important an important hour for people to hear.
Speaker 2: We'll be back on night's side. You have the numbers, folks,
Speaker 2: six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty or six
Speaker 2: one seven, nine three one ten thirty if you'd like
Speaker 2: to speak with my guest. He is a veteran military
Speaker 2: veteran graduate of West Point, has an NBA from the
Speaker 2: Wharton School, and is currently going to the Kennedy School
Speaker 2: of Government.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 2: And he's he's he's just twenty nine years old. And
Speaker 2: although twenty nine and I'm sure seems pretty old to him,
Speaker 2: for those of us who have passed that age and
Speaker 2: long past that age, we realize that he has an
Speaker 2: entire life in front of him. He has sacrificed and served,
Speaker 2: and he finds some help with these psychedelics. And I
Speaker 2: think that he is a very effective spokesperson, just as
Speaker 2: doctor n Sergami is a very effective spokesperson on the
Speaker 2: other side of this issue, and it's an issue that
Speaker 2: I think people should think about long and hard in advance.
Speaker 3: If they haven't voted already. We'll be back on nights.
Speaker 2: I feel free to join the conversation right after a
Speaker 2: couple of messages.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray Live from the Window World
Speaker 1: to Night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: My guest is CJ. Leconti, West Point graduate in twenty seventeen,
Speaker 2: served in the military, was deployed overseas, and while he
Speaker 2: was there, he witnessed some things that most of us
Speaker 2: would never witness in our life a lifetime. And he
Speaker 2: has seen and himself suffered from suicidal ideation. And he
Speaker 2: has participated and received these natural psychedelic substances, and he
Speaker 2: swears that they.
Speaker 3: Have helped him.
Speaker 2: How were you able to legally be treated with these
Speaker 2: It's they're only legal, I believe in. You told me
Speaker 2: two states oregone in Colorado, correct, tell us, tell us
Speaker 2: the procedure and what did it do for you? Positively?
Speaker 4: Yeah? So, I mean just a back up like I
Speaker 4: was because of the way the laws are in this country.
Speaker 5: I was.
Speaker 4: I was in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, right and and it
Speaker 4: wasn't legal there at the time, and I was in
Speaker 4: my lowest point in that locked unit in Thesilydia, and
Speaker 4: the doctor there told me two things, right. He told me, One,
Speaker 4: this medication cocktail that you're on, the nine different pills
Speaker 4: that you're on is a lethal mix. This will literally
Speaker 4: kill you if you continue taking them. And then two
Speaker 4: he told me you should really try psychedelics. And that
Speaker 4: was that was the guidance that I got because he
Speaker 4: told me he couldn't tell me what to do for
Speaker 4: fear of losing his license, essentially right. So so I
Speaker 4: was left in the dark, essentially right and literally right,
Speaker 4: And I'm, you know, very particular about what I put
Speaker 4: in my body one and two fair to say, relatively
Speaker 4: straight edged. I didn't even drink in high school and
Speaker 4: I'm kind of a loser in that way. Ah, So
Speaker 4: I was completely taken it back, thank you, but just
Speaker 4: taking a back right, like I'm being told to take psychedelics,
Speaker 4: which are to me this thing that the hippie fringes
Speaker 4: of society did in the sixties. Right, I'm like, dude,
Speaker 4: what are you talking about? Right? And long story short,
Speaker 4: I really dug into the research and was justmpletely blown away.
Speaker 4: I did just study after study after study from very
Speaker 4: reputable places JOHNS Hopkins, NTU, Imperial College to London, and
Speaker 4: learned a lot about how to do this. The thing
Speaker 4: was is that I couldn't get into a clinical trial.
Speaker 4: I didn't have the money to go overseas, so what's left? Right?
Speaker 4: Luckily I had my my wife who's an icy universe,
Speaker 4: and I was able to procure you know, it's for
Speaker 4: those listeners. And I don't know if you know as well,
Speaker 4: like it's legal or student I legal is decriminalized for
Speaker 4: unlimited cultivation right now, and the municipalities in Massachusetts already
Speaker 4: and a plethora of other cities throughout the United States.
