Advocates say people of color are often reluctant to join the growing legal marijuana economy because they were targeted far more often than whites during the war on drugs. As Massachusetts developed laws for legal marijuana, officials wrote what they claimed was a first-in-the-nation Social Equity Program explicitly to give members of those communities a…
The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday [Feb. 20th, 2019] that the Constitution places limits on the ability of states and localities to take and keep cash, cars, houses and other private property used to commit crimes. The practice, known as civil forfeiture, is a popular way to raise revenue and is easily abused, and it…
“Importantly this study suggests that MDMA may be used safely as a treatment without side effects on these crucial social processes”, says Celia Morgan, senior author on the new research. There are undoubtedly limitations to this kind of research – relying on self-reported recreational drug use certainly results in a lack of control over product…
A number of studies, including two published just last month, have also found that cannabis can impact a person’s use of benzodiazepines. One found that 45 percent of participants ceased their benzo use by the end of the study period; the other saw 22 percent of participants substituting weed for benzos. As more and more prohibitionist cannabis policies are reversed…
Health officials and drug policy experts across Canada have called for decriminalization for years, but the federal government won’t budge. Now, B.C.’s provincial health officer is putting together a report on how the province can de facto decriminalize. Drug decriminalization = removing criminal penalties for minor drug use/possession. Person might be steered towards treatment or…
In fact, what is becoming increasingly clear is that international drug prohibition is actually a major driver of global poverty. “There is a self-perpetuating cycle of poverty. People get involved in drugs to afford the basic essentials of life, because of a lack of other options. Then they get arrested and their life chances are…
The Iowa legislation seems to be the first of its kind [and] when it comes to broader reforms, a handful of prominent lawmakers and political organizations have begun at least talking about legalization of other drugs besides cannabis. One of his new bills, if enacted, would allow state regulators to approve the reclassification of psilocybin,…
…Michael Pollan, Michael Mithoefer, and other white men who are supporting the use of psychedelic drugs to combat mental health issues. The problem goes beyond researchers too: raters (people who subjectively evaluate a patient’s response to a medical treatment); sponsors (an individual, institution, company or organization that takes the responsibility to initiate, manage or finance…
The WHO is proposing to the United Nations that cannabis be deleted from schedule IV, and Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is currently listed separately as scientists had not identified THC as the psychoactive component of cannabis in 1961, be downgraded to schedule I in light of mounting evidence of the potential for medicinal and therapeutic value.…
Clearly, there is more to MDMA-assisted psychotherapy than just swallowing a pill. But, I have to wonder who is profiting when a drug with a street price of around $15 a pop may end up costing over 1,000x more after approval and regulation. Estimates [are] $15,000 as the standard price estimate for treatment with MDMA-assisted…
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