In the recent council meeting covered by our hard-hitting reporter Richard Leisure, it emerged that Nosara intends to limit how many plant medicines can be offered in Nosara.

“It’s a real problem,” said mayoral candidate Randall Gutiérrez López. “Many local therapists and healers have been secretly reaching out to me. With so many plant medicines to choose from, trauma-carrying individuals face yet another micro–trauma, the struggle of deciding between frog poison, peyote, and who knows what else.”

Indeed, Lopez’s proposal has drawn fire because it does seem to favor frog poison, which is not listed among the regulated plant medicines. Lopez pushed back vehemently on this, pointing out – correctly – that a frog is not a plant.

Independent analysts monitoring the situation believe that once Nosara puts its finger on the scale, the rich culture of indigenous appropriation that has thrived in Nosara for years may be threatened. Nosara Lately attempted to contact several local plant medicine providers for comment, but it being a Monday evening, most were facilitating women’s circles and could not be reached for comment.