Anthropology

$1 billion for CAHOOTS Act…

…recently there’s been interest from other cities in creating similar programs. States who want to set up CAHOOTS programs can get an 85% match in Medicaid funds from the government totaling about a billion dollars. Original Article (MSN):$1 billion for CAHOOTS Act included in American Rescue PlanArtwork Fair Use: Rod Waddington

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Anthropology

[In Oregon] $20 million for addiction services…

 …a compromise that will shift $20 million in marijuana sales taxes to support addiction recovery services… the Oregon Health Authority will take the lead, not a new council created by the ballot measure under the agency… It is not unusual for lawmakers to make further changes in ballot measures after voters approve them, although changes…

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Anthropology

Top… equity must-haves in any legalization bill…

Homegrow: allow consumers to grow a limited number of their own… at home [for example 6 per adult with max of 12 per residence] and gift a limited amount to other adults [for example, one ounce]. This serves as a check on monopolies, delays, and more… being promised that equity will come later: you know…

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Biography/Memoir

Capitalism goes rogue with patent claims on psychedelics

Neither Ekaterina Malievskaia (of COMPASS) nor Christian Angermayer (of ATAI) have succeeded so far in convincing other actors in the psychedelic field that Compass has not put its commercial interests and revenue projections before public health benefits and research freedom. This why Rick Doblin (of MAPS) reacted by tweeting: “Attempts to patent therapeutic methods invented…

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Medicine/Healing

Treat drug use as a health issue, not a criminal one: decriminalize paraphernalia [& decriminalize/legalize drugs in parallel]

Over the past decade, nearly half a million people in the United States have died from a preventable drug overdose. At least 11 states have decriminalized drug paraphernalia for personal use. In December, D.C. joined this group. The D.C. law also expanded the kinds of paraphernalia that community organizations can distribute, allowing them to provide…

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Politics

The war on drugs didn’t work…

Broadly speaking, the status quo isn’t working. By 2019, the federal government was spending $34.6 billion annually on attempts to control drug use. More than $1 trillion has been directly spent on war on drugs initiatives in the past four decades… A 2018 study published in the journal Science found that overdose death rates have…

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Spirituality

Psychedelic… religious freedom…

…the violation of religious freedoms pertaining to sacramental psychedelic usage is hardly a rarity for… [entheogenic] religious groups… Indeed, it is both a first amendment right for U.S. citizens and a specifically cited right in the New Hampshire constitution [which] has upended Mack’s 2018 conviction, and therefore, ruled in favor of religious freedom to use…

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Anthropology

Psychedelic [social sharing Senate bill]

…would amend the state criminal code to specifically permit both the cultivation and distribution of certain psychedelics… the bill allows “social sharing” of psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, ibogaine, MDMA, mescaline, and DMT. Social sharing” is defined as the “giving away” or “consensual administering… not for financial gain.” The bill also declares that the “planting, cultivating, harvesting,…

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