Politics

California [SB 519] advances again…

The Assembly Public Health Committee advanced the legislation, sponsored by Sen. Scott Wiener (D), in a 8-4 vote. This comes weeks after the Public Safety Committee approved the measure. While “social sharing” would have been allowed under the bill as introduced, those provisions were also reframed in the new committee amendment to provide for “facilitated…

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Politics

The fight for medical use of magic mushrooms is moving to the courts

“They’ve got an option,” Hawkswell says. “Create regulations or take dying patients to court. You know, which one of those futures should we be living in?” “Minister, I also qualify for MAID [medical assistance in dying],” he wrote in one letter. “Perhaps we should weigh the two applications simultaneously? I am not quite sure how…

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Politics

…California psychedelics bill…

“Since we passed this resolution in Oakland, California in June of 2019, the amount of people that are brewing their own mushrooms has expanded exponentially,” [says Carlos] Plazola “And people are sharing with no intention to sell.” “If suddenly we set limits that are very low, then we will see those people in danger of…

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Politics

…legal questions around psychedelic…

How will patents on psychedelics affect cost or access in the future?… Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) scheduling of psychedelics… “Many companies will have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo,” he said. “If a company can get permission from DEA to conduct trials on various psychedelics and at the same time potentially have certain…

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Politics

…proven magic mushroom…

Health Canada hasn’t publicly explained what’s behind the apparent freeze on Section 56 exemptions… [Bruce] Tobin says the current process of essentially requiring someone to be at death’s door is unworkable. Still, he anticipates that psilocybin access will go the way cannabis first did, through new regulations making it available for medical use. “My intuitions…

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Politics

Why we need drug policy reform

What kind of policies could we enact instead? The failure of the war on drugs has led to new ideas and alternative models, including: Decriminalization: While drugs remain illegal and drug use is a prohibited behavior, violations are considered misdemeanors or administrative offenses. Treatment services can be scaled up and people are more inclined to…

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Politics

California moves toward psychedelic drug decriminalization…

That such a proposal passed one half of the legislature in the most populous state in the country might have been shocking as recently as a decade ago––and it serves as another sign of the evolving national conversation surrounding drugs in the United States. …aims to make other sweeping reforms related to psychedelics. “Existing law…

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Politics

…if shrooms [grow, gather, gift] get decriminalized…

…people all over the world are talking about decriminalizing natural… [visionary] plants known as entheogens… the first agricultural societies were talking about mushrooms the way we are now, 7,000 years later. It’s essential to understand why advocates… aim for decriminalizing… a decriminalized status means that people who grow, gather or give away mushrooms won’t be…

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