Speaker 4: So it's it's accessible, right, it is what I'm getting at.
Speaker 4: So I was able to access it myself and have
Speaker 4: a controlled experience at home with my wife who's a
Speaker 4: healthcare profession and that experience completely and yeah, it's saved
Speaker 4: my life. Saved my life, bar like no question, save
Speaker 4: my life.
Speaker 3: How long? How long is the experience? Is it like
Speaker 3: a couple of hours? Is it a day? How long is.
Speaker 4: It a couple of nights? It's yeah, roughly four to
Speaker 4: six hours for sillim speaking about psilocybin mushrooms and.
Speaker 3: And and do you need another person they.
Speaker 4: Are with you ideally, yes, absolutely, And in the regulated
Speaker 4: framework that's being pushed forward, yeah, it's best to have
Speaker 4: a someone there to administer it for you and help
Speaker 4: guide you through the experience. They act as a real
Speaker 4: grounding force for you when you're in you know, in
Speaker 4: the in the medicine, in the experience.
Speaker 6: What does this what does this product do to you
Speaker 6: during that experience? In other w it's this is something
Speaker 6: that that you feel and you literally feel, you know,
Speaker 6: like you the world is spinning or is it something
Speaker 6: that you basically endure.
Speaker 3: It's a relatively pleasant experience.
Speaker 2: And when you come out of it, your view of
Speaker 2: yourself and the world is a.
Speaker 3: More positive one. How would you describe it that way?
Speaker 4: I mean, that's a I think describing the psychedelic experience.
Speaker 4: It's very ineffable. It's really really challenging and I've tried
Speaker 4: a lot, believe me, and how to describe it. It's
Speaker 4: kind of unlike anything. It's not you know, it's not
Speaker 4: like drinking alcohol and getting a buzz. It's not like smoking,
Speaker 4: you know, anything like that. It's there are visual components
Speaker 4: of it. There are like some hallucinations. You know, that's
Speaker 4: like a scary word, but it's not that you're not
Speaker 4: going to like see a demon, right. And for me,
Speaker 4: I was I again, this is sounds odd, but I
Speaker 4: my grandfather passed away when I was twelve, and he
Speaker 4: was like my rock, my mentor, my coach, my biggest fan.
Speaker 4: And I met him in my experience and he at
Speaker 4: the time, right, I had such a low view of myself,
Speaker 4: like I hated myself, right, Like I was thinking of
Speaker 4: killing myself. And I felt so alone, you know, right,
Speaker 4: I felt like just on an island of my mind,
Speaker 4: in my in my mind. And and he took me
Speaker 4: through my different parts of my life and showed me,
Speaker 4: you know, oh one ye're four. Look at how loved
Speaker 4: and supported you are at this birthday party. Look at
Speaker 4: how loved and supported you are at this lacrosse tournament
Speaker 4: when you're eleven. Right, And they was just showing me
Speaker 4: how all of these dots were connected throughout my life.
Speaker 4: And and I, yeah, I don't know, I don't know
Speaker 4: how to describe it as it was.
Speaker 2: I have to ask you this CJ Okay, guys, I'm
Speaker 2: sure people in the audience. Do you feel that through
Speaker 2: this experience you met with your grandfather in what for
Speaker 2: him would be in afterlife?
Speaker 1: Uh?
Speaker 2: Or do you feel that your mind was released so
Speaker 2: things that your grandfather probably had told you when you
Speaker 2: were four and when you were eleven, uh, were positively reinforced.
Speaker 4: That's a great question. That's a great question. And and honestly,
Speaker 4: I've been grappling with that a lot myself. Candidly, I
Speaker 4: I I I do believe it's a little bit of
Speaker 4: the ladder, you know, Uh he has you know I
Speaker 4: he yeah, I mean he was. He was that guy,
Speaker 4: you know, my mentor and told me all of these
Speaker 4: lessons throughout my entire life, you know, play the game
Speaker 4: the right way, hand the ball the rest when you score,
Speaker 4: celebrate with her boys in the locker room after the game, right,
Speaker 4: And it was just a class act and and kind
Speaker 4: of instilled all those lessons in me, uh, from from
Speaker 4: my time growing up. But but I yeah, I I
Speaker 4: I don't know. I wish that I did. I've definitely
Speaker 4: been grappling with not a lot myself.
