# legalpsychedelics.guide

Site grounding for agents without the legalpsychedelics.guide repository: its seven charter files, unchanged except that headings sit two levels lower and every term id the pinned version defines, in the frontmatter blocks too, is followed by its label from the pinned version. The YAML blocks are therefore for reading, not parsing; the repo files are the source.

- Domain: legalpsychedelics.guide
- Pins: editorial-charter@1.3.1, portfolio-icp@1.0.0
- Repo: f05890b5dbf683a57b539ff5568631c08e677845 (committed 2026-10-03T14:41:20-07:00)
- Built 2026-10-05T03:25:29+00:00
- Pages: https://taxonomy.tfw.bz/sites/legalpsychedelics.guide/

## BRAND.md

Version 1.1.1 · status draft · sha256 5fc1d68b32ae63fed99c1b3b206206d4ec1adb7047b48aa2a93401907c3cd263

```yaml
charter: 1
version: 1.1.1
profile: editorial-charter@1.3.1
domain: legalpsychedelics.guide
status: draft
reviewed_by: ""
archetype: charter:brand-archetype-sage (sage)
secondary_archetype: charter:brand-archetype-explorer (explorer)
claims:
  - id: c1
    text: The site is independent and not affiliated with any clinic, retailer, or advocacy organization.
    basis: charter:claim-basis-documented (documented)
    source: about.manifest.json copy.summary150; PRODUCT.md section Product Purpose
  - id: c2
    text: Every legal status on the site is dated and linked to its statute or regulator.
    basis: charter:claim-basis-documented (documented)
    source: "PRODUCT.md section Product Purpose and Design Principles; briefs/site.md site-specific rules; live homepage https://legalpsychedelics.guide/ method block (read 2026-10-03)"
```

### BRAND

#### Name and entity
legalpsychedelics.guide, published by Thomas Prommer (`about.manifest.json`, founded 2026-09-17 per the first commit). Entity home: https://legalpsychedelics.guide/en/about/. Contact comms@flywheel.bz.

#### Promise
For any psychedelic and any place, we state the legal category, the date we checked it, and the statute or regulator that says so.

#### Personality
The sage, with an explorer's curiosity: a botanist's notebook about the law. Curious, scholarly, precise. It names the exact legal category, keeps decriminalized, prescription-only and licensed program apart, and explains the history behind a status without taking a side.

#### Visual pointers
Field Notes direction in [DESIGN.md](DESIGN.md) (authoritative) and tokens in [design/tokens.json](design/tokens.json). No shadows, no psychedelic swirls, neon, pills or imagery that reads as use or sourcing.

#### Do / Don't
Do: put status first, then date, then source. Do: keep decriminalized, prescription-only and licensed program as separate categories. Do: describe legal frameworks and supervised settings only.
Don't: write advocacy copy in either direction, trip reports or "legal high" framing. Don't: describe use, sourcing, dosing or where to buy. Don't: state a legal status the repo cannot source, or invent an author or reviewer.

## VOICE.md

Version 1.0.1 · status draft · sha256 852bca7529ca3b0b2715b097bc1a39fd0a2463e0d5d8ecfb0e6e2cddd1674691

```yaml
charter: 1
version: 1.0.1
profile: editorial-charter@1.3.1
domain: legalpsychedelics.guide
status: draft
reviewed_by: ""
register: charter:voice-register-consumer (consumer)
person: charter:voice-person-third (third person)
languages: [en]
addresses: [legal-status-checkers, policy-press-watchers]
essence: Name the exact legal status, date it, then tell the story behind it.
```

<!-- ASSUMED DEFAULT, 2026-09-17: recommended voice option 'a. Field notes' from ~/reports/site-strategy/legalpsychedelics.guide.json, pending Tom's review in ~/reports/site-decisions/index.html. If Tom picks another voice this file is replaced. -->

### VOICE: legalpsychedelics.guide (Field notes)

> Loaded by /humanizer (Step 0) and the content publishing gate (drafting Step 1
> + humanizer Step 3). If absent, both fall back to generic mode.
> YMYL property: every page is review_required. Legal status is dated and linked to the statute or regulator.

#### 1. Identity & Register
- Voice owner / who speaks: legalpsychedelics.guide editorial team, third person; 'you' only when addressing what a reader can check
- Register: brand
- Language/locale: en (source), with de, es, fr, pt translations
- One-line essence: "Name the exact legal status, date it, then tell the story behind it."

#### 2. Audience
- Primary audience: mixed (curious adults, students, people who heard a headline)
- Reader's job-to-be-done: find out whether a substance is legal where they are and what that actually means
- Assume no legal training; always explain the difference between legal, decriminalized, prescription-only and licensed program.

