Psychology

Is everyone high?

…as people merge getting high and self-care… we need a new way to make sense of it. In today’s chaotic marketplace… the internet also transformed supply and demand… the idea of drugs as a social evil and the belief that only doctors define what is medical is being challenged… the distinction between licit “medicine” and…

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Politics

The FDA restricts a psychoactive mushroom used in some edibles

The agency is now prohibiting the use of three compounds in the mushroom – muscimol, ibotenic acid and muscarine – given safety concerns identified in its review of the evidence. Exactly how the FDA will decide to enforce its decision remains to be seen… “[FDA] is clearly addressing this mushroom,” says  Kevin Feeney, a lawyer…

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Politics

“There’s nothing in it that works”- Global Commission slams drug war   

The United States and Canada should fully decriminalize the use and possession of drugs rather than double down on a failed drug war, according to a new report from the Global Commission on Drug Policy. The report recommended expanding the availability of opioid agonist therapy such as methadone and buprenorphine, syringe service programs, overdose prevention centers,…

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Biography/Memoir

Man who brought…

…[Shroom House]… to downtown Portland [Oregon] gets probation… …will spend five years on probation and forfeit a hefty chunk of change, a judge ruled… a plea deal with Multnomah County prosecutors… Original Article (Oregon Live):Man who brought rogue psilocybin business to downtown Portland gets probationArtwork Fair Use: Steve Morgan

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Spirituality

The day the Pope met a psychedelic evangelist

The pope met an emissary from the psychedelic world at a “holy meeting” at the Vatican, where a Jesuit lawyer named Brian Muraresku presented Pope Francis with a manifesto for a psychedelic “New Reformation.” Pope Francis accepted a copy of Muraresku’s 2020 book The Immortality Key at the meeting, which took place in late 2021 or early…

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Science

Magic mushrooms may help reverse stress-induced memory deficits, new study suggests

The study, published in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, found that when administered under specific conditions, the mushroom extract restored spatial learning and memory impairments and increased levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein essential for brain plasticity. These effects were observed in rats subjected to a chronic unpredictable mild stress protocol, a widely used…

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Spirituality

SF psychedelic church dedicated to psilocybin mushrooms to close, cites harassment from city

Zide Door will close its location in the city’s SOMA neighborhood with its pastor citing harassment from the San Francisco Planning Department. The church also accused the planning department of criticizing the church in the media. Hodges said that he is concerned that the Planning Department’s “targeting” of the church could constitute religious discrimination… Zide…

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Biography/Memoir

Springfield [Oregon] K9 finds $50K worth of fentanyl in children’s toy

As little as 10 milligrams is considered a lethal dose… Officers… seized a pound of powdered fentanyl before it could reach the streets, after finding it concealed in a children’s toy… [Image… molecular recognition of morphine and fentanyl by the human μ-opioid receptor.] Original Article (Koin):Springfield [Oregon] K9 finds $50K worth of fentanyl in children’s…

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Science

Psilocybin helped doctors and nurses who worked through the pandemic

Researchers ran a double-blind, randomized trial in Washington State from February-December 2022. Their study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on December 5, 2024. This randomized clinical trial found that psilocybin therapy resulted in a significant, sustained reduction in symptoms of depression experienced by clinicians after frontline work during the…

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