The University of Michigan is standing by its decision to deny a student group a permit for the Entheofest psychedelic plant and shroom festival on campus.
In response, the Student Association for Psychedelic Studies is planning to sue the university, said President Emily Berriman, a UM social work graduate student.
“We are disappointed that it has come to this, but we are confident in our case,” she said.
UM officials did not respond to requests for comment, but Berriman shared a copy of the letter she said she received from the university Monday night, Aug. 25, rejecting her group’s appeal of the permit denial. It’s the university’s final decision, the letter states, saying UM cannot approve reserving the Diag for the fifth-annual edition of the event in September.
The university cited concerns products such as “Shroomaid” and “Jack Frost shrooms” — “purporting to contain substances that are illegal under both Michigan and federal law” — were sold by unofficial vendors who showed up to last year’s Entheofest.
“As a federally funded institution, and as an institution that has a duty to create an environment free of illicit drugs for our faculty, staff and students, we cannot allow this pattern to continue,” the letter states. “Under your stewardship, and with your knowledge, the event for which you seek a reservation facilitates the sale of illegal substances on campus at the event — which the First Amendment categorically does not protect.”
Read more at MLive
