Science

‘Magic mushroom’ enzyme mystery solved

Janis Fricke, Felix Blei, and Dirk Hoffmeister of Friedrich Schiller University Jena have identified and characterized to the greatest extent so far the four enzymes that the mushrooms use to make psilocybin. The team then developed the first enzymatic synthesis of the compound, setting the stage for its possible commercial production (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.…

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Politics

New Oregon law makes drug possession a misdemeanor

A bill signed by Gov. Kate Brown on Tuesday (August 15th, 2017) makes personal-use possession of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and other drugs a misdemeanor, not a felony. Oregon joined just a handful of other U.S. states in defelonizing drugs under the new law, which was supported by law enforcement groups and takes effect immediately. Original…

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Politics

New Oregon law changes drug possession prosecution

The new law takes effect immediately. (August 16th, 2017)  *Link “It’s a great recognition of the fact that we don’t need to further criminalize and turn people into felons over substance abuse, mental health addiction — problems like that,” public defender Aaron Jeffers said Wednesday. “I think the hope is that this will open up the opportunity to…

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Politics

Now the DEA is trying to crush cannabis research

The poor quality of research-grade marijuana is skewing the results of cannabis research, according to a report released earlier this year by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM). “Because of restrictions on production and vicissitudes in supply and demand, federally produced cannabis may have been harvested years earlier, is stored in a…

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Politics

[Indonesian President]: police should shoot suspected drug dealers

*slums in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital ,where Indonesian President Joko Widodo has called for the execution of “suspects” Indonesia’s president, has instructed police to shoot suspected drug dealers. The rights group said Karnavian “should denounce the Philippines’ ‘war on drugs’ for what it truly is: a brutal, unlawful assault on the rule of law, human rights,…

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Anthropology

Drug pleasure ratings

The Net Pleasure Index is the first ever attempt to define and rank drugs in terms of the overall balance of pleasures and harms If you want to guess how it turned out here are the drugs we asked about, in alphabetical order: alcohol, amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine, GHB/GBL, ketamine, LSD, magic mushrooms, MDMA, mephedrone, and…

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Biography/Memoir

Ex-Jets player sues Jeff Sessions to legalize marijuana

*Nixon resigns as President speech A new Manhattan federal lawsuit against Jeff Sessions, the DOJ and the Drug Enforcement Agency … ​The suit challenges the constitutionality of the 1970 Controlled Substance Act that classifies marijuana as a dangerous substance, in the same category as heroin or LSD. “Classifying cannabis as a ‘Schedule I drug’ is…

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Spirituality

How to begin the end of the war on drugs

Federal marijuana laws have long undermined our nation’s promise of liberty and justice for all. Our nation’s arbitrary efforts to criminalize a substance that is less dangerous than alcohol or cigarettes or fast food, has not only made our country less just, but our communities less safe. Our broken marijuana [and other drug] laws have…

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