Politics

More medical cannabis on the horizon for Mexico

A bill passed by Mexico’s Senate and Lower House of Congress late last year and earlier this year seeks to change… and reclassif[y] THC as “therapeutic”. ​ “The ruling eliminates the prohibition and criminalization of acts related to the medicinal use of marijuana and its scientific research, and those relating to the production and distribution…

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Biography/Memoir

Peter Thiel is betting on magic mushrooms to treat depression — and he’s not the only one

One of them is Compass Pathways, a for-profit company that Silicon Valley entrepreneur Peter Thiel invested in last year. London-based entrepreneur Christian Angermayer, ex-hedge fund manager Mike Novogratz, and film producer Sam Englebardt are also backers of Compass … It has some notable advisors, including Tom Insel, the former director of the US National Institute…

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Spirituality

At ‘pot churches,’ marijuana is the sacrament

“Legalization changes everything,” Laycock said. “Religious use may not violate state law in some of these states. And if it does, legalizing recreational use but not religious use clearly discriminates against religion.” As more states ease access to marijuana, churches that offer pot as a sacrament are proliferating, competing with medical marijuana dispensaries and pot…

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Modern Culture

Joy to the weed! Marijuana legalization comes bearing gifts

“People consume cannabis on the holidays and they always have,” Smith said. “Now they are doing so through a regulated system.” Legalization means pot lovers can legally do something they’ve always done, which is give away marijuana to people they love, said Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association. Original Article (NP…

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Biography/Memoir

Letter: Tell DEA to leave kratom alone

If kratom is banned many people will suffer or even die. They will be forced to seek stronger and more dangerous options. Kratom is a necessary and under-utilized tool to combat this nation’s opioid epidemic. Show the people that you will actually listen. Show them that we do have a voice. Renew our faith in…

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Psychology

Defending MDMA [sassafras] as a Treatment for PTSD

The hypothesized mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to treat PTSD are not based on its producing euphoria, but rather on its capacity to make confronting trauma-related thoughts, feelings, and memories more tolerable during therapeutic processing with support of a co-therapy team.​ MDMA is a monoamine releaser, but unlike stimulants, it preferentially releases serotonin,…

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Biography/Memoir

…China won’t arrest two fentanyl kingpins wanted by U.S.

Yu Haibin, director of precursor chemical control at the National Narcotics Control Commission, the Chinese equivalent of the DEA, also blamed the “growing demand” for fentanyl among U.S. users, and said the opioid problem is “strongly connected” to state-level marijuana legalization. “Many states in the U.S. are still working on legalizing marijuana, trends like this…

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