When colonization of the Americas began in 1492, so did the commodification of plants like tobacco, cacao and coca by moneyed interests. Once regarded and used as sacred medicines, these substances were at first feared, then eventually watered down, processed and commodified for European markets, losing their cultural and medicinal value in the process… these [so-called new] discoveries [in psychedelics] are…
Now, as these vending machines creep onto the scene, a lot of budtenders could stand to become unemployed, replaced by machines who don’t need lunch breaks and who don’t demand living wages, who require no 401K and no medical insurance. Machines don’t bitch. And, they always show up to work on time and sober, and…
In Japan, public shaming and stigma of those suspected of taking drugs has developed into a useful tool for the authorities to remind citizens of the country’s strict moral code on drug use: If you get high you are not just letting yourself down, you are also letting society down. “While Japanese society has changed…
For centuries, psychedelic substances have been used by Indigenous communities for community… purposes that continue in the present day. In 1970, President Richard Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act… When colonizers reached the North and South American continents, they demonized the use of plant medicines. “The strategy and tactics of European colonizers … was based…
The bill would just allow the drug to be administered inside these facilities during guided treatment sessions. The bill was revised last year to be more focused on therapy, a move Carolyn Garcia doesn’t agree with. “There’s too many people involved here who’ve been handling mushrooms for a long time all over the world, and to try…
“As my proposed budget took shape, our anti-racism priorities and criminal legal system transformation coalesced around three principles: Divest, invest, and re-imagine,” Constantine said in the budget announcement. “By divest, I mean stopping current practices that cause harm and diverting the savings to serve a greater good.” Constantine’s office said the $4.6 million that would be divested…
Both Native tribes will cultivate cannabis flower for medicinal purposes, in opposition to Minnesota’s existing restrictive medical marijuana program. …which only allows for certain cannabis products to be sold in the state – smokeable products, and THC-edibles and drinks are not permitted. Minnesota’s medical marijuana regulations rank among the nation’s toughest, but as a sovereign…
Mushrooms have been popular in this part of the world since the 1960s, when native Oregonian Ken Kesey spread the gospel… it’s important to remember that, [for example], …ayahuasca and other natural compounds were first used by Indigenous people. “Of all the things I could be doing to help people get through this time, I…
City Council voted unanimously… in favor of a resolution declaring it’s the city’s lowest law enforcement priority to investigate and arrest anyone for planting, cultivating, purchasing, transporting, distributing, engaging in practices with or possessing entheogenic plants or plant compounds. The resolution defines “entheogenic plants” as the full spectrum of plants and fungi that contain indole…
In the 1970s, it was among the first to decriminalize marijuana. Now, it’s doing the same thing with mushrooms and other entheogenic plants [and fungi]. The Council voted 11-0, saying Ann Arbor police should stand down enforcing possession. In its resolution, the Ann Arbor City Council also asked the… County Prosecutor’s Office to cease prosecution…