Speaker 2: All right, let me take the pressure off you here
Speaker 2: for a second, and let's we got to go to
Speaker 2: a newscast, and in the meantime, we're going to invite
Speaker 2: people to call six one, seven thirty, Triple eight, nine
Speaker 2: to nine, ten thirty, six one seven, nine thirty. Feel
Speaker 2: free call if you have a question, that's great. If
Speaker 2: you have if you want to make an argument to
Speaker 2: the pro con that's fine. But I'd like you to focus,
Speaker 2: be guest focused, is what I'm asking my callers to
Speaker 2: do this evening. We will have a conversation on Friday night, uh,
Speaker 2: forty eight hours from now, actually, excuse me.
Speaker 3: More than forty seventy two hours from now.
Speaker 2: Let me get my math right here Friday night at
Speaker 2: nine o'clock with CJ uh and with doctor Gami who
Speaker 2: who was with us about ten days ago, Doctor Nasier
Speaker 2: Gami UH, who takes.
Speaker 3: A very different view of this.
Speaker 2: And it will be a civil conversation, not a debate,
Speaker 2: kind of a discussion, conversation, and we hope that will
Speaker 2: help you decide as to how you want are going
Speaker 2: to vote on ballot initiative question. For as you can tell,
Speaker 2: my guest CJ. Lacanti feels very definitely yes and doctor
Speaker 2: Gami expressed very definite no. So there's not probably a
Speaker 2: lot of overlap and agreement, but I think we'll have
Speaker 2: a great conversation on Friday night at nine o'clock. Back
Speaker 2: on Nightside with my guest, who's a yes vote on
Speaker 2: proposition for a limited legalization and regulation of certain natural
Speaker 2: psychedelic substances.
Speaker 3: CJ. Laconte. Back on Nightside after.
Speaker 1: This, You're on night Side with Dan Ray on w
Speaker 1: B Boston's news radio.
Speaker 3: My guest the CJ. Leconte.
Speaker 2: He's a graduate of West Point, has an NBA from
Speaker 2: the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He's currently
Speaker 2: enrolled at the Kennedy School of Government, and he is
Speaker 2: an advocate for Question four on the Massachusetts ballot this fall.
Speaker 2: Let us get right to phone calls and we'll talk
Speaker 2: to as many people as we can between now and
Speaker 2: ten o'clock. Let me start off with Thomas and Quincy. Thomas,
Speaker 2: your first this hour on night Side with my guest, CJ.
Speaker 3: Leconte.
Speaker 7: Hi, guys, should I turn the radio the speaker of.
Speaker 2: I think it's a good idea as sure that My
Speaker 2: producer Dan told you to turn that radio down because
Speaker 2: you'll be distracted if you right.
Speaker 7: Right now, go ready ahead, tight, I'm Thomas. Hi, mister
Speaker 7: Dan Ry, first and foremost, you are one of DCL men,
Speaker 7: right that carried the radio news, but you carried the
Speaker 7: television news with that redhead flat top. But anyway, we
Speaker 7: get to mister C representative for possibly alternative H treatment
Speaker 7: for Depression obsession PTSD and and the kind and the like.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that you you kind of have have
Speaker 2: covered the waterfront here? Do you do you have a
Speaker 2: question for for my guest?
Speaker 7: You said that I covered the waterfront. I am a
Speaker 7: long showman and I was gonna bring that up the
Speaker 7: last strike. I've been a long showman for twenty two years.
Speaker 7: I suffer from PTSD. My question is this, Uh, I'm
Speaker 7: microdos right, Ah.
Speaker 2: I don't know what microdose means? What what what are
Speaker 2: you referring.
Speaker 4: To is a small amount of psilocybin?
Speaker 2: Yeah, that I was involved that everybody else was involved in.
