Politics

Making money in the psychedelics industry will be harder than cannabis

As of now [July 2023], only Oregon has a regulated psychedelics industry (psilocybin [cubensis] only)… service centers will also need to be limited in scope due to people consuming psychedelics as part of a religious practice or sacrament. …there is a massive spike in religious use of psychedelics… it seems very clear that religious use of psychedelics far…

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Politics

Advocacy groups respond to [New Approach PAC] Massachusetts psychedelic ballot campaign

Three Massachusetts community groups are responding to the psychedelic ballot campaign formed this month by New Approach PAC, a Washington, DC-based political action committee. The organizations include Bay Staters for Natural Medicine, New England Veterans for Plant Medicine, and Parents for Plant Medicine… issued a press release… to express concerns… “It seems like this Super PAC wants to turn mushrooms…

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Politics

Minneapolis Mayor makes psychedelics “lowest enforcement priority”

Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis issued an executive order [7/21/23]… making the possession and cultivation of psychedelics such as psilocybin the lowest law enforcement priority for city police and officials; instructing the city’s police officers to, in essence, look the other way when it comes to… certain… psychedelic[s]. Many users of psychedelics oppose efforts to…

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Science

UC Berkeley… psychedelics survey

The majority of American voters support policy reforms for psychedelics, the survey revealed… over half of voters (56%) polled support obtaining FDA approval for psychedelics by prescription. Almost half (49%) support removing criminal penalties for personal use and possession with support for spiritual and religious use polling at just over four out of ten (44%)……

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Anthropology

Drugs and religion have been a potent combination for millennia, from cannabis at ancient funerary sites to psychedelic retreats today

What led our prehistoric ancestors to these powerful plants and fungi, and why did they use them over and over? It would be very easy to project contemporary desires onto them: to battle depression or escape everyday life; to heal wounds, both physical and mental; to get high and just feel good; to self-medicate; to…

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Science

Reductions in experiential avoidance play a key role in the therapeutic effects of psilocybin-assisted therapy, study finds

A new study indicates that reductions in experiential avoidance play a significant role in the therapeutic effects of psilocybin-assisted therapy among depressed patients, leading to improvements in well-being and reductions in depression severity, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. The findings, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, highlight the importance of experiential avoidance as a potential mechanism…

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Politics

House… psychedelics for military trauma… Crenshaw-AOC partnership

 The US House Representatives… approve[d] mood-altering drugs to treat combat-related brain maladies, capping years of effort by an ex-Navy SEAL from Texas and a New York democratic socialist. The amendments… were added to the annual National Defense Authorization Act… The duo has fought to get Congress to direct Pentagon studies of psilocybin to treat traumatic…

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Politics

FDA issues first draft guidance on clinical trials with psychedelic drugs

The purpose of the draft guidance is to advise researchers on study design and other considerations as they develop medications that contain psychedelics. Within the draft guidance, the term psychedelics refers to “classic psychedelics,” typically understood to be drugs such as psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) that act on the brain’s serotonin system, as…

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Politics

Berkeley says ‘yes’ to psychedelics…

“Berkeley is joining a lot of municipalities and states that have decriminalized or… de-prioritized the enforcement of laws against certain plant-based psychedelics,” author Michael Pollan said. On de-prioritizing the enforcement of laws imposing criminal penalties for entheogenic/psychedelic plants and fungi and their bio-synthesized compounds for personal use… the council’s resolution, however, does not include psychedelics…

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Politics

Berlin, Germany, introduces free and anonymous drug testing

People will get the results back on their drugs three days after submission, with the results sent over to the appropriate counselling centre. Berlin, Germany, has officially launched a legal drug testing scheme, allowing people to anonymously get drugs tested for free. The Senate Department for Health announced the new scheme, named Drug Checking, which carried out…

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