#### 3. Tone Axes  (mark where this voice sits)
- Formal   ──●────  Casual
- Authority ─●─────  Peer
- Serious  ─●──────  Playful
- Concise  ──●────  Expansive
- Default editorial_track: factual

#### 4. Person, POV & Cadence
- Person: third person; 'you' only when addressing what a reader can check
- Sentence rhythm: medium length, precise; one legal fact per sentence; occasional longer sentence for history
- Paragraph length: 3 to 5 sentences
- Structural tics to keep / avoid: Keep: status in the first sentence, named legal category, dated check line, brief history or ethnobotany where relevant. Avoid: rhetorical questions, advocacy adjectives, exclamation marks.
- Every status statement carries a checked date and a link to the statute, regulation or regulator page.

#### 5. Lexicon
- Preferred terms: licensed program, decriminalized, Schedule I, prescription-only, supervised setting, regulator, status checked
- Banned phrases (beyond humanizer's generic list): "legal high", "shrooms are legal now", "miracle", "plant medicine" as a claim (only when quoting a statute that uses it), "trip", "dose", "source"
- Precision rules: never use "legal" when the correct term is "decriminalised", "deprioritised", "approved for research", "prescription only" or "licensed program". "Decriminalised" means penalties removed or reduced, not that sale is lawful.
- Capitalization & spelling rules: substance names lowercase (psilocybin, ketamine, ibogaine) except MDMA, DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, LSD; "Schedule I" capital S and Roman numeral; program names as the regulator writes them ("Oregon Psilocybin Services", "Natural Medicine Division"); en-US spelling ("decriminalized") on en pages.
- Domain-jargon level: Moderate. Legal terms allowed when defined in a clause on first use.
- Hard content rules: never describe use, sourcing, dosing, preparation or where to buy; describe legal frameworks and supervised settings only. No "legal highs" framing.

#### 6. E-E-A-T / Experience Claims  (anchors gate Step 7)
- Authentic experience this voice can claim: none. No personal use, trip reports, retreat visits or legal practice may be claimed or implied.
- Named author + bio source: editorial team byline; legal pages list a named reviewer only once a real attorney or drug policy researcher has reviewed them.
- Quantified credential for bios: the reviewer's bar admission or academic position, verifiable. Leave blank until recruited.
- Citation posture: Primary legal sources first: statutes, regulations, regulator pages, court decisions, official ballot results. Journalism only for context and always dated. Every status line links its source.
- Original-data hooks this voice owns: the dated jurisdiction status table (substance by jurisdiction, with status category, statute link and last-checked date), and a change log of status updates.
- "What I got wrong" angle: a public corrections log when a status was stated wrongly or went stale, with the date fixed.

#### 7. Gold-Standard Examples  (few-shot anchor, highest leverage)
No published pages yet. These are target paragraphs written for this profile; replace with reviewed, published paragraphs once pages ship.
- Example A (target): "Very few hallucinogens are legal in the everyday sense. Most, including psilocybin, LSD, DMT and MDMA, sit in Schedule I of US federal law, the category for substances with no accepted medical use. What exists instead is a patchwork. Some cities and states have decriminalized personal possession, which lowers or removes penalties without making sale lawful. Two states, Oregon and Colorado, license supervised psilocybin services. Ketamine is different again: it is a prescription medicine, so it is legal only when a clinician prescribes or administers it."
  - Why on-voice: answers the literal question, names categories precisely, separates decriminalized from licensed from prescription.
- Example B (target): "Psilocybin is legal in Oregon only inside a licensed program, and that distinction matters. Since 2023, adults 21 and over can take part in a psilocybin session at a service center licensed by the Oregon Health Authority, with a licensed facilitator present. No prescription or diagnosis is required, but a preparation session must come first. Outside that setting nothing changed: growing, selling or possessing psilocybin is still governed by state and federal drug law, and psilocybin remains a Schedule I substance under federal law. Status checked 17 September 2026; see the Oregon Health Authority program page."
  - Why on-voice: status and limits in the first sentence, program mechanics, what did not change, dated source line.

#### 8. Anti-References  (do NOT sound like)
- Advocacy manifesto tone, either pro or anti.
- Head-shop or "legal high" vendor copy.
- Trip-report and microdosing influencer content.
- Clinic marketing that promises cures ("reset your brain", "heal trauma in one session").