Speaker 7: Dan Mister Dan, Mister Dan Ray, I would never tell
Speaker 7: you that, uh micro dosing. H. We have to find equilibrium,
Speaker 7: right and tripping and all that and masculine. I tell
Speaker 7: you I suffer from PTSD. I don't know. Maybe I
Speaker 7: don't know. I suffer from a loss. I don't know. Maybe,
Speaker 7: But have.
Speaker 3: You talked to you doctor, Tom?
Speaker 2: Have you talked with a psychologist or have you sought
Speaker 2: professional help?
Speaker 7: No, I don't have a PCP, a PHP. I don't
Speaker 7: have that because I only lost by seventy hours if
Speaker 7: I could have had that.
Speaker 3: But no, But Tom, just listen to me for a second.
Speaker 2: I'm asking you whether or not you've ever, you know,
Speaker 2: gone to a psychologist, a psychiatrist and talked about your problems.
Speaker 3: How did you get No, that's a big note. Okay, enough, No,
Speaker 3: I have it.
Speaker 7: Unfortunately, I have it, and I think that's my next step.
Speaker 3: I hope, I hope it has to be.
Speaker 7: Of Course, I'm a proactive guy. I'm not calling to
Speaker 7: bring the show down. I'm calling it to let's let's
Speaker 7: let's look at these alternative roots.
Speaker 2: Because okay, so you're on the Yeah, okay, c J One,
Speaker 2: Why did you say?
Speaker 4: Yeah, absolutely, Thomas, thank you so much for for calling
Speaker 4: him in and really appreciate it. I think that, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 4: and and and really apparent and really appreciate the work
Speaker 4: that you do and can can sympathize with the with
Speaker 4: their situation. Brother, I mean I wasn't very similar waves.
Speaker 4: You know, we all no, no, yeah, exactly. We all
Speaker 4: struggle here and and uh, you know, not being able
Speaker 4: to reach out to anybody, or not feeling like you
Speaker 4: can reach out to anybody, not even have it. I
Speaker 4: mean I when I got out of the military, I
Speaker 4: had no idea how to you set up an appointment
Speaker 4: with a PCP, let alone, how to find a therapist,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean. So I definitely feel you
Speaker 4: there and and rough tough. Yeah, it's tough.
Speaker 7: I mean I think that's why I have undiagnosed PTSD,
Speaker 7: undiagnosed mental illness.
Speaker 3: In the like.
Speaker 7: And but listen, a show like this, mister dan Ray,
Speaker 7: you are on the cutting edge, avant god of mental
Speaker 7: health and awareness.
Speaker 3: I'm going to hang out.
Speaker 2: I appreciate it, and I hope you continue to listen.
Speaker 2: Thank you right back at you.
Speaker 7: Absolutely well, well, can I get that.
Speaker 3: For first time?
Speaker 2: Call always here, We'll get the digital audience laws here absolutely.
Speaker 7: Mister cg a West point to thank you for your.
Speaker 3: Good night.
Speaker 2: Well, as you can see, there are a lot of
Speaker 2: people out there who might benefit from this. Let's continue
Speaker 2: our conversation. Let me go to Andrea and act and
Speaker 2: she's been holding on a long time Andrew, I'm going
Speaker 2: to get you in here before the commercial break right ahead.
Speaker 8: Thank you for yourself and the prior an for serving
Speaker 8: our contry. I'm sure it's not easier, you know, coming
Speaker 8: back with sometimes the way that America is right now.
Speaker 8: I'm sorry for the trauma that you went through. So
Speaker 8: I'm a healthcare professional and I really believe in anything
Speaker 8: that treats or helps anyone with depression or any kind
Speaker 8: of always moss, so my understanding, and please correct me
Speaker 8: if a yes vote says that you can form an
Speaker 8: advisory committee for regulation. Yeah, and then number two was
Speaker 8: is anyone over twenty and can grow, use or possess?
