Past Events

  • Read more: PULSE Psychedelic Law and Religion Conference
    Feb 14

    PULSE Psychedelic Law and Religion Conference

    Sacred Rights: Psychedelics, Law, and Spirituality  2025 PULSE Conference Project on Psychedelic Use, Law, and Spiritual Experience (PULSE)  Scientific and commercial interest in psychedelics is exploding. In the flood of news about drug companies, clinical trials, and state and federal regulation, one might overlook the spiritual use of psychedelics. However, spiritual use long predates Western…

  • Read more: Five Years Later: A Book Talk on the Events of 2020
    Feb 13

    Five Years Later: A Book Talk on the Events of 2020

    This special event kicks off the Petrie-Flom Center’s 20th Anniversary year. Join us throughout 2025 to learn and gather inspiration for our next 20 years. Event Description Join us to reflect on a turbulent, world-changing year with an esteemed panel of experts. COVID-19, political unrest, and a societal reckoning all contributed to “the year everything…

  • Read more: Book Talk: The Constitution of the War on Drugs
    Nov 21

    Book Talk: The Constitution of the War on Drugs

    Event Description Join us for Book Talk: The Constitution of the War on Drugs, as author David Pozen is joined by Mason Marks and Jeannie Suk Gersen to discuss the lost history of constitutional challenges to punitive drug laws and consider possible future paths open to drug reformers today. Please note: The Constitution of the War on…

  • Read more: Introducing PULSE: Psychedelic Use, Law, and Spiritual Experience
    Oct 24

    Introducing PULSE: Psychedelic Use, Law, and Spiritual Experience

    Event Description This academic year, the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School proudly launched a new project called PULSE: Psychedelic Use, Law, and Spiritual Experience. PULSE convenes legal and religious scholars and practitioners with diverse perspectives to discuss how law, policy, and ethics affect the religious and spiritual…

  • Read more: Fall 2024 Health Law Workshops
    Dec 1

    Fall 2024 Health Law Workshops

    The Health Law Policy, Bioethics, and Biotechnology Workshop provides a forum for discussion of new scholarship in these fields from the world’s leading experts. The workshop is led by Professor I. Glenn Cohen, and presenters come from a wide range of disciplines and departments. Harvard graduate students may register to take the workshop for course…

  • Read more: Sentencing Children: Bridging Neuroscience, Justice, and Reform
    Oct 9

    Sentencing Children: Bridging Neuroscience, Justice, and Reform

    Event Description Join us for a thought-provoking discussion on the mass incarceration of children, adolescent neuroscience, and restorative justice. Our distinguished panelists—a judge, a psychologist, and a lawyer rooted in restorative justice —will share their expertise on how we can align justice systems with science and pave the way for more humane and effective pathways…

  • Read more: Petrie-Flom Center Open House: Health Law, Biotechnology, and the Future
    Sep 19

    Petrie-Flom Center Open House: Health Law, Biotechnology, and the Future

    Event Description  Are you interested in health law and health policy topics? You’re invited to the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics’ 2024 Open House.  The Petrie-Flom Center is an interdisciplinary research program at Harvard Law School dedicated to scholarly research at the intersection of law and health policy. For our 20th anniversary year we…

  • Read more: Petrie-Flom Center 2024 Annual Conference: Law and Policy of Psychedelic Medicine
    Jun 25

    Petrie-Flom Center 2024 Annual Conference: Law and Policy of Psychedelic Medicine

    Conference Description A major sea change seems likely on the legal treatment of psychedelic medicines – including psilocybin, a substance produced by many species of fungi, 3,4-Methyl​enedioxy​methamphetamine (MDMA), a synthetic substance colloquially referred to as ecstasy, and mescaline, produced by several species of cactus, including peyote, a sacrament of Native American churches. As Phase II…

  • Read more: Speaking of Psychedelics: A Conversation with Ayelet Waldman
    Jun 24

    Speaking of Psychedelics: A Conversation with Ayelet Waldman

    Event Description  In 2017, New York Times best-selling author Ayelet Waldman (HLS ’91) published a groundbreaking memoir: A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage, and My Life. This intimate, courageous, and humorous book describes Waldman’s experience consuming very small doses of the psychedelic drug LSD. Ms. Waldman engaged…

  • Read more: Neuroscience and Cannabis: Implications for Law and Policy
    Apr 18

    Neuroscience and Cannabis: Implications for Law and Policy

    Event Description The legalization of cannabis has raised significant questions for law and public policy. In her annual lecture, neuroscientist Dr. Yasmin Hurd explored the science of cannabis, CBD, and the future of substance use disorder treatment. Dr. Stephanie Tabashneck moderated a discussion and audience Q&A about the implications for law and policy.  Panelists This event is part of…