Biography/Memoir

…full of DMT

Found in the ayahuasca tea made by the native people of the Amazon, and also produced naturally in our bodies… nearly 400 years after Descartes theorized about the gland, scientists are still trying to understand its role in humans.  More than half of the subjects in Dr. Rick Strassman’s study reported interacting with intelligent beings…

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Science

FDA approves… [dissociative anesthetic] nasal spray for depression

[The FDA approved spray] is a chemical mirror image of anesthetic ketamine. The treatment comes with a boxed warning — FDA’s harshest — flagging the risk for sedation and difficulty with attention, judgment and thinking, abuse and misuse, and suicidal thoughts after administration of the drug. Original Article (CNBC):FDA approves… [dissociative anesthetic] nasal spray for depressionArtwork Fair Use: Yair…

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Biography/Memoir

FDA Chief Scott Gottlieb abruptly resigns

Gottlieb’s FDA has earned its fair share of criticism. Gottlieb also took fire for his agency’s decision to approve Dsuvia, the tablet form of an opioid painkiller more potent than fentanyl. He was also criticized for pushing back the timetable for when new regulatory rules would apply to e-cigarette products, similar to how tobacco cigarettes are regulated.…

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Biography/Memoir

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma reportedly exploring bankruptcy

Purdue has held discussions to resolve the litigation with plaintiffs’ lawyers, who have often compared the cases to widespread lawsuits against the tobacco industry that resulted in a $246bn settlement in 1998. Purdue and three executives in 2007 pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the misbranding of OxyContin and agreed to pay a total…

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Politics

[Let’s pay attention to]… black drug policy reformers

“Our [experts’] answers […] suggest that the severity of the opioid crisis is breaking down longstanding divisions between public health officials and law enforcement,” stated that New York Times article, “with over two-thirds of our panel including increased funding for law enforcement or international interdiction efforts.” Might these answers have been different if the panel…

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Psychology

A trip with the acid countess: Amanda Feilding and the medical case for drugs reform

As the National Health Service and politicians struggle with Britain’s mental health crisis, Feilding is aiming to achieve a “desperately needed paradigm shift in psychiatry”. “Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy” would give patients a dose of a mind-altering drug in a controlled environment, with a therapist on hand to discuss their thoughts. “Right from the beginning, compounds such…

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Politics

Has the decade-old war on drugs in Asia succeeded?

In March 2019, the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs will convene in Vienna to evaluate progress on countering the drug problem across the world. When officials sit down for discussions, they should not shy away from asking the tough questions. Current approaches to drug control in Asia overwhelmingly criminalise people already on the margins of…

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Politics

Why we should care about global drug policy advocacy

In the past five to ten years, and in particular in the lead up to the UNGASS, civil society has increased in strength and visibility in the global drug policy debate. This is an important achievement because civil society voices have traditionally not been valued within drug policy debates, and it has been a fight…

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Psychology

What do we tell our kids about drugs?

In truth, what is really needed are… drug education programmes focused primarily on parents and young adults, teaching them the facts about the most prevalent drugs used in our society, and the real risk factors posed by different substances. As parents, we need to respect our children’s intelligence and trust them to make sensible decisions…

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Biography/Memoir

Should you be psyched about psychedelics?

Ryskowski said that entheogens can offer healing that won’t be found in traditional medicine. “It means real healing,” he said. “People lose so much of their lives to mental health issues.” Ray Ryskowski said that the conference was something he’s wanted to organize ever since. “We’ve been working up to the conference for years with…

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