Speaker 8: So I guess my question is why not just allow
Speaker 8: it an inpatient setting? Why take the chance of allowing
Speaker 8: someone to have hallucinations on the outside If there's no
Speaker 8: regulation committee at this time, like, why not take the
Speaker 8: step to have a committee and then have studies and
Speaker 8: then all loot once it's you know, people aren't jumping
Speaker 8: in front of trains, are seeing bats flying or you know.
Speaker 8: And I know that the VA, unfortunately is very very
Speaker 8: you know, it's a difficult place because there's so you know,
Speaker 8: healthcare today it's just very difficult to you know, there's
Speaker 8: so many people trying to get into.
Speaker 4: The system, but it's not the most supportive.
Speaker 3: A great question, Andrea. Let's let's see J respond to that.
Speaker 3: It's a it's a great question. Go ahead, c J. Yeah.
Speaker 4: So why the home grow is is in the ballot measure? Is?
Speaker 4: I mean, it's the AMAS official recommendation is for the
Speaker 4: elimination of all criminal penalties for possession of psychedelics for
Speaker 4: personal use. And in fact, I would actually argue that
Speaker 4: the home Growth provision is actually providing a framework to
Speaker 4: what is already happening all around us right here in Massachusetts,
Speaker 4: you know, I mean eight municipalities have already allowed unlimited
Speaker 4: cultivation for personal use. So what this ballot measure does
Speaker 4: is actually standardize and narrow those parameters on a statewide basis.
Speaker 4: And there haven't been any issues in those eight municipalities yet.
Speaker 4: And I think that the criminalization of natural psychedelics really
Speaker 4: fuels the black market. It does not prevent people from
Speaker 4: accessing psychedelics, but it does force them to navigate a
Speaker 4: very risky underground market or travel out of state or
Speaker 4: to a different country. And you know what this does,
Speaker 4: is it allows people to have an open and honest
Speaker 4: conversation with health care providers such as yourself. You know,
Speaker 4: for me personally, I wasn't able to talk to a
Speaker 4: doctor about this because when I tried to open up about, hey,
Speaker 4: I'm thinking about taking psychedelics, I was told, don't talk
Speaker 4: about that, You're going to take your your VA benefits
Speaker 4: are going to get taken away.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 4: So so what this does is allow people to have
Speaker 4: those conversations with their doctors and then, you know, God forbid, right,
Speaker 4: something does go wrong when you are under the influence
Speaker 4: of a psychedelic and you need help, isn't it better
Speaker 4: to make the call to an EMT, make the call
Speaker 4: to nine one one without the fear of being arrested
Speaker 4: without you know. So that's kind of that. That's kind
Speaker 4: of why the Home grow Personal Use Provision is in
Speaker 4: the in the balot no no, and thank you.
Speaker 8: I get the whole regulations over regulations, over regulation, but
Speaker 8: why haven't they already sent up an advisory com many
Speaker 8: who have tested, you know, especially here in Boston and
Speaker 8: Massachusetts with Harvard and m I T and others, to
Speaker 8: make sure that it's safe.
Speaker 2: Well, there's a real that's a real political question. Andrea,
Speaker 2: let me tell you, the legislature probably is not going
Speaker 2: to be on a cutting edge on something like that.
Speaker 2: And I think that there's a lot within the medical community,
Speaker 2: and we'll talk with them, uh doctor Nasa Gami, uh
Speaker 2: with with CJ on Friday night, and I hope you'll
Speaker 2: listen at nine o'clock, because, uh, this is not a
Speaker 2: drug that's recognized by the DEA. It's still on as
Speaker 2: I understand that, and I'm not an expert, it's on
Speaker 2: the DEA uh proscribed list.
Speaker 3: And as a consequence, a lot of doctors and a lot.
Speaker 2: Of medical institutions don't want to jeopardize their their relationship
Speaker 2: with the government by getting involved in something like this.
Speaker 3: Fair statement, c J.
Speaker 4: Question, I question.
Speaker 7: One thing you can get it in patient?
Speaker 4: Is that correct? And go in the sight?
Speaker 7: No? No, no, no, okay.
Speaker 4: No, yeah, that's wheah you have to yeah, yeah, you
Speaker 4: have SJ.
