Biography/Memoir

How the “most normal person ever” became [a] face of a movement to decriminalize magic mushrooms

…after a few days of “microdosing,” she began to feel normal again… now that the issue is before the Board of Elections. Salvation [had] arrived in the form of a friend’s recommendation… speaking about the benefits of psilocybin mushrooms on mental health. This was not advice Melissa Lavasani, who holds two graduate degrees, normally would…

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Biography/Memoir

The Sacklers could get away with it

Appallingly, legal experts expect the court to give the Sacklers what they want … The July 30 [2020] deadline for filing claims in Purdue’s bankruptcy proceedings potentially implicates not just claims against Purdue, but also claims against the Sacklers. The Sacklers may yet again benefit from expansive powers that bankruptcy courts exercise in complex cases.…

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Biography/Memoir

Maryland congressman tries to block D.C.’s psychedelics decriminalization ballot measure

The newspaper noted that Harris is “an anesthesiologist and top pharmaceutical donor recipient.” Harris [said] that he will use Congress’s control over D.C.’s budget to block the measure through a House Appropriations Committee amendment next week. Harris famously led congressional efforts to block Washington, D.C.’s local leaders from passing legislation to create a legal system of…

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Biography/Memoir

…official call to decriminalize psychedelics… to be heard…

Highlighting that some psychedelics are already on their way to liberalization, [Member of Parliament] Paul Manly pointed to other North American jurisdictions that have decriminalized. Denver, Colorado, became the first U.S. city to decriminalize magic mushrooms [including decriminalizing home cultivation for personal, non-commodified use] following a narrow vote last May [2019].  Last year, Vancouver city Coun. Melissa…

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Biography/Memoir

Psychedelics inc

A dozen or more startup companies are developing medicines from psilocybin, MDMA, ibogaine and LSD, all of which are illegal in the US, as well as from ketamine, a legal anesthetic with hallucinogenic properties… …[like] a former managing director at Goldman Sachs who is the founder of… yet another startup… “There’s a lot of strong…

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Biography/Memoir

Psilocybin is headed for the mainstream… it’s bringing the problems of Big Pharma with it

“That’s the case with the pharmaceutical industry time and time again: good intentions are marred by the drive to maximize revenue.” -Adam Winstock, MD (University College London, an addiction medicine specialist and founder of the Global Drug Survey.) While psilocybin is a naturally occurring molecule, the chemistry to develop a standardized synthetic version deemed safe…

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Biography/Memoir

[US marshals office] incinerates 28 tons of kratom

The U.S. Marshals Office paid a hazardous waste company… to transport the kratom from South Carolina to Florida, where it was incinerated at an energy-from-waste facility… Scott Gottlieb resigned as FDA commissioner in March 2019 and weeks later joined the board of directors at Pfizer. Over 28 tons of the herbal supplement kratom were recently…

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