Politics

We ban cannabis [and other psychedelics] but let people eat as much meat as they want. That makes… [rather limited] sense.

But the reason we have prohibition is nothing to do with preventing social harm. It’s about the queasiness politicians feel about legalising something that they perceive still has a huge social stigma attached, even though the public is now firmly in favour of legalisation …  It’s perhaps not surprising that [current “war on some drugs”) prohibition is…

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Politics

How a kratom ban… [would] create health risks and suffering—and fuel terrorism

There are at least three major hazards inherent in the government’s [increasingly prohibitionist stance and] approach. First, it risks pulling the safety net away from millions of Americans who managed to find a relatively inexpensive alternative to “big bad” opioids, using it for everything from back pain to fibromyalgia… Second, outlawing the powdered leaves of…[kratom] and…

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Modern Culture

Russia is punishing people for helping drug users

“Last year the number of ODs sharply went up, possibly because of fentanyl,” says Sarang. “We can’t say for sure, because there’s no official data, but the number of times someone’s called and told us they’ve had to use naloxone has doubled. So more people are overdosing.” … Yet rather than trying to make the situation…

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Politics

This [new FDA approved opiod] drug Is 10x stronger than fentanyl but still safer than cannabis [and kratom], says FDA

*The Opium War Museum entrance in Guangdong, China. Last month, the FDA made the controversial move to approve Dsuvia over numerous objections from high-ranking policymakers. Those opposed included four US senators and Dr. Raeford Brown – Chair of the FDA’s Advisory Panel, who noted that there are actually no distinct medical benefits or application for the drug right now. …

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Politics

Surgeon General : Federal drug classification needs changes

*Oregon State Library“Local control and local innovation is what I’m all about,” said  U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams.  “Our scheduling system is functioning, but not as ideally as it could,” he said of the federal schedule for controlled substances maintained by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Food and Drug Administration. “Things aren’t static. We have…

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Politics

Drug decriminalization… a health-centered approach

*Oregon Supreme CourtAccording to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Portugal’s policy has reportedly not led to an increase in drug tourism. It also appears that a number of drug-related problems have decreased.”31 The leading independent researchers to investigate the outcomes of Portugal’s policy, professors Caitlin Hughes and Alex Stevens, wrote in the…

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Politics

[A] nationwide ban on kratom… [would] be deadly

*Senator Stabenow of Michigan meets with representatives of the Kratom Rally in June 2018. The FDA just approved a new opiate (Dsuvia) that is 8-10x stronger than fentanyl. Basically, this says that a plant proven to treat opiate withdrawal [kratom] is more of a threat to public safety than one of the strongest opiates known…

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Politics

Oregon initiative would decriminalize psilocybin

The changes in the state’s criminal code would be significant, the primary goal of the petitioners is to clear the way for the therapeutic use of psilocybin via licensed and regulated producers, processors, and therapists. An initiative that would decriminalize most psilocybin offenses and open the door to regulated production and therapeutic use of the…

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Politics

Another decade lost to the global war on drugs

It is hard to imagine a global policy enterprise that has delivered poorer value for money. The global community should ask what another trillion dollars spent in the coming decade might achieve if directed to more positive ends. [Read the Report] [As] we rapidly approach a key inflexion point in the global debate, with the contours…

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