Speaker 2: It was my characterization fear in terms of why the
Speaker 2: hesitancy of the medical establishment.
Speaker 4: Probably oh yeah, yeah, absolutely absolutely. Yeah.
Speaker 8: And young kids though, we're going to be responsible not
Speaker 8: to pass it on to like high school kids. It's
Speaker 8: their only twenty one I guess I don't trying to
Speaker 8: say yeah, well.
Speaker 2: Again, we're probably gonna probably Andrews, I'm up way past
Speaker 2: my break because I didn't want you to hold on
Speaker 2: much longer, and unfortunately I have.
Speaker 3: To take a break.
Speaker 2: But we're going to get back to this on Friday
Speaker 2: night with both points of view with CJ along with
Speaker 2: doctor nir got me of tough medical uh, and we'll
Speaker 2: we'll go to some of these questions and if you feel,
Speaker 2: because you have a real interest in this, you want
Speaker 2: to get involved in calling on Friday night, you're more
Speaker 2: than not going to do that as well.
Speaker 8: Okay, Oh, thank you, and thank you J.
Speaker 4: I'm so thank you much.
Speaker 2: That's Andrew back on Nightside six one seven thirty six
Speaker 2: Month seven nine thirty will conclude this this hour with
Speaker 2: my guest c J. Leconte again West Point graduate has
Speaker 2: a degree from Wharton and NBA from Wharton and is
Speaker 2: currently at the Kennedy.
Speaker 3: School and he is dealing with and an.
Speaker 2: Advocate for psychedelic substances, the the limited legalization and regulation
Speaker 2: which is question for in the Massachusetts ballot this fall.
Speaker 3: Back on Nightside right after.
Speaker 1: This, now back to Dan ray Line from The Window World.
Speaker 1: Night Side studios on w b Z the news radio.
Speaker 2: I'm going to get one more caller in here, and
Speaker 2: that is Patrick from Charlestown. Patrick, you're on with with
Speaker 2: my guest c J. Lacontent do write hid Patrick?
Speaker 7: How you doing?
Speaker 3: C J?
Speaker 4: Hey, Patrick, We're good.
Speaker 7: How you doing?
Speaker 3: Little T tell you what your question of comment?
Speaker 9: My My question in comment CJ is a you know,
Speaker 9: I'm a I'm gonna lie of the Kennedy school myself,
Speaker 9: and I have to say, CJ, I'm disappointed in you. No,
Speaker 9: I don't think any reasonable person believes the way.
Speaker 3: Let's take it a judgment free zone tonight. Patrick. Okay,
Speaker 3: you don't really know him.
Speaker 2: You don't know, but he's yeah, I don't know that.
Speaker 2: You have that right to be disappointed. You can disagree
Speaker 2: with him, but don't be disappointed. Go right ahead.
Speaker 9: Well, I do have a right to say I've dealt
Speaker 9: with a lot of the carnage of the drug crisis
Speaker 9: in Massachusetts and seeing what it's led to and and listen, listen,
Speaker 9: mister Laconti, you're going to be remembered like Francis Forbes
Speaker 9: in the Sackler family. When we have people who are
Speaker 9: suffering from mental breakdowns and suicides and deaths resulting from this,
Speaker 9: and you will be long gone with Uh what did
Speaker 9: you You formed an LLC? Right, you formed an LLC
Speaker 9: to to profit from this, Right, it's formed that. What
Speaker 9: what's it? Out of Duxbury? So that's your LC? Listen Loo, Kanti, Lookanti,
Speaker 9: we're onto you, buddy. You're going to kill him? O?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know what, Patrick?