#### Other languages
Voice is authored in English. DeepL translations inherit it, then a reviewer localises the legal content: each language version must lead with the law of its main markets (de: Germany, Austria, Switzerland; es: Spain, Mexico and Latin America; fr: France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada; pt: Brazil and Portugal), not a translated US status table.
- de: Sie, sachlich und genau; Begriffe: legal, entkriminalisiert, verschreibungspflichtig, BtMG-Anlage.
- es: usted, preciso y neutral; distinguish legal, despenalizado, con receta.
- fr: vous, précis; distinguer légal, dépénalisé, décriminalisé (these differ in French law), sur ordonnance.
- pt: você neutro-formal; distinguir legal, descriminalizado, sob prescrição; name whether the page covers Brazil or Portugal.
- All languages: keep substance names in their international form (psilocybin, MDMA, ibogaine) with the local common name once; statute and regulator names stay in the original language with a translation in brackets.

## STRATEGY.md

Version 1.0.1 · status draft · sha256 ea6b1c88696f87d48cac4000ac322bc63f68c95ea53684ed52281e13002729bb

```yaml
charter: 1
version: 1.0.1
profile: editorial-charter@1.3.1
domain: legalpsychedelics.guide
status: draft
reviewed_by: ""
mission_shape: charter:mission-shape-serve-x-to-achieve-y (serve X to achieve Y)
horizon: charter:horizon-12m (12 months)
positioning:
  primary: charter:positioning-axis-authority-depth (authority depth)
  secondary: [charter:positioning-axis-locality (locality)]
audiences:
  - kind: charter:audience-kind-consumer (consumer)
    name: Legal status checkers
    segment: legal-status-checkers
    job_to_be_done: Find out whether a substance is legal in a given place and what that category actually means.
  - kind: charter:audience-kind-press (press)
    name: Policy and press watchers
    segment: policy-press-watchers
    job_to_be_done: Check a status claim against the statute or regulator before citing it.
profile_required: true
```

### STRATEGY

#### Mission
We help adults, journalists and policy watchers learn what the law says about a psychedelic in a given place, so they can check a status claim against its statute instead of a headline.

#### Positioning
Authority depth first: every status is dated and linked to the statute or regulator, and decriminalized, prescription-only and licensed program stay separate categories. Locality second: each language leads with the law of its own main markets, not a translated US table. We concede speed of answer to news sites and breadth of content to forums, because the site covers legal framework and program structure only.

#### Audiences
Legal status checkers are curious adults who saw a headline that mushrooms or MDMA are "legal now" and want to know if that holds where they live or travel. They have no legal training. Policy and press watchers are journalists, researchers and policy readers who need a dated, primary-sourced record. Source: briefs/strategy.md (ICP a, assumed default pending Tom's review), PRODUCT.md section Users.

#### Competitors
News coverage that blurs decriminalization and legalization, undated status pages, vendor and head-shop sites that mix legal information with use and sourcing content, and advocacy organizations whose pages carry a position. Source: briefs/strategy.md pains.

#### What we will not do
No use, sourcing, dosing, preparation or where-to-buy content. No advocacy in either direction, no trip reports, no "legal high" framing. No clinic, retreat or product sponsors in the first phase. No legal status the repo cannot source, and no invented author or reviewer. Source: PRODUCT.md, briefs/site.md, briefs/strategy.md.

#### Bets for the horizon
1. Publish the legality cluster (where psychedelics are legal, psilocybin, MDMA, ketamine programs) with dated, linked statuses (moves gsc_clicks).
2. Keep a public change log and a re-check cadence so a status never goes stale unnoticed (moves content_engaged).
3. Start the free "what changed" newsletter from the dated status table (moves newsletter_subscribed).

