Anthropology

…[a particular] movement to decriminalize drugs

“I preferred to just go for psychedelics,” says one member, journalist-turned-campaigner Eric Swenson, “to have a sure win rather than a probable loss through overreach.” Recovered addict Youngs opposes “laissez-faire decriminalization of all hard drugs. Trafficking groups will hide under that cover.” Seattle is preparing to step up to the vanguard of drug-war reform. At their meeting,…

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Politics

Oregon Supreme Court bans police officers from asking random questions during traffic stops

A trial court and the Oregon Court of Appeals had previously rejected the argument. Both courts cited precedent that officers could go off-topic during an “unavoidable lull” in the interaction, which usually occurs while the driver was busy searching for their license and registration.  The Oregon Supreme Court saw it differently.  “Put simply, an ‘unavoidable lull’ does…

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Politics

…remove cannabis from the controlled substance act[?]

The way the Controlled Substance Act is set up is meant to keep the average American out of the game. Essentially the document states that the Pharmaceutical Industry is responsible for all of the drugs in America. Anything outside of their reach is deemed “illegal”. Politicians and activists alike are arguing for cannabis to be…

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Politics

Colorado Supreme Court rules convicts can use medical [cannabis] while on probation

The Colorado Supreme Court just ruled that denying a criminal defendant the right to use medical marijuana while serving probation is a violation of the state’s constitution. According to the state’s medical marijuana statute, a defendant cannot be prevented from using medical marijuana unless the prosecution can supply evidence showing that this prohibition is necessary. In…

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Spirituality

Decriminalize [psilocybin-containing] mushrooms…

The initiative would also help create a system in which psilocybin mushrooms would be regulated by… Department of Food & Agriculture and Department of Public Health. …a grassroots campaign workings towards psilocybin decriminalization… the organization’s proposed initiative… decriminalize them for personal, spiritual and religious use, with adults being able to cultivate and use in the State……

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Medicine/Healing

…public housing tenants not allowed to partake

Margolin said threatening people with losing their homes for doing what others are allowed to do is cruel. “This is absolutely unequal and unfair protection of people”. -Bruce Margolin (an attorney and the director of the Los Angeles chapter of NORML, a national advocacy group striving to decriminalize marijuana across the country.) Margolin recounted several…

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Anthropology

Santa Cruz… considers decriminalizing psychedelics

If approved, that would mean the City Council “supports the possession, use, and/or cultivation of entheogenic psychoactive plants and fungi for personal adult use and clinical research and psychoactive practices, and declares that the investigation and arrest of individuals involved with the adult possession, use, or cultivation of entheogenic psychoactive plants and fungi listed on…

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Science

Can a “trip-free” [un]psychedelic still help people with depression?

They’re not only seeking out non-hallucinogenic psychedelics (after all, the hallucination bit might be crucial) but also analyzing different chemical versions of psilocybin that could “improve” on the original model. They plan to use a sedative drug called midazolam, which has been shown in studies to produce a kind of amnesia that can temporarily prevent…

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Medicine/Healing

Veterans vouch for ayahuasca therapy

During his time in the military, he became heavily reliant on drugs: marijuana, alcohol, cocaine, psychedelics. “I just realized there’s never really, ever, a time for war,” he said. Grob extensively studied the psychological effects of ayahuasca in Brazil in the 1990s, focusing on the UniÃo Do Vegetal church, which uses ayahuasca on a regular…

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