Speaker 2: You want to make it personally, we'll a little end
Speaker 2: the conversation. You got the plank ready there. I think
Speaker 2: Patrick needs to take a swim. It would be very
Speaker 2: very helpful, I think to get him going. Here we go, Patrick,
Speaker 2: enjoy see Jay. I have no idea what what that
Speaker 2: gentleman was referring to making some pretty interesting allegations. We
Speaker 2: have no idea who he is, no idea what his
Speaker 2: experience is. You have explained your experience to us fully
Speaker 2: and totally. It's pretty clear to me that from your
Speaker 2: life experience, this is something that that you feel very
Speaker 2: deeply about. And I'm sorry that I ended on what
Speaker 2: I would call a negative note, but as I said
Speaker 2: to my producer before we put Patrick on, I said,
Speaker 2: Patrick is always it's one of these guys who is
Speaker 2: often mistaken, but never in doubt. He will have a
Speaker 2: strong point of view whatever the issue is. And I
Speaker 2: figured he's either going to be one hundred percent behind
Speaker 2: you or he's going to accuse you of all sorts
Speaker 2: of skull dodgery and motivation. Uh. And I just if
Speaker 2: you want to address anything that he said to feel
Speaker 2: free if if you don't, we can just move on.
Speaker 4: No, I mean disappointed in me for seeking out, healing
Speaker 4: and saving my life. So yeah, I you know, I
Speaker 4: take that for what it is. I think that's an
Speaker 4: interesting and interesting.
Speaker 2: I suspect that that you would be more than happy
Speaker 2: to compare your military service and your academic records with Patrick.
Speaker 2: That's the thing that's beautiful. The callers can remain anonymous
Speaker 2: in these programs CJ. And even even with the caution
Speaker 2: of telling him that, I don't know how he has
Speaker 2: a right to be disappointed in someone. There's a lot
Speaker 2: of people who I disagree with on different issues, but
Speaker 2: I've never felt so superior to other people then I
Speaker 2: would say I'm disappointed. I might disagree with someone, but
Speaker 2: it's just it's just if folks. If folks want more
Speaker 2: information on the yes position, and we will have you
Speaker 2: with us on Friday Night with doctor Gami.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 2: And if you have any questions on how that's going
Speaker 2: to go, I explained to today, feel free to reach
Speaker 2: back to me, as doctor Gami is more than willing,
Speaker 2: uh more than able to reach back to me as well.
Speaker 2: It'll be a civil and a polite conversation and there'll
Speaker 2: be no spurious allegations against against anyone. How can folks
Speaker 2: get in touch with the Yes Yes on four committee?
Speaker 3: If if such a committee exists?
Speaker 4: Uh? Yes on four? Is uh m a for mental
Speaker 4: health uh dot org. So that's m a f O
Speaker 4: R mental health dot org And uh yeah, that's probably
Speaker 4: the best way to get involved. Yeah. I would say
Speaker 4: I would give out my email and you could reach
Speaker 4: out directly to me. But I don't know if people
Speaker 4: like Patrick Patrick out there, I might take that back now,
Speaker 4: So but yeah you can.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, I think go through the group and go
Speaker 3: through the institution.
Speaker 2: And it's just disappointing that people, uh, you know, through
Speaker 2: the anonymity of a telephone call, they can make allegations
Speaker 2: which have no basis in fact, and even if there's
Speaker 2: a basis in fact for them to question someone's motive
Speaker 2: it's totally unfair. So I apologize for Patrick, but probably
Speaker 2: not the first or the last time I'll have to
Speaker 2: apologize for him. And I'll look forward to talking with
Speaker 2: you and doctor Gammy on on Friday night at nine o'clock.
Speaker 3: Thanks so much, CJ.
Speaker 2: You so much appreciate it, and thank you, and thank
Speaker 2: you very much for your service.
Speaker 3: By the way that I should.
Speaker 4: Have well, thank you for your service.
Speaker 3: We'll be back here. Thanks again, Patrick, CJ.
Speaker 2: We'll be back on night side and we're going to
Speaker 2: talk right after the ten o'clock news at Emerson College.
Speaker 3: Poster Spencer Kimball.
Speaker 2: There's an election next week, and around this time next
Speaker 2: Tuesday night, we may have a pretty good idea who's
Speaker 2: going to be the next president of the United States.
Speaker 2: We might get a little bit of an insight from
Speaker 2: Spencer right after the ten o'clock news.
Speaker 3: Stay with us.
Speaker 2: We're calling all people of interest in politics right after
Speaker 2: the ten