Politics

Montreal’s public health director backs Toronto health authorities’ call for drug decriminalization

The director of Montreal’s public health department is welcoming a recent report by Toronto’s board of health pushing the federal government to decriminalize all drugs.​A Health Canada report last month found that nearly 4,000 Canadians died from an apparent opioid overdose in 2017, including 303 opioid overdose-related deaths in Toronto. That prompted Toronto’s health board urging…

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Politics

Denver group wants to legalize magic mushrooms

The group’s current language proposes legalizing possession of up to 28g and manufacturing up to 280g.​The campaign also wants to keep people who are using what the group calls a harmless drug, out of jail.  Matthews added the Denver movement already has 100 volunteers ready to campaign. They plan to host events and panels to educate…

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Politics

The whole fungus: …nor does She neglect, the children, our future.

World 2018 -International Centre for Science in Drug Policy-United Nations Development Programme-Mexico-Switzerland-African Union-United Kingdom-United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes-Global Comission on Drug Policy-Colombia-President of the General Assembly-UNAIDS-Panama-European Union-Ecuador-International Narcotics Control Board-United States-Uruguay-Union of South American Nations-Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights-Brazil Original Article (ECfES Newsletter):Magic mushrooms… entourage effect(citations within)Artwork Fair Use:…

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Politics

The U.S. House… passed H.R. 6… that combined 58 different bills that attempt to end the scourge of the opioid epidemic in America

The Senate needs to support the amendments to SITSA and SCREEN to exclude natural botanical plants and herbs. Two of those bills, the SITSA Act (Stop the Importation and Trafficking of Synthetic Analogues Act of 2017), and the SCREEN Act (Stop Counterfeit Drugs by Regulating and Enhancing Enforcement Now) both attempt to stop deadly synthetic…

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Politics

This bill could give [the current attorney general] the power to ban kratom

*whole plant Kratom tea The Stop the Importation and Trafficking of Synthetic Analogues Act [SITSA] is aimed at prohibiting analogs of drugs such as fentanyl from entering the US. Fentanyl is an opioid whose many cousins, like carfentanil, dominate overdose deaths. It should be noted, however, that all fentanyl analogs are already banned, even those that don’t currently exist yet.…

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Politics

U.S. Senate votes to legalize hemp after decades-long ban under marijuana prohibition

“Legalizing hemp nationwide ends decades of bad policymaking and opens up untold economic opportunity for farmers in Oregon and across the country,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) said upon passage of the Farm Bill on Thursday, June 28th, 2018. Earlier this month, the Senate approved a nonbinding resolution recognizing hemp’s “growing economic potential.” “Our bipartisan legislation…

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Politics

Texas and New Hampshire Democrats add recreational legalization to their official platforms

New Hampshire’s new platform was passed by acclamation, meaning it did not require a vote to pass, while in Texas the entire platform passed by a voice vote. Democrats in both states supported alternative approaches to drug policy which shift the focus away from law enforcement. “We believe that marijuana should be legalized, taxed and regulated,”…

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Politics

FDA ends probe into kratom salmonella link

The Food and Drug Administration has ended its investigation of a small salmonella outbreak linked to kratom …no single source of the outbreak was ever identified, but kratom was considered the “likely source.” There have been several other salmonella outbreaks this year, including infections linked to melons, raw sprouts, dried and shredded coconut, live poultry,…

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