## AUDIENCE.md

Version 1.0.1 · status draft · sha256 017ab3c84872133fb0eb2ce59c5c513902da2fd1c8912370ae6c84447a5eb720

```yaml
charter: 1
version: 1.0.1
profile: editorial-charter@1.3.1
domain: legalpsychedelics.guide
status: draft
reviewed_by: ""
segments:
  - slug: legal-status-checkers
    name: Legal status checkers
    kind: charter:audience-kind-consumer (consumer)
    archetype: icp:unmapped (Unmapped)  # no pinned portfolio-icp archetype fits a legal-status question; see LEGALPSY-Q3
    priority: charter:segment-priority-primary (primary)
    job_to_be_done: Find out whether a substance is legal in a given place and what that category actually means.
    funnel_stages: [charter:funnel-stage-awareness (awareness), charter:funnel-stage-consideration (consideration)]
    languages: [en]
    regions: [US]
    pains:
      - Headlines blur decriminalization and legalization.
      - Status pages are outdated or undated.
      - Search results mix legal information with vendor and use content.
    channels: [charter:channel-organic-search (organic search)]
    entry_paths: ["/en/where-psychedelics-legal/*", "/en/psychedelic-drugs/*"]
    size_signal: {metric: monthly_searches, value: 17600, unit: count}
    evidence:
      default: {basis: charter:evidence-basis-assumed (assumed), source: "agent draft from briefs/strategy.md ICP a (assumed default, 2026-09-17), 2026-10-03", as_of: 2026-10-03}
      size_signal: {basis: charter:evidence-basis-researched (researched), source: "briefs/strategy.md (about 17,600 monthly English searches, stored keyword data in briefs/keywords.json)", as_of: 2026-09-17}
      regions: {basis: charter:evidence-basis-assumed (assumed), source: "agent assumption 2026-10-03: sources name English pages and US statutes, no country data; replace with GSC country data", as_of: 2026-10-03}
      channels: {basis: charter:evidence-basis-assumed (assumed), source: "agent draft from the legality keyword cluster in briefs/strategy.md", as_of: 2026-10-03}

  - slug: policy-press-watchers
    name: Policy and press watchers
    kind: charter:audience-kind-press (press)
    archetype: icp:unmapped (Unmapped)  # no pinned portfolio-icp archetype fits; see LEGALPSY-Q3
    priority: charter:segment-priority-secondary (secondary)
    job_to_be_done: Check a status claim against the statute or regulator before citing it.
    funnel_stages: [charter:funnel-stage-consideration (consideration), charter:funnel-stage-retention (retention)]
    languages: [en]
    regions: [US]
    pains:
      - Secondary coverage is undated and does not link the statute.
    channels: [charter:channel-organic-search (organic search), charter:channel-newsletter (newsletter)]
    evidence:
      default: {basis: charter:evidence-basis-assumed (assumed), source: "agent draft from PRODUCT.md section Users and briefs/strategy.md alternatives (ICP c not chosen), 2026-10-03", as_of: 2026-10-03}
      regions: {basis: charter:evidence-basis-assumed (assumed), source: "agent assumption 2026-10-03: sources name no country for this group", as_of: 2026-10-03}
      channels: {basis: charter:evidence-basis-assumed (assumed), source: "agent draft from briefs/strategy.md monetization (newsletter and repeat visits)", as_of: 2026-10-03}
```

### AUDIENCE

#### Legal status checkers
Curious adults who heard that mushrooms or MDMA are "legal now" and want to know whether that is true where they live or travel. The trigger is news, travel plans or a conversation. They need the difference between legal, decriminalized, prescription-only and licensed program explained without legal training. Source: briefs/strategy.md ICP a.

#### Policy and press watchers
Journalists, researchers and policy readers who return to check how a status changed and need the statute or regulator page, not commentary. Source: PRODUCT.md section Users; briefs/strategy.md alternatives.

#### Excluded audiences
Not written for people looking for use, sourcing, dosing or providers, for anyone expecting advocacy, and not for minors. Segments are defined by the question they need answered, never by a health condition. Source: PRODUCT.md, briefs/site.md.

## MONETIZATION.md

Version 1.0.1 · status draft · sha256 361fb7fe7774b6fac8794d631e46bd0f916f8533d8951e0481178f5eefa65806

```yaml
charter: 1
version: 1.0.1
profile: editorial-charter@1.3.1
domain: legalpsychedelics.guide
status: draft
reviewed_by: ""
revenue_lines:
  - slug: newsletter-sponsorship
    name: Labelled newsletter sponsorship
    type: charter:revenue-type-newsletter-sponsorship (newsletter sponsorship)
    commission_model: charter:commission-model-flat-fee (flat fee)
    placements: [charter:placement-type-newsletter-mention (newsletter mention)]
    segments: [policy-press-watchers]
    kpi_key: sponsored_income_recorded
    status: charter:revenue-status-idea (idea)
    share_band: charter:revenue-share-band-marginal (marginal)
    start_trigger: Newsletter has a few thousand engaged subscribers and Tom confirms.
    evidence:
      default: {basis: charter:evidence-basis-assumed (assumed), source: "briefs/strategy.md Monetization a (assumed default, pending Tom's review), agent draft 2026-10-03", as_of: 2026-10-03}
  - slug: affiliate-bookshop-org
    name: Bookshop.org book shelf
    type: charter:revenue-type-affiliate (affiliate)
    partner: {name: Bookshop.org, entity: null, program_url: "https://support.bookshop.org/en/support/solutions/articles/65000191390-can-you-explain-bookshop-org-s-affiliate-program-"}
    network: Bookshop.org affiliate program
    program_status: charter:program-status-assumed (assumed)
    commission_model: charter:commission-model-revshare-percent (revenue share)
    placements: [charter:placement-type-inline-link (inline link)]
    segments: [legal-status-checkers, policy-press-watchers]
    kpi_key: affiliate_clicked
    status: charter:revenue-status-idea (idea)
    share_band: charter:revenue-share-band-marginal (marginal)
    start_trigger: Tom confirms; no affiliate link goes live before that.
    evidence:
      default: {basis: charter:evidence-basis-assumed (assumed), source: "briefs/strategy.md Monetization a (assumed default, pending Tom's review); program terms not read by an agent, agent draft 2026-10-03", as_of: 2026-10-03}
```

