Politics

Big tech’s psychedelics grift

They helped create the disease, and now they want to hoard the cure. This was the plug for Prozac when it first came on the market in 1988… no matter: a new therapeutic savior has arrived in the form of psychedelics. If you think it’s a little strange that Big Tech – currently best known…

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Politics

Can psychedelics and capitalism co-exist?

The fact that someone who tried psychedelics for the first time in 2014 now talks openly about restricting access to them might be unsettling to many in the psychedelic community. But some investors are already adopting a gatekeeping approach to these ancient medicines. For example, German billionaire Christian Angermayer, founder of biotech company Atai Life…

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Politics

Detroit voters approve decriminalization of magic mushrooms and other entheogenic plants

Now that it’s passed, Detroit’s law department and police will determine how to interpret decriminalization of entheogenic plants. City attorneys cite legal precedents from Coalition for a Safer Detroit v Detroit City Clerk, stating that election officials do not have the authority to “assess the substance of the petition or to determine whether, if passed, it would…

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Biography/Memoir

…the swirling battle over psychedelics intellectual property

Carey Turnbull, a philanthropist who is a board member of several psychedelic non-profits including Usona Institute, created another non-profit, Freedom to Operate, to fight patents that infringe on existing knowledge. He believes Compass’s latest patent should not stand. “From FTO’s ongoing research, we understand that it is nearly impossible to crystallize psilocybin and not obtain…

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Politics

Fourth Massachusetts city approves psychedelics [and broader drug] reform…

“It properly frames these plants as belonging somewhere other than Schedule I”, said [City Council Member] Owen Zaret… the resolution is non-binding and doesn’t require police to deprioritize enforcement of laws prohibiting psychedelics – as has been the case in other cities across the U.S… excepting Lophophora and animal-derived controlled substances. [City Council Member Thomas…

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Politics

Big pharma seizes Brazilian market while medical cannabis bill is stalled

Before the voting of Bill 399, the Government, opposed to the legislation and to the regulation of cannabis cultivation in Brazil, tried to strategically  hinder its advance.  The Ministry of Health suggested and considered the incorporation of CBD oil into the Universal Health System (SUS, in Portuguese). The only concentration allowed, though, would be 200mg/ml.…

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Politics

…the FDA’s reluctance to approve medical cannabis

…the pharmaceutical industry spent $3.48 billion dollars on lobbying in 2020… here were 1,502 pharmaceutical lobbyists in 2020, 63.58% of whom were former government employees. So of course, when you have billions of dollars invested… you can ask your good ol pals at the FDA to approve all kinds of drugs. However, while the cannabis industry…

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Politics

…psychedelics activists launch initiative to legalize community-based sales with support from city council

“So, it makes sense that the benefits of the discovery or rediscovery of the healing power of these entheogens by the west are enjoyed first and foremost by indigenous people, communities of color, and local communities, in general.” [said Oakland District 5 City Council Member Noel Gallo]. Building upon the initial Oakland decriminalization of the…

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