I promise, this article is about money and accepting payments in your business, but it’s also about much more. Who do you exchange money with?
I think of the timeless saying: “Your money is no good here,” which is both a sign of ultimate respect for someone you care deeply about and possibly someone you want absolutely nothing to do with.
No doubt, exchanging money with someone is an intimate affair and opens you up to legal and personal consequences, both good and bad.
What does money mean to you?
In some ways, money is just a tool, a universal medium of exchange, but in other ways, the value of the currency we exchange carries with it the collective wisdom (and folly) of every citizen that has come before us.
Money isn’t worth what it used to be.
These days, there are few topics with more financial controversy than how the feds are ignoring (and some would say discriminating against) states rights and their citizen’s ability to deal without obstruction in proven safe, effective and transformational compounds that this site aims to protect.
Inner Circle -- Decriminalizing Nature Since 2019
US President Richard Nixon’s war dog: Henry J. Anslinger used racially divisive campaigns and pseudoscience to instigate the “war on drugs” in the late 60s early 70s forcing countless minorities into the criminal “justice” system.
Since their scientific discovery in 1938, modern psychoactive compounds such as cannabis and other plant medicines have been under immense political scrutiny, preventing millions from accessing potentially life-changing therapeutics while criminalizing those who do.
As mounting clinical research studies point to their efficacy and relative safety, it is becoming increasingly clear that several compounds placed on the FDA Schedule I list (as part of the Nixon-era war on drugs) hold tremendous medicinal and therapeutic value.
Time and time again these substances have repeatedly demonstrated themselves to be relatively safe compared to what is available over the counter or via prescription pharmaceuticals.
Despite the overwhelming supportive evidence and States openly exercising their rights to allow these compounds to be sold in a regulated way – it is still not technically federally legal to transact in these categories.
Our Reason For Being
The Inner Circle platform was created in response to bridge the formidable gap between leading-edge science and outdated or misguided political opinion. That’s not to say that these powerful compounds are not without risk, but there has been staggering societal damage over the last 60 years.
Damage that we aim to help repair.
The story about the Nixon/Ansligner driven war on drugs and the racially driven, pseudo-science-fueled propaganda campaign that drove its adoption can be learned about here.
In many ways, this is a story about the Nixon administration throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and how banks and federal regulators are perpetuating propagandized federal policy to this today.
Mind The Money Gap - Discrimination Is Equal In Plant Medicine
Today, your business doesn’t have to be “plant-touching” for a merchant processor’s algorithm to black-list you without any explanation, or obligation of reinstatement. This rings true for professional services like accountants, marketing agencies, and other businesses that don’t even touch the plants.
As a membership platform committed to legally and ethically supporting the legitimization of this industry, we have recently begun navigating the financial gray zone, and what we’ve experienced has been disappointing, to say the least.
Large banks cow tail to federal policies and do so in a way that shows an obvious disregard for our time and resources. We place trust in their platforms only to have the rug reactively pulled out from under us in an area that is vital to our businesses.
While not even plant-touching, our business was subject to blanket discrimination by several financial institutions you have probably heard of. We were rejected out of hand, but only after we had spent hours setting up our accounts and connecting our bank accounts to their merchant systems, etc.
In other words, many of these financial companies are blindly discriminating based on generic keyword searches and causing material harm to businesses in the process via wasted time, misguided advice and lost revenue.
I like to call it “bathwater politics” or “bathwater policy creation.”
The Future is Written by Those Who Adapt and Overcome
The absence of proactive leadership at the federal level has caused an entire financial industry to pop up in the last several years, providing a new level of protection for business owners who work hard to procure high-quality products, adhere to State laws and earn customers’ trust.
A few courageous and pioneering leaders have decided to step into the fray and say: “Yes, these compounds are safe and effective, and I will make it possible for businesses to provide them to my community despite the risks that these outdated policies perpetuate.”
Here’s What You Need to Know:
- Accepting Credit Cards Is Possible – Because of recent innovations, it is possible (and now quite easy) to accept credit card payments online for any business legally selling, providing, or supporting the distribution of these compounds within their County/State.
- It’s Legal – The processes we use does not break any laws and puts the power back into the hands of the business owner while protecting your data in ways not previously possible.
- Ensures Privacy Protection – The process we use protects your customer’s sensitive data while keeping your business operations (and data) behind a privacy wall and safe from your merchant’s desire to “hoover up” all the valuable data you are willing to give them. This also protects you from further blanket discrimination and fear-based, reactive, time-wasting policies.
This Is Not a Time To Pick Sides
If you are a member of law enforcement or an elected official and care about the mental and emotional health of your communities, I encourage you to educate your team about the litany of health benefits that these wrongfully scheduled compounds offer.
If we are to leave behind a better world for our children, we need to come together and bring common sense to the table. Now is not a time to perpetuate the often well-meaning but scientifically misguided “war on drugs,” or to criminalize people rightfully seeking relief, medicine, and treatment.
Many who lack education and better options are dying far too young from the highly toxic pharmaceuticals that have been widely promoted via corporate greed and pop culture for the last 40 years. Their lives and futures are in our hands, and we now have the tools and power to do something about it.
If you are fortunate enough to have ample healthcare and cash for co-pays, please recognize your privilege and consider exercising compassion for those who do not.
I am not suggesting that pharmaceuticals should be barred from modern society, as many of them are essential for treating patients.
But as a passionate student of history, I can confidently look back over the last 60 years and draw a clear path from Nixon/Anslinger’s bathwater prohibition policies directly to the opioid epidemic and related issues many of our communities face today.
Now is the time to recognize that safe and reliable access to nature’s pharmacy is a fundamental human right.