### MONETIZATION

#### Revenue model
Assumed default from briefs/strategy.md, pending Tom's review: a free newsletter built from the dated status table, labelled sponsor slots at a flat rate, and a small book shelf with an affiliate link. Nothing is live, no link, slot or listing goes live until Tom confirms. No numbers are written here.

#### Disclosure rules
Sponsored slots are labelled "Sponsored" in the email and on site. Affiliate links are disclosed on the page that carries them (FTC Endorsement Guides). Sponsors get no say over status content.

#### Not monetised
No clinic, retreat, product or patient-facing sponsors in the first phase, no per-lead fees, no ad network display ads and no provider directory. Source: briefs/strategy.md.

#### Labelled newsletter sponsorship
An idea. Flat-rate sponsor slots for lawful, non-patient-facing organisations such as drug policy law firms, accredited training programmes, conferences, research non-profits and publishers. It waits for a subscriber base and for the owner's decision.

#### Bookshop.org book shelf
An idea. Books on history, policy and research. The program status is assumed: the commission and cookie terms in briefs/strategy.md come from a third-party summary, and nobody has read the program page for this site. No commission copy until the program is verified.

## KPI.md

Version 1.0.1 · status draft · sha256 8e56c3a260d93f8c397158faeefbde689a08585f55e3b2ccdeb5e6f288f7e2f2

```yaml
charter: 1
version: 1.0.1
profile: editorial-charter@1.3.1
domain: legalpsychedelics.guide
status: draft
reviewed_by: ""
template: charter:kpi-template-editorial-traffic (editorial traffic)
template_override: ""
kpis:
  - {key: pageview_recorded, role: charter:kpi-role-primary (primary)}
  - {key: gsc_clicks, role: charter:kpi-role-secondary (secondary)}
  - {key: gsc_impressions, role: charter:kpi-role-secondary (secondary)}
  - {key: avg_position, role: charter:kpi-role-secondary (secondary)}
  - {key: content_engaged, role: charter:kpi-role-secondary (secondary)}
  - {key: newsletter_subscribed, role: charter:kpi-role-secondary (secondary)}
  - {key: affiliate_clicked, role: charter:kpi-role-secondary (secondary)}
  - {key: crawl_errors, role: charter:kpi-role-guardrail (guardrail)}
  - {key: pages_indexed, role: charter:kpi-role-guardrail (guardrail)}
catalog_sha: 4304fc97e9ac457725bdc25dcbb724c36257a707cbb3c237b69cd3e7ba04ac39
```

### KPI

#### Why these metrics
The site is run on reach first, so pageview_recorded is primary. gsc_clicks, gsc_impressions and avg_position show whether the legality cluster is found. content_engaged shows whether the dated status pages are read. newsletter_subscribed tracks the planned "what changed" newsletter and affiliate_clicked the planned book shelf; both are ideas, not live. crawl_errors and pages_indexed are guardrails as the page count grows toward the planned 103 rows.

#### Reading guide
Read pageview_recorded each week against the `(site)` value target in kpi-mgmt once the owner sets one. Rising gsc_impressions with flat gsc_clicks points to titles, not coverage. Falling pages_indexed or rising crawl_errors outranks any traffic gain.

#### Review cadence
Quarterly, with the 12-month bets in STRATEGY.md.

## taxonomy/binding.yaml

Version 1.0.1 · status draft · sha256 dca88da5e61de1fb1770a3123f36048b9806b2c532efb596c93312b36ee4d45e

```yaml
charter: 1
version: 1.0.1
profile: editorial-charter@1.3.1
domain: legalpsychedelics.guide
status: draft
reviewed_by: ""
iab_content: ["iab:383", "iab:286"]
icp_profile: portfolio-icp@1.0.0
content_profile: null
languages: [en]
regions: [US]
```