Politics

More… granted psilocybin mushrooms exemption by federal government

…struggling with mental health conditions [&] have received exemptions to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act from the federal Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos. …mandamus application to compel the health minister to make a decision regarding… patient’s Section 56 exemptions… Health Canada fought that application “tooth and nail”… 19 healthcare professionals to receive an exemption……

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Science

Magic mushrooms study suggest psilocybin may reverse alcohol-induced brain damage

The consumption of alcoholic beverages is responsible for 5.3 percent of deaths worldwide every year… in both groups of mice that received psilocybin, mGluR2 expression was restored following the treatment. This change was evident in the mice’s behavior, too: The psilocybin group relapsed roughly 45 percent less compared to the control mice. As hypothesized, mGluR2 expression was reduced in the brains…

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Science

Psychedelic psilocybin cuts cravings and boosts key brain functions in rat models of alcohol use disorder

…set out to see whether psilocybin could restore the receptor’s expression and tamp down the desire to seek out alcohol while also restoring flexibility in cognition. The researchers gave the rats one of two different doses of psilocybin to see whether the magic mushroom ingredient was effective at reducing relapses. They found that both doses…

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Science

Safe consumption sites are opening in New York city

…people will be able to obtain sterile syringes and other safer-use supplies, access treatment options and other services, and bring their own drugs to use, with trained staff and naloxone on hand. “This is a watershed milestone in the fight to end overdose deaths in New York,” Melissa Moore, the director of civil systems reform…

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Politics

Toronto board of health votes to decriminalize possession of small amounts of illegal drugs

[Canadian] Municipalities cannot unilaterally decriminalize drug use as it’s the sole responsibility of the federal government, but [the 12/6/2021] vote authorizes de Villa to seek an exemption for the City of Toronto from Health Canada. Dr. Leslie Buckley, chief of the addictions division at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, said “Criminalization of substances has not been…

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Medicine/Healing

Jail not the answer for people caught dealing fentanyl to support their own drug addictions, Vancouver, B.C. judge says

Sarah Runyon, the defence lawyer who won the case, said the ruling has the potential to be groundbreaking. “It’s really just forcing the court to step back and say, ‘Wait a minute, are we really just playing whack-a-mole here?’ Taking one marginalized street person, throw them into custody [then] somebody else pops up, and what problem are…

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Science

New study suggests SSRI drugs can be used safely with psilocybin to treat depression

For the study, participants either received 10mg of escitalopram daily for seven days followed by 20mg daily for the next seven days, including the day of psilocybin administration, or 14 days of placebo pre-treatment before psilocybin administration.  The researchers found that pre-treatment with escitalopram did not alter the pharmacokinetics of psilocin — the active compound that the…

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Modern Culture

…drug policy priorities are a small step in the right direction, but old attitudes linger

Young drug reformers also had a few bones to pick with the administration’s priorities… applauded priorities like more access to treatment and more research on racial equity… complained that the administration priorities “fail to provide adequate support to Young People Who Use Drugs (YPWUD) in this country” – especially those who use drugs non-problematically. “[T]here…

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Spirituality

…make ‘bad trips’ good… psychedelics study shows

 …a 2021 study (published in the International Journal of Drug Policy) has found that using narrative work and storytelling… “These stories make it easier, or at least more likely, to continue the use of psychedelics. When even bad experiences become good, an important threshold against psychedelic drug use disappears.” …put simply, talking about the experience…

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