At scale, these compounds are affordable and, when used correctly, can address several root issues related to mental health, depression, and addiction.
Unfortunately, the health benefits and low production costs are likely the same reasons pharmaceutical companies and lobbyists are likely to continue to influence policy in a way that prevents every day people form accessing nature’s pharmacy.
It’s Not Too Late to Be on The Right Side of History
If you are in big pharma, consider this the writing on the wall.
The genie is out of the bottle, and it’s time to use your resources for the good of humanity, not just the wallets of your shareholders.
Addiction, depression, and mental health issues affect people from all strata of society. And we are finally beginning to understand we have a revolutionary (and ironically illegal) solution on our hands.
Today, most laws being broken around drug policy are perpetuated because of the misguided and deceptive acts deployed by an admittedly questionable administration 60 years ago.
Enforcing these laws also eats up valuable law enforcement resources on criminalizing sick people seeking help the best way they know how.
It also thwarts entrepreneurs and passionate stewards of the land.
In one final ironic crescendo, these compounds and the high organic standards that most states now require for their production reinforce sustainable agriculture practices, nourish our lands and provide real jobs. Imagine a world where in demand, high-margin products have a high likelihood of producing a positive outcome at all levels.
If we would only get out of our own way.
It’s time we changed the narrative in government, in our board rooms, and in our hospitals and care centers.
*Lawlessness is not the goal, and we do not support that on this platform.*
How You Can Help Without Reinventing the Wheel
From federal to local, we need your help.
If you are in the emerging plant medicine industry or are thinking about starting a business in this category, we welcome you to consider applying to join our network.
It’s one of the few plant medicine professional networks you can apply to without getting on a waiting list, or paying absurdly high annual dues .
We are committed to keeping our network small, powerful, and full of proven change-makers.
Odds are our members have already solved the problems you are facing growing your business/career in this space.
There is no need to reinvent the wheel.
The “pioneering” has already been done, and many of our processes are already proven and profitable—processes we want to share with you.
Not only that, more funding for good ideas in this space is available than ever before.
If you are a member of law enforcement, an elected official, or you work for one, we encourage you to get in touch with us and learn how we are committed to moving sensible policy forward.
We definitely could use your help.
Consider Our Founder’s "DNA"
Inner Circle Mastermind is a mission-driven network of business professionals committed to ensuring our communities have safe, legal, and affordable access to nature’s pharmacy.
Our founding members are comprised of established business owners and team builders.
We recognize and respect that organizations, communities, and societies evolve one well-placed step at a time. Steps we are here to help our members take.
Two of our founding members, Kyleigha and Erai Beckmann, are partly responsible for the legalization of CBD for Brazil. You can read about that here. We know what it takes to roll out new policies and the infrastructure needed to support those opportunities.
A huge thanks to courageous pioneers and scientists like those at Johns Hopkins who are committed to an evidence-based approach to demystifying these compounds.
The promise their research implies is far-reaching for helping us transition into a healthy, balanced, and “abundance-based” paradigm.
Without brave innovators and pioneers like Kyleigha, Erai, and those at Johns Hopkins, we would not be able to make a stand for humanity and the plants that have been part of our evolution for as long as history itself.
"When the Last Tree Is Cut Down, the Last Fish Eaten, and the Last Stream Poisoned, You Will Realize That You Cannot Eat Money."
What Do You Believe is Possible?
It is now statistically evident that this beautiful planet we all share can provide ample food, water and shelter for everyone if we are intelligent, sensible, and focused on serving one another.
To us, as leaders, this starts by recognizing that hurt people are the ones that hurt people, and those who cause damage are usually damaged themselves.
Yes, we must protect our societies from violent people, but criminalizing non-violent people for seeking medication and relief only burdens future generations with our short-sighted and reactive policies.
We are ALL on this race toward 10 billion souls living on “spaceship” earth together and there is plenty of room for everyone.
Is it time to raise your standards on what you believe is possible for you, your family, and your community?
Nobody wants (or needs to) live on a polluted planet and nobody needs to be sick.
If you doubt or disagree with this statement, I respectfully challenge you to consider what outdated or limiting beliefs you have inherited along the way.
I also challenge you (as a fellow leader) to consider raising your standards around what you believe humanity is capable of in this amazing time we are all fortunate to live in.
It is precisely your dynamic vision (and ability to translate that vision to your team) that will determine how effective you are as a leader in your organization, home, and community.
Our shared reality is whatever we have the courage to create it to be.
As this article is intentionally published on Sept 11th, I hope we all take time to consider our own policies on how we do business, who we do business with, and why.
World trade is the touchstone of the global economy we all do business in, and ignoring or disregarding the least of us (in our own countries or some remote village) is a cycle I will do my best to ensure that our society does not repeat.
Let’s choose kindness.
Let’s choose simplicity.
Let’s choose people over profits.
And let’s choose common sense.
This planet can provide enough for everyone, and the low-cost healing effects that plant medicines offer to prove that an abundance-based economy is within our reach on a faster timeline than most currently realize. That is why it’s critical that we remain proactive in our policymaking.
The cat is out of the bag, the writing is on the wall, and the science is on our side.
This industry is growing and we need your voice at the Inner Circle round table. We price membership on a sliding scale, and a director of our board will personally review all applications.
Is Inner Circle Right For You?
At Inner Circle, our network is your network.
Kyle Dammann
Kyle Dammann is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, team builder, and automation expert. After a family member fell into a life-threatening addiction to prescription medication and his own experiences with plant medicine, he decided to dedicate his time and skills to legitimizing and accelerating the birth of the plant medicine industry. Kyle believes that access to nature’s pharmacy is a fundamental human right and that all adults should have safe, reliable access to these proven and safe compounds.
