Politics

Will the science for psychedelic[s] ever line up with the law?

The states didn’t want some 70-year-old terminal cancer patient having to grow their own medicine, but they said that’s better than threatening to arrest that patient. You might see a similar tit-for-tat in the psychedelics realm… legal reform efforts are spreading… raising tensions between [local], state and federal laws. More than 60 percent of Americans…

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Politics

What psychedelics legalisation and decriminalisation looks like around the world

“Decriminalisation” can mean different things; generally it implies that people can possess, [cultivate], [and/or] use a personal amount of the substance despite it being illegal, although sometimes minor fines apply… criminalisation of drugs, including psychedelics, creates more harm than good. “What happens when you criminalise something is that people don’t want to talk about it with their…

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Politics

It’s hard to express to non-drug policy geeks…

It’s hard to express to non-drug policy geeks just how huge this is. For the first time in 50+ years a majority vote is accepted at the UN CND [United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs]. Russia and China couldn’t block it! Incredible. …USA resolution on overdose prevention that includes mention of …harmreduction wins 38 votes…

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Politics

Magic mushroom seizures are up in Oregon

Seizures of psilocybin mushrooms (“magic mushrooms”) by law enforcement rose in Oregon and across the country from 2017 to 2022, according to a study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Why it matters: While a regulated market for psychedelic fungi exists in Oregon, police are still targeting the black market of recreational users. By the…

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Politics

Advocates… the future of psychedelic reform in the US

“Our coalition opposes creating a model based on Oregon,” says James Davis, Bay Staters executive director and co-founder. “It is still highly illegal to possess and grow psychedelics outside of regulated use in Oregon, and Measure 109 did nothing to change that.” “Measure 109 established a highly regulated market for psilocybin services – too regulated,…

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Politics

Oregon’s drug decriminalization aimed to make cops a gateway to rehab, not jail. State leaders failed to make it work.

Oregon’s political leaders themselves played central roles in failing to deliver on the potential for law enforcement to connect people with lifesaving services under the new measure, documents and interviews with a wide array of people involved in the system indicate. The Legislature, the court system and the bureaucracy under two governors ignored or rejected…

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Politics

…Oregon… the war on drugs amid fentanyl crisis

Grant Hartley, the Multnomah County director of Metropolitan Public Defenders, predicted the new citations [built into HB 4002] would overload the system. His office is already short-staffed, with public defenders averaging 100 cases apiece, he said. “We have a humanitarian crisis,” Hartley said. “It’s embarrassing to see people out on the street. But injecting thousands…

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