Psychology

Here’s why there are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ drugs – not even heroin

*Linear regression with variance decomposition indicating the percent of variance in adjusted regional cortical thickness measures from FreeSurfer accounted for by regressors. Dur IP Physical – duration of witnessing interparental physical aggression (years), Dur IP Verbal – duration of witnessing interparental verbal aggression without physical violence (years), Financial Suf – perceived financial sufficiency during childhood,…

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Politics

Harsher penalties won’t solve nation’s drug problem

From my years of experience in prosecuting criminals, I have learned that high incarceration alone is ineffective at controlling crime — particularly in the war on drugs. After more than 40 years of attempting to use a criminal justice solution to this public health problem, we have already learned that the threat of incarceration —…

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Politics

Oregon bill decriminalizes possession of heroin, cocaine and other drugs

The Oregon legislature passed a bill… that reclassifies possession of several drugs from a felony to a misdemeanor, reducing the punishments and expanding access to drug treatment for people without prior felonies or convictions for drug possession. In Oregon, several law enforcement agencies worked with lawmakers to craft portions of the bill. First-time offenders caught…

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Spirituality

Court: growing hallucinogenic mushrooms not illegal in New Mexico

Growing hallucinogenic mushrooms isn’t prohibited by a New Mexico law against manufacturing an illegal drug. That’s the legal conclusion of the state Court of Appeals, which has overturned the felony drug trafficking conviction of an Alamogordo man for growing psilocybin mushrooms in his home. Under state law, drug trafficking includes the manufacturing of illegal drugs.…

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Spirituality

How the amazonian tea ayahuasca affects mental health

Working with ayahuasca seems to enhance both self-awareness and the ability to detach from maladaptive thoughts and emotions in the day-to-day, potentially creating more space to respond to stressful situations or life events in healthier ways. So far, mechanisms of action have been identified in the domains of neuroscience, psychology, spirituality, and physical health, and…

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Politics

A hostile climate for people who use drugs hurts everyone

“For over a hundred years, people who use drugs have been driven into the shadows, into prisons, driven out of jobs, have been driven out of families, driven out of communities,” said Donald MacPherson, executive director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. “It’s a big hole we’ve dug for ourselves.” “There hasn’t been a human…

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