On Wednesday evening, the Student Association of Psychedelic Studies stood before the Michigan Court of Claims to sue the University of Michigan over its denial of a permit for their annual Entheofest in the Diag. The court ruled in favor of SAPS, permitting them to hold the festival. Entheofest aims to promote the benefits of plant medicines and celebrate the five-year anniversary of the decriminalization of psychedelics in Ann Arbor.
In July, SAPS submitted its application to the University for a permit to host their fifth-annual Entheofest on the Diag. In early August, they received a denial letter.
Jim Salame, Entheofest founder and a SAPS collaborator, told The Michigan Daily he was surprised when he heard the news, especially given that Hash Bash received a permit.
“It was kind of a shock, because they let Hash Bash happen,” Salame said. “They didn’t give us any inclination that anything happened last year at Entheofest that would even give consideration to denying the permit. So it was shocking.”
In an interview with The Daily, Emily Berriman, Social Work student and SAPS president said the reasons for denial could’ve come from a fear of loss of federal funding due to violations of the Drug Free School and Communities Act.
“In their formal denial, they said that we plan to go against University policy,” Berriman said. “They said that our risk mitigation strategies were insufficient. … They ended up saying later on that they were afraid of federal funding. There’s this thing called the Drug Free School and Communities Act and they feared federal funding (cuts) if there’s drugs on campus again.”
The University wrote it denied a Diag permit for the event due to a desire to comply under state and federal law and to not host or promote illegal substances on their property. The administration also feared such a large gathering could become unruly and out of control. Salame said the University is likely worried about the risk of individuals bringing illegal substances to the event.
“They also said it was our fault for the fact that people came to campus and brought these illegal substances and sold them on campus,” Salame said. “There’s no selling of anything, much less things that are Schedule 1 substances, on campus, according to University policy, but they really relied on us to do a lot of that policing.”
After their permit was denied, SAPS filed an appeal. During the appeal process, Berriman said SAPS wrote a letter to explain how they would address the University’s perceived dangers and risks associated with the event.
“We wrote a detailed letter about what we would do to mitigate against risk, like putting out social media posts reminding people that it’s illegal to solicit on the Diag or use substances on the Diag,” Berriman said. “None of our nonprofits or businesses sell anything on the Diag. No one gives away drugs, no one even sells T-shirts. So everyone with us is incredibly vetted and responsible. … We offered to have a communication with campus police to help identify individuals who are violating this policy.”
The University still denied SAPS a permit. It was then that Berriman decided to file a lawsuit against the University, alleging violation of their First Amendment rights to assembly and seeking approval to host the Entheofest on the Diag. Initially, the case was brought to the Washtenaw County Circuit Court, but the judge withheld a decision and instead referred the case to the Michigan Court of Claims. The Court of Claims then ruled in SAPS’s favor.
Salame told The Daily Entheofest is not just an event that raises awareness and education on psychedelics, it’s also a celebration of milestones in the decriminalization of psychedelic plants and fungi.
“We’ve been doing an event with (SAPS) every year for the last four years, in the fall, every third Sunday in September, to celebrate plant medicines and mushrooms,” Salame said. “Along with celebrating the anniversary of the passing of the unanimous decision by the City Council in Ann Arbor to come up with a resolution to decriminalize these substances, and also to celebrate the fact that the city designated the whole month of September as ‘Entheogen, Plant and Fungi Awareness Month’ back in 2020.”
University spokesperson Brian Taylor wrote in an email to The Daily before the event that the University disagrees with the outcome of the lawsuit but would allow Entheofest to go on.
“The University is disappointed by, and disagrees with, the outcome,” Taylor wrote. “We will comply with the Order, however, and have reached out to the student organization to plan for Entheofest to take place on the Diag this Sunday.”
Entheofest was held Sunday, following the court’s ruling. Berriman told The Daily she hopes this victory helps inspire or encourage other students, organizations or regular community members to stand up to the University.
“I’ve been hoping that this could set a precedent for free speech on campus for all student orgs on campus,” Berriman said. “But also just setting a precedent for free speech in general, so it feels like it’s for Entheofest, but it goes beyond that a little bit.”
Daily News Editor Audrey Shabelski can be reached at audres@umich.edu.
