Anthropology

Costa Rica warns of new drug used in concerts

San Jose, Mar 2 (Prensa Latina) The director of the Costa Rican Drug Institute (ICD), Guillermo Araya, has warned today about the use of a plant called ”peyote”, mescaline or ”big chief” as hallucinogen in concerts and recreational relaxation activities. The report of the entity states that ‘peyote produces its effects initially interrupting the interaction…

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Anthropology

Will psychedelic mushrooms be on Denver’s ballot in November?

A growing contingent of Denverites are advocating for the medicinal efficacy of psilocybin, ​ …the initiative… is not completely unprecedented. According to Colorado Public Radio, New Mexico effectively legalized the cultivation of psilocybin via a 2005 appeals court decision. Furthermore, Oregon and California both recently reduced possession charges for a variety of banned substances, including…

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Anthropology

The uncertain future of iboga, a psychotropic plant of Gabon

Iboga seems victim of its growing popularity abroad and could disappear, worried environmentalists. Gabon also ratified in 2012 the “Nagoya Protocol” which provides for a “sustainable” trade of biodiversity resources … Absorbed as a bark powder from its root, iboga, a shrub endemic to the equatorial forest of Central Africa, gives “visions” and allows “to…

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Anthropology

Iranian religious authority considers psychedelic medicines Halāl

In mid-March 2014, Sayyed Mohammad Sadeq Hussaini Rohani, who is a Grand Ayatollah (meaning the highest authority on Shi’ite Islam—basically, the equivalent of the Pope), announced that entheogenic drugs are permissible (ḥalāl) for Muslims under traditional Islamic law. That means, that so long as psychedelics are taken under the observation of a trained specialist, it’s…

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