Politics

Berkeley City Council considers decriminalizing psychedelics

A resolution to decriminalize psilocybin and other psychedelics will go before a Berkeley, California City Council … Councilmembers Rigel Robinson and Cheryl Davila are sponsoring the resolution, which does not allow for commercial sales or manufacturing. The lawmakers provided background information on the measure in a report to their colleagues and the mayor, describing the medical potential…

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Politics

Federal health agencies acknowledge therapeutic potential of psychedelics

The heads of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) coauthored a new letter describing that status of research into psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin, LSD and ibogaine. The letter… contains surprising admissions about the therapeutic potential of these federally prohibited controlled substances. It comes in response to an…

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Modern Culture

Psychedelic… [reorientation]

The data is conclusive. Tripping is up, most notably among young people. US government statistics show 1.31 million 18- to 25-year-olds admitted taking LSD in 2017 compared with 317,000 in 2004—almost a fourfold increase since the mid 2000s. And it’s not just in the US. Even among 12th graders, the use of LSD is edging…

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Science

The secondhand harms of drinking impact 1 in 5 adults [53 million Americans], study says

Katherine Karriker-Jaffe, a senior scientist with the Alcohol Research Group at the Public Health Institute in Emeryville, California, who was an author of the study. “So it might be an underestimate of the negative impacts of alcohol on people other than the drinker,” she said. Aesoon Park, an associate professor of psychology at Syracuse University in New York noted…

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Science

Psilocybin 101

Data suggests that psilocybin is far less potent than a drug like LSD and that it carries a very low risk of overdose toxicity (estimated to be 1,000 times an effective dose), but it can still produce negative effects. It is unclear how psilocybin might produce therapeutic benefits that span months despite only being acutely effective for a few hours.…

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Science

How long is… [LSD] detectable in the body? [A 12-step summary]

LSD is unstable, and the liver breaks it down rapidly. The time that LSD is detectable in the tissues is restrictive, so doctors need to analyze the samples quickly. *this article is a generalization, and not intended to replace the original source article. please view the original source article for full and detailed description, including…

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Biography/Memoir

Wuhan [China] signs letter of intent with Biodelta [South Africa] one month after launching psilocybin division

Although the psilocybin industry is still in its nascent stages, all signs suggest that the momentum behind developing psychedelic medicines will continue to grow.  As James Hamblin recently wrote in The Atlantic, “The growth of cannabis is a reminder that once there is money to be made, industries form lobbies in Washington, D.C., and it becomes…

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Politics

Zero psilocybin [mushroom] arrests in Denver first month after decriminalization

From 2016 to 2018, the Denver Police Department arrested about fifty people per year for psilocybin-related offenses. The Denver City Attorney’s Office is still analyzing the ballot language and will present its findings to law enforcement and the mayor’s office. “We’re set to hear expert input in coming weeks to understand what ‘personal use’ and ‘possession with…

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Science

Effects of ‘secondhand drinking’ hurt 53 million Americans: study

The most common type of harm reported was threats or harassment. Forget secondhand smoke. Now you have to worry about the secondhand drinking. One fifth of adults — or an estimated 53 million people in the United States — suffer from other people’s boozing annually, making this “a significant public health issue,” according to a new…

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