About Mike:
The Journey from Sympathy to Empathy
Hi! My name is Micheal Francis Bonertz. I am a dedicated, passionate and lifelong community pharmacist — sixteen years as a licensed pharmacist, and more than twenty years in pharmacies all told — working in dispensaries across Western Canada and the Northwest Territories.
Mike Bonertz’s Professional Background
I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Alberta in 2010 and have since developed comprehensive medication management plans in cooperation with local physicians, nurse practitioners, and health care teams for thousands of patients throughout British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the Arctic in the Northwest Territories.
Throughout my career, I have been blessed with opportunities to wear countless hats and play critical roles in numerous organizations, businesses, and institutions. I’ve always held close to my heart a strict system of personal beliefs, ethics, morals, intentions, and values that guide me safely through my professional healthcare journey.
Meet Harm Reduction Advocate Mike
Mike founded Responsible Empowered Living, a Canadian Harm Reduction Non-Profit (2022–2025), a psychedelic harm-reduction education organization.
Mike has been preparing for his role as a harm reduction advocate for his entire life.
I have lived and worked for years in the Stʼatʼimc territory around Lillooet, British Columbia, and I am grateful for that time. There are six communities here that I would like to take this time to acknowledge and express gratitude for: I am truly blessed to live, work and play on these traditional and unceded lands which have been inhabited and cared for since pre-contact and time immemorial by members of Tsaľálh (Shalalth), Sekw'el'wás (Pashilqua), Tʼítʼq'et (Tl'itl'kt), Nxwísten (Bridge River), Xa'xlip (Fountain), and Tsk'weylecw (Pavilion).
I dream of learning more about and incorporating traditional Stʼatʼimc healing into my life and the lives of the people I have worked with, here, now and forever. I hope for a future where these medicines can be used safely, legally and well, alongside the care people already receive. Working with these exceptionally powerful earth tools has given me hope for a brighter future—for myself, for patients I have cared for, and for the planet itself.
There’s Hope.
No Matter What You’re Facing.
Certifications and Continuing Education
To support and inform my work as a Harm Reduction Advocate for psychedelic-assisted therapy, I’ve pursued a diverse avenue of integration and exploration within the psychedelic sphere, including becoming a member of the:
And completing the following courses, certificate programs, and continuing education work:
Patient Becomes Practitioner
Why might a lifelong career pharmacist be interested in plant therapies and psychedelic medicines? Nothing else has worked.
I have been diagnosed with MDD/TRD/PDD (major depressive disorder/treatment-resistant depression/persistent depressive disorder), GAD (generalized anxiety disorder), OCPD (obsessive compulsive personality disorder), ASD (autism spectrum disorder), and Personality Disorder Otherwise Unspecified. And I’ve tried everything available from Western medical channels for these mental health woes.
I’ve seen countless doctors and multiple psychiatrists. I have been trialed on (and have failed) almost every psychoactive pharmaceutical on the market over the past two decades of my life.
Before becoming weary of this multi-decade-long trial of one prescription after another, there was always the hope that this tablet or that capsule would do what it says it does without causing irreparable or intolerable side effects.
But the same cycle appeared repeatedly: we’d add this or up that, and … I’d become resistant. Or it wouldn’t work at all. Or I’d have side effects more terrible than the condition itself.
I was tired of constantly chasing the pharma dragon but never really getting anywhere. And then, I tried cannabis and other psychedelic earth medicines. It was like someone turned the light on in the dark room I had been ensconced in for years.
I anticipate that many others may feel similarly hopeless after having gone through similar medication gauntlets. And I feel like others may also gain hope again once they realize the potential of these powerful psychedelic substances.
When we are sick, we hope for a brighter future, hope for a morning without feeling unwell. With the advent of psychedelic therapies becoming widely available, I have hope again. Don’t get me wrong; I am not fully healed. I may never be. But, for the first time in a long time, I have hope.
As Harm Reduction Advocate, I hope to disseminate my knowledge on and experience with psychedelics to folks looking for this same crucial hope.
I am a pharmacist and a student counsellor in training, with a long-standing interest in cannabis and natural earth medicines. I am a member of the International Society of Cannabis Pharmacists. I hope to continue working with this healing earth medicine personally and with patients I have cared for.
The renewed interest in psychedelic medicines and the addition of MDMA, psilocybin (twice), and now LSD to the list of breakthrough drugs in the United States just shows how close we are to being able to use psychedelics regularly therapeutically here in Canada. A few years maximum, I would guess, since the breakthrough drugs are allowed to speed through various regulatory and legislative hurdles. These may be better than other therapies in some cases for some people, so the intention is to get them to market as quickly as possible to help as many people as possible. Multiple different psychedelics - hopefully a massive variety of soon fully legal, newly rescheduled, and widely available substances available for healing again for humans - and all for the first time since the 1970s!
With the reintroduction of psychedelic therapies into standard treatment practices, I hope to be of greater use to people, and to do that inside a supervised and accountable structure through proper application and dissemination of my extensive knowledge of these substances.
I know that everyone has had their fair share of difficulties and stumbling blocks. I look forward to hearing more about your challenges and sharing more about mine if it helps you to know you are not alone in this world.
