The ‘war on drugs’ was built on shaky foundations. Now, countries around the world from Canada, to Uruguay, Portugal and many US states are beginning to dismantle it piece by piece. Its collapse is good news for people and communities around the world, providing us with the opportunity to build a new approach to drugs…
More quietly, women have taken the lead when it comes to drug policy. [It is] the first time ever that two of the most prominent drug-policy reform organizations in America—the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) and the Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC)—are both headed by women. As it did in the 1920s, America is currently facing a…
In 2017, research published (pdf) in the journal Neuropharmacology concluded that more research needed to be done on kratom, but that available evidence has not shown that any deaths have occurred due to use of kratom alone. Dr. Gottlieb’s far-reaching claims & untested computer models show how desperate they are to influence an outright ban.…
*In November 2017, the Philippine President Duerte said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I sang uninvited, upon the orders of the commander-in-chief of the United States,” Duterte said later, according to the ABS-CBN news channel. One of the song’s verses, translated from Filipino, begins: “You are the light in my world, a half of this heart of mine”. In a…
Researchers from both North Carolina and Florida say the FDA did not compile acceptable research to be able to classify the drug the same schedule as heroin, LSD or Ecstasy. Researchers agree the alkaloids contained in Kratom to bind to receptors the way opioids do, but at a milder level. The plant as whole has…
The most harmful effect of criminalizing marijuana may not be its restriction on medical uses, but its devastating cost to American society, which experienced a 500 percent increase in incarceration due to the war on drugs. In a review of 60 studies on medical marijuana, over 63 percent found positive effects for debilitating diseases—such as multiple sclerosis,…
While both MDMA and psilocybin show promise for hard-to-treat psychiatric disorders, it’s important to keep in mind that the conditions in these studies were strictly controlled and the patients meticulously monitored during treatment. Once approved, MAPS says the drug will be administered in an inpatient setting at DEA-certified clinics by licensed therapists who have been…
My take? If Dr. Gottlieb’s statement were a pharmacology graduate student’s written qualifying exam answer to a question seeking an objective assessment of kratom pharmacology and toxicology, I’d have no choice but to issue a failing grade … I say this all with great respect for Dr. Gottlieb, a physician and former Forbes contributor, 1. You failed…
For years, [cannabis] convictions have had painful implications on the everyday lives of Washington’s most vulnerable populations, Mayor Jenny Durkan said in a press conference Thursday, Feb. 8th, 2018. Durkan said she hoped Seattle’s plan will serve as a template for other cities seeking to correct the biases of outdated and punitive drug laws. “It…
FDA officials have recommended kratom be categorized as a Schedule 1 drug, which would effectively mean that scientists would not be able to study its effects …“The problem with saying it’s ‘an opioid’ without qualification is that it just paints everything with this broad brush, and obviously carries a negative connotation given what